Ask the HarperCollins editor: part 1

A couple of months ago, authonomist Sandie Dent compiled a list of your questions on the theme of ‘ask the HC editor’. She then approached us to see if we could find anyone to get some answers. We sent them out far and wide, and sure enough, we’ve started to get some responses back. We’ll start with a set answered by a Senior Editor based in our Sydney office. I should add that there is no single ‘HarperCollins’ stance on any of these questions. The opinions expressed are of the individual editors, who will each have different experiences and different thoughts to bring to the table.

SUBMISSIONS PROCESS:

Do you ever take a book from any source and tell the author to make specific changes in order to get a contract? (Jemstone/J E Murphy)
‘in order to’ is perhaps the wrong phrase. There are certainly authors whose MSS are substantially revised prior to acquisition, with guidance from publishers and editors. Sometimes this revision process leads to a contract and sometimes it doesn’t; and sometimes the decision not to publish is influenced by the author’s ability to revise and more often it’s the result of other factors entirely.

Will you only consider completed MSS – or, if the author has a strong ‘voice’, would you consider a work in progress? (Ali Mair)
No, I wouldn’t consider an incomplete novel for publication, though I do read fragments and (if they’re interesting) encourage authors to send the rest when its written. Are you willing to take a chance on a large novel from a new author if the voice and story are good? (Jemstone/ J E Murphy)
Of course.

Why, when an author has researched the huge potential market for a book (mine has 1 million at least in UK CCs alone) do they still completely ignore it? (hallyally/Allie Sommerville)
Do you ask why publishers ignore the research, or why consumers ignore the book? If you ask why publishers ignore your research when considering your proposal, it’s because books are not the same as other commodities. A ‘potential’ market is in no way an actual market. It is much more difficult than you think to predict book buyers’ behaviour.

Are agents worth their cut? (Mardi Johnson)
Good ones are.

How do you feel about books that have already been self-published? (Jemstone/ J E Murphy)
I read them for quality, in exactly the same way I read Word document MSS.

How long does the acquisition process for fiction take and at what point is the author contacted? (Anthony Saunders)
It depends. Sorry; I know that’s not helpful! Some books are picked up quickly, and others sit on a pile for a while before being considered. And when they’ve been considered, some are rejected immediately, others are mulled over for longer. Some authors are contacted quickly because there’s a sense of urgency around the submission (other publishers have it too, or the book slots neatly into a looming hole in the list). Others are contacted when we have time, because we’re interested in the revision process I mention above, rather than in immediate acquisition.

Publishers tend to (traditionally) offer extremely succinct letters of rejection which are usually no help to the author at all. In cases where the manuscript has been received by a publisher and then been sent to the readers for assessment, is it true that the readers provide a report to the publisher/editor? If so, why can this report not be passed onto the author?(JamesG/James Guiney)
In many cases, because the report has not been written for the author, and he or she is unlikely to enjoy reading it. These are not constructive structural reports aimed at improving the work. They are sometimes brutal assessments of the quality and saleability of the MSS. No one in publishing is interested in hurting people unnecessarily.

How do you approach novels with controversial topical themes – or do you prefer to avoid them? (Freddie Omm)
Much the same way as I do any other MS.

EDITORIAL PROCESS:

Do you agree that it is the role of the literary agent to perform, or demand, substantive market-oriented editing of the book before the publisher’s editor has seen the manuscript? (Seamus33/George LeCas)
That’s up to the agent.

Which of these would you be prepared to work with an author to get right, and which do you consider a prerequisite: structure, characterisation, pace, voice? (Sandrine/Dan Holloway)
If the MS has a couple of those right, or one of them outstandingly right, and the author is a hard worker who is open to editorial guidance, any of the others can be improved. This applies more to structure and pace, obviously: solid characterisation and an arresting voice are more necessary, though even they are eligible for further work in the editorial process.

