How/When I Know A Manuscript Is Right For Me

by editor Annette Pollert

Call me a romantic, but I hope to fall in love with every submission that I read. I’m always looking to find a novel that will make me laugh and cry, and open up my world in a new way, taking me someplace that I haven’t been before. As an editor, I want to read a manuscript that will keep me up all night so I can find out what happens. I’m looking for a manuscript to, say, take with me to a sandy beach at sunset…and introduce to my colleagues, friends, and family. Because when an editor falls in love and acquires a manuscript, it is much like someone falling in love and “acquiring” a spouse. Every editor and author have a different “how we met” story, but there are a lot of similarities in why they fell in love.

From acquisition to publication, an editor will read a manuscript five, six times (sometimes more), so I want to love-love it. I’ll be spending evenings at the office and Saturdays on the couch with that manuscript. And I want to have the passion to edit the novel—and to energetically and meaningfully talk about it with Editorial, Design, Marketing, Publicity, and Sales during the production and publication processes. (Let’s be honest, I’ll also be talking it up to everyone I know, because I’ll want them each to read it and love it as much as I do.)

So what are editors looking for? Let’s be honest, we want the whole package. As writers, you are also readers, so you know that there are a lot of qualities that go into a great book. But the top things that I personally look for when I am reading a submission are:

Tone/Voice: You’re at a big party. It doesn’t take long to figure out who’s who. Some folks are naturally loud-talkers or sweet and bubbly or intellectual or comedic. As an editor, I want to meet a manuscript and get to know its personality, its tone. I want it to engage me—and then show me its range as new topics come up in conversation/new plot points present themselves over the course of a novel. I want there to be a confidence and consistency in the writing. And I want the tone and voice to feel well matched for the kind of story that’s being told.

I’m also looking for characters with distinct voices. How do they talk? Does the protagonist sound exactly like the antagonist? How does the dialogue move the narrative forward? And how do these different voices keep me entertained and interested in the story that’s being told?

Characters: I swoon over fully developed, layered characters with spunk and depth! No one wants to go on a date with someone who gives one word answers and sits there picking at her/his food. I want a lively introduction…but I also want to get to know characters better over the course of the novel. I want to see characters make mistakes and grow from those mistakes (though not necessarily learn from them).

Conflict/Narrative arc: On the page (though not usually in real-life!), conflict is key. I want to know who isn’t getting what they want and what they plan to do about it. But it’s not enough that “stuff happens” in a manuscript (though it should!), I want to care how things are going to turn out in the end. So I need to be invested.

Admittedly, it’s not a good idea to pick apart someone while you are on a date. But as I’m reading a submission, I’m looking to see where a manuscript holds together…and where it falls apart. I need to know how compatible we are. So I read to see where the pacing speeds up and where it lags. What story lines are developed, and then dropped? I want to understand the author’s vision—and know how I can guide her/him to make the novel the best version of itself. Think of it this way: have you ever been in a car with a couple who didn’t quite know where they were going or quite how to get there? Shouts of “I said to turn left!” or mumbles of “Umm…we’re out of gas” are usually only entertaining when they happen to sit-com characters.

But while I may love a manuscript’s voice, characters, and plot, a manuscript also has to be a good match for my imprint before I can acquire it. This would be the “meet the friends and family stage” of a relationship. When I’m reading, I’m considering how a manuscript will work alongside the novels that we already publish and the novels that we have under contract. I’m looking at how the manuscript aligns with that list (in genre, theme, tone, etc.), and how it differs, expands that list (in voice, plot, hook, etc.).

I’m also thinking about how to pitch the book to my editorial team and how to pitch it to our acquisitions team. Because how you introduce a potential spouse to Mom is important. What do I see as the crux of the story, the commercial hook, and the selling points? Where/how a book will fit in the teen market?

You won’t marry every person whom you date (or at least, you probably won’t), and an editor won’t acquire every submission that they receive. But sometimes all of the pieces click into place. It’s true—a little bit of magic may be involved. You never know when you are going to find that spark. But how do editors fall in love with a manuscript? More often than not, it’s one sentence at a time.

Annette Pollert acquires contemporary, commercial teen fiction and the occasional nonfiction title for Simon Pulse. She loves complicated, engaging protagonists, and books set in—or out of—reality with inventive hooks and distinctive voices. She particularly enjoys dark, edgy novels; mysteries; thrillers; and suspense—all, of course, infused with romance! Annette’s list includes NYT Bestselling authors L.J. Smith, Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguié, and Thomas E. Sniegoski, as well as Lisa Schroeder, Jeri Smith-Ready, and debut authors Brian Farrey and Arlaina Tibensky, among others.