Submissions
How do we choose books to publish?
Believe it or not, it isn’t as easy as just liking the story. Let’s begin with the two types of submissions that come into our submissions inbox.
Agented submissions are the first. These are submissions sent to us by literary agents who represent authors. Agents have scouted out the best publishing fit for their authors, so we like to get back to them as soon as possible to facilitate their submission process.
Unagented submissions are the second type of submission we receive. These are submissions sent in by authors who do not currently have representation. Once our agented submissions are taken care of, we work on going through our unagented submissions.
With both types of submissions, there are certain things we look for. The very first thing we do is read the pitch. If the pitch is well-crafted, fits our style at Harpeth Road, and we feel a strong direction as to how we could market that book, we ask to see the manuscript.
If the writing in the first few chapters draws us in, the manuscript will then move to one of our acquisitions editors who will read the entire thing and report back with their thoughts. We look for well-developed characters, tight plot, pacing, writing style, voice, romance level, and whether the book fits Harpeth Road’s style.
When we have a book that acquisitions feels strongly about, we then decide in which seasonal list that book would fall. We have spring, summer, fall, and winter lists. There is a cap for the number of books we can take in each list to ensure that every book on that list gets the attention it deserves, to give the book the best opportunity for success. (Our current authors are also vying for places on those lists with their next novels.)
If we have only one spot on our list and several books to choose from, we then begin to determine the strongest book out of the group of potentials. We look at author platform, writing style, voice, and how the book fits with the others on our list—is it unique but complementary to the current HR titles?
Once a book has passed the submissions gauntlet and we feel it does fit our list, we offer a contract. The entire time this process is going on, we are sifting through more submissions and reading pitches and manuscripts from our current authors. This is why it takes a while to hear back from publishers. But if and when an author does get that coveted contract offer, they will now know it was not an easy decision and their work stood out considerably.