Why does HC not take up many manuscripts on Authonomy that, whilst full of colour and great ideas, still need a polish? Why do they have to be perfect to be considered? I thought that was part of an editor’s job, to knock a good book into a great one? (Mechanical/R L Jones)
The publisher’s list only has room for so many books. Why not choose the best? And a MS might have potential, but there is always the risk that this draft is the best this author can do. Editors won’t (or shouldn’t) rewrite your work. We can guide and suggest, but the writing itself has to come from you.

Will you simply bin my book because I cannot polish it to your standards or do you genuinely look for potential and advise? (Patrick Barrett)
You must be able to achieve the final polish yourself, though that usually happens with editorial assistance. Not being able to polish it to publication standard prior to submission doesn’t mean your book’ll be binned.

Is it true that when writing a true life/non-fiction work, it doesn’t have to be complete before a publisher will accept it? (Sue1960/Sue Edwards)
In some cases.

WHAT IS HARPERCOLLINS LOOKING FOR?

Would you ever take the risk of publishing a work you loved but that did not fit a pre-existing marketing niche? (Lord Biro/Kevin Lester)
Yes.

How do you feel about books that do not fit any genre? (Jemstone/ J E Murphy)
I confess I’m yet to encounter one.

Is there equal interest from the publishers’ point of view in realistic YA fiction as opposed to that with fantasy elements? (Lallie/Laura Jarratt)
I think so.

VOICE:

What does a ‘fresh voice’ mean to you? (And is this really THE one thing you look for?). Please could you illustrate with an example – by that I mean could you tell us someone who’s burst onto the scene as being fresh and new, and explain, by referring to what was around at the time, why they are fresh and new. The example we hear so often is Zadie Smith – could you say WHY she was fresh? Was it her style, her subject matter, her slant on things? (Sandrine/Dan Holloway)
Could you try to pin down what you mean by ‘voice’? (Freddie Omm)
Gosh! They teach whole degrees on this!
Voice is narration, where story is narrative. It’s definitely about how the story is being told, rather than about the story itself. If you think of even an omniscient third-person narrative as having a narrator (which it does, even if the narrator is not a definable character), then you might start to ‘hear’ the voice as you read.
Sometimes a distinctive voice is required; it’s most easily achieved with first-person narratives — think The Color Purple, Raymond Chandler’s laconic Philip Marlowe, or Louise Rennison’s neologising Georgia Nicolson. (You can definitely do this with third-person narratives too, you’re just less likely to be able to rely on patois or personality quirks. For some such authors, distinction comes from lyricism, beauty or brutality. Think Winterson, McCarthy, Morrison, Winton, Coetzee. Or a writer of historical fiction can inventively use period language to distinguish his or her work.)
On the other hand, the Harry Potter novels succeed in part because the voice is comfortable and unchallenging. We all know exactly where we are with the way the story was being told, so we can dive right in knowing that nothing about the writing would distract from the plot points. This applies to a lot of commercial fiction.
And that’s the most important thing about voice. It can definitely add to the story, but it must not distract from the story. Inconsistency, self-consciousness and cliché are three of the many flaws an inadequate voice might display.

POD:

I know academic presses like OUP use POD because they can keep manuscripts constantly updated with new references etc. As an editor, do you think the possibility of updating a manuscript as easily as POD allows an exciting new development because a book can grow and change and evolve, or do you think it squeezes/changes your role because publishers will be more tempted to let a book through with less editing on the grounds it can easily be fixed? (Sandrine/Dan Holloway)
I hope not. And I don’t know that a book can be changed more easily/less expensively with POD. It is, nevertheless, exciting, because it means keeping niche books in print.

PROMOTION & MARKETING

Given that personality (or maybe public persona) counts towards an author's success, and therefore attractiveness to a publisher; do editors want a chance to edit that public persona (e.g. encourage more outspokenness or confrontation)? (Robin Helweg-Larson)
Not to my knowledge.

Where on the scale from philosophical discussion to obnoxious confrontation does a publisher want an author to be? (Robin Helweg-Larson)
That’s the scale?

How much is a book tour expected to be a flamboyant act? (Robin Helweg-Larson)
That would depend on the author

Discuss this and much more in the authonomy writers' forum.

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