Geoff Rod

I’d started scouring the internet for information on what it takes to get published.  I’d learned that publishing houses very rarely take unsolicited manuscripts.  Instead, aspiring author’s need to find a literary agent, convince the agent to take them on as a client, and then hope the agent can sell a publisher on the idea. 

I bought books on the topic, and got even more granular.  I was surprised to discover that long novels were actually viewed negatively. 

For unknown authors, anyway. 

Each page costs money, so does ink.  Longer books weigh more, and cost more to ship. Bookstores also have finite amounts of shelf space, and would prefer 2-200 page books that sell for $7.99 each, than 1-400 page book at $8.99. 

It takes an incredibly good manuscript, and an incredibly good sales job, to convince people to risk their money on a product with no proven sell ability.

The book business is, at its core, not about art.  It’s about business.  Not unfairly; it’s a simple matter of existence. 

But it gave me a lot more to think about.  Even though I’d decided I could trim the manuscript down further, it wasn’t all about the book. 

I’d have to learn how to sell it to an agent.  And to do so I’d have to convince them that they could sell it upstream to a publisher.  And that the publisher would be comfortable they could sell it to the reader.

Simple business.