June 20, 2016 
Jane 
Often, when I tell people what my job is, they reply that it sounds really fun. The fact is that most of the time it is. I get to read for a living. I live in a world of ideas. I work with people on all sides of the business who are creative and passionate about helping writers succeed in a pretty competitive marketplace. I love that there is so much variety in what I am doing in a single day—editing a proposal, discussing a new idea with a client, talking about a potential project with a publisher, negotiating contract terms, helping to plan a publicity and marketing campaign, etc.
The other side of this, though, is what to do when nothing seems to be working. Yes, there are times when it seems nobody is interested in the projects we are submitting. Editors like the idea but can’t relate to the “voice”; they don’t think the concept works for their list; they can’t define a big enough market; the author isn’t qualified to be writing the book he or she is proposing or don’t have a big enough platform…I’ve heard it all. Sometimes this gets really discouraging, especially during periods when it seems to be happening with everything we are submitting.
We ask ourselves what we are doing wrong. Are we picking the wrong projects, presenting them in the wrong way, sending to the wrong editors and publishers? What is it? And then we think that maybe we should change up everything—do things differently.
While considering this the other day, I looked up “what to do when nothing works” on Google and I found 300,000,000 entries. Astonishing! I read through some of them, but, in the end, after a long career full of these experiences, I have come to the conclusion that what I need to do is to stop second guessing myself and just keep doing what I’ve always done: Look for those new ideas and help our clients present them in fresh and original ways. Identify new editors and new publishing opportunities. Just keep moving forward. To quote myself: “NEXT!”
What do you do when nothing seems to be working in your world?
It’s incredibly frustrating when you’re the author this is happening to, so I expect it must drive you a bit mad when it’s happening to more than one of your projects. I had a book go out 35 times (someone even tried to buy it, but their boss said no)…all we could think of to do was scrap it and I wrote something new, which sold. So, yes…just keep doing what you’re doing is about all there is to do. Oh, and thank you for doing what you’re doing! All of you!
Never, never scrap a viable project because the tradewinds don\’t happen to be blowing that way at the moment. Just file it away and bide your time; by all means work on something in between, and then do double duty later on. Be advised, though, that a lot of people find versatility disorienting, so for instance, I\’ve got a silly Intermediate that I have a silly pseudonymic identity created for, and a more intense contemporary/magical realism piece I park my own name on. That way, I don\’t have to worry (when any of this goes live, of course) about questions of \”serious author/silly author\”, at least till somebody breaks my incognito. Oh, and Jane, in answer to your list of What We\’re Doing Wrong… The answer is All Of The Above-but it\’s mostly the editorial gatekeepers being pissy because there are no clear zeitgeist indicators right now, and they don\’t want to be the ones to stick their necks out. Keep plugging and good luck……………………………
If you believe in a story/project, the chances are that someone out there will have the same taste. Hang in there! As I know you are well aware, you just have to find them and at the right time, and it involves luck and extreme patience. My latest picture book was rejected numerous times before the text was enjoyed by an editor appraising it at a SCBWI Conference. The resulting book was shortlisted for the 2015 Book of the Year Award for 3-5 year olds by Australian Speech Pathologists. But that is no reflection on the previous editors. They were all correct, it was not their kind of story or not suitable for their list at the time.
In all aspects of life, I have always found that most people are willing or even eager to help when assistance is requested.
I find paid manuscript appraisals by editors from major publishing houses at Conferences invaluable. By asking ‘What would you advise to give the work the best chance of acceptance?’ suggestions received have included: simplify the story by removing the brother of the main character, cut or minimise particular elements, a change of emphasis, add…’ The story may still be rejected by the acquisition meeting, but at least it will be liked by the editor. I think writers can help by being open to re-writing, perhaps several versions of the same story. Another editor may have different ideas, and I would be happy to re-write to those, too. I initially envisioned a current creative non-fiction historical work in progress as a picture book with graphic novel elements (more than one illustration on some pages), but could it be more acceptable to a publisher as a mid-grade chapter book, YA or a straight graphic novel, and with a different narrative form? Maybe I should try or will need to try them all.
At Bologna and the London Book Fair in 2010, people on stands asked what I was looking at. My answer was ‘To see if you have any books that are likely to compete with my new one that is about to be released (a calligraphy book), and also to discover if there are any gaps in your list that I may be able to fill.’ Most of the publishers wanted to talk. What did they really want? I came away from the fairs with about ten of them eager to receive non-fiction proposals on topics we discussed, many unrelated to calligraphy – I also have a background as an ecologist and science teacher. I pitched one publisher the concept of ‘Lettering Fun for Children’ but found that their preference was a book for adults on ‘Calligraphy for Greetings Cards and Scrapbooking’. It was no problem to change my focus and the book was released in 2012. Another publisher showed me their new calligraphy book that would definitely compete with mine, but said that they never wanted a calligraphy book in the first place. What they had actually wanted was a book on designing artistic borders. Well, maybe I can still write that for them…
No offense, but it seems (and if all this works for you please disregard all this as the ravings of a disordered mind) that we’re falling into the trap of regarding pronouncements from agents, editors, publishers, and other writers as some sort of Received Wisdom here. Prices available on request. It’s best to recall (unless one simply enjoys making the scene at various Events in search esoteric editorial feedback) that the selection process for queries, manuscripts, and assorted book projects is the same back-jungle witch’s brew it was in John Kennedy Toole’s day and simply sharpen one’s fastball. Jane has been talking all around this phenomenon for quite some time-and I’ve heard more than a few writers out here in Coffee Bar Land chuckling over the idea of high-profile agents having the same submission headaches they are. A lot of decision makers in every field are self-appointed stairwell monitors who may or may not have the foggiest idea what they’re doing (read up on the command structure of the Soviet Army right before the Germans dropped in for an instructive overview of this concept) and the wise class-cutters works on ways to go around them. Prices available on request……………………………
Wow! What an authentic post: When Nothing Works. I lived that way for years..luckily I had something pulsing away within me and agonizingly slowly I changed my reality. My take? When nothing works it is because I am not listening. My mind is carried away with all sorts of distractions and I am missing what is present. Sounds like you got there. Kind regards, ml