what I look for as an editor, part 2
As we close in on the last couple weeks of the open reading period, I am enjoying wading into the submissions pool and have even started accepting some titles for the first couple months of the 2026-27 season (and amazingly am somewhat on schedule getting these last handful of books out for this past season, which is wrapping up as we speak.) I am once again thinking about what makes a manuscript a definite "yes" and what makes me take a pass on the "no's. Some manuscripts stand out for their strangeness, their innovation. This can be subject matter wise, language-wise, stylistic, or narrative. It can mean using page space in interesting ways. Using art and graphics mixed in. Using found texts and appropriated forms like glossaries and diagrams. I like books that go for bold in some ways. That aren't afraid to take risks. I've often heard from authors that the book I accepted had been out in submission for a minute and no one was biting. I sometimes am just hat weirdo that loves it or sees the potential in it.
We have recent books that are erasures and black outs. Books that masquerades as other kinds of text--prose, charts, indices. We have books that include original art by the author (which now that we are using a professional printer, look even more amazing than when I was doing them in house.) This is also true of books that sue the page space in interesting ways, which we can now do in differing sizes than the standard paperback dimensions.
I want to be astounded by the audacity of your manuscript. By its texture and style. These are the books that stand out most among the submissions and are, therefore, more likely to not get lost in the melee of submissions. Some authors feel self-conscious or uncertain about their more daring projects. How they don't seem to fit the mold of the market, or in with the kind of books that any given press publishes. Luckily, as a small publisher who doesn't necessarily assume that all books will be bestsellers (at least not right off the bat.) Some books take time to find their audiences. There are some titles I am still making up copies of that came out a decade ago. Hopefully, most books remake the cost of their production, though sometimes it takes some time. In many cases, I publish new writers who need to find their footing and audience, but I love that they gave me the chance to help start their publishing career.
Comments