An Innovative Approach to Selling a Manuscript
Greg Pincus (a name from my California days) posted on his blog, The Happy Accident, about a picture book author who has received favorable rejections about a unique non-fiction picture book. In the industry, a favorable rejection basically means a personal letter from an editor that says, "This is really a good manuscript, but is not right for us." Sometimes they give a reason (we just published a book on this topic) but most often they don't.
Compared to a photocopied rejection letter that's been recopied so many times it's gray and crooked on the page, a personal rejection is like manna from heaven.
What this author has done in response is use his rejections, and some donated sample cover designs, to pitch his manuscript on his blog and garner support in hopes of attracting a publisher.
Ingenious. I hope he succeeds!
Compared to a photocopied rejection letter that's been recopied so many times it's gray and crooked on the page, a personal rejection is like manna from heaven.
What this author has done in response is use his rejections, and some donated sample cover designs, to pitch his manuscript on his blog and garner support in hopes of attracting a publisher.
Ingenious. I hope he succeeds!


Thanks for the link. I think Marc did a really good job of setting his post up for success - it's not a plea, but a story, and a really engaging one at that. I also hope he succeeds. And I hope you're enjoying your time down South!
Reply to this
I hope he does, too! And I thank you for the kind mention, Keri!
Reply to this
I loved this article and the ones it led me too. Greg's advertisement has given me an idea for advertising a book I just finished called, Nana,I miss you. It's about a small boy and his grandmother who gets sick. He eventually finds out it is cancer and she dies, but not before leaving him a gift. Nana goes to a Hospice for her last days and I have been a Hospice volunteer for many years. I wrote this story after helping an sight year old one evening who was unhappy about her grandma's imminent death and a nurse asked me to talk with her because I do pastoral work. The idea for the story came out of that chat.
I can see how I can tell this now. Thank you
Reply to this