: It's difficult to know if a person will like or dislike a book in advance, and the reason why is even harder to guess. For the most part, it doesn't matter all that much whether the agent

@Rivera824

It's difficult to know if a person will like or dislike a book in advance, and the reason why is even harder to guess.
For the most part, it doesn't matter all that much whether the agent or acquisition editor (or his/her personal assistant) personally likes your book or not. While enthusiasm might help, the goal publishers and agents share is to make as much money as possible at the lowest cost. That's different from getting as many good books in the hands of those people who would appreciate them most.
Practically, this means an agent might read your book, like it, then send a rejection letter anyway because he or she does not think the book would ever sell. The other side of the coin is the agent dislikes your book, but thinks it might sell well. The latter often happens when some popular mould-breaking book hits the shelves and agents break out in street fights to get their hands on anything similar to jump on the successful book's coattails.
Sometimes publishers are dead wrong in their estimate of how well a book will be received, and it's most obvious in children's literature. Too many adults simply don't respect children, and (erroneously) believe they know better than them. A famous example is J.K. Rowling's first book. The story goes she was rejected time and again, until one editor handed the manuscript to an actual child and asked for her opinion. I don't think I need to explain how the story ends.

Vote Up Vote Down

0 Reactions   React

Replies (0) Report

Login to post a comment!