If you like the script but not publishable?

[Coolhand]

Hi John.
Here's a more general question for you.
have you ever had to turn down a submission that you personally liked but that you didn't think was commercially viable? If so, does that happen a lot?

[John Jarrold]

Yes, I have - both in publishing and as an agent. It's always a balance between loving a book personally and and being aware of what your head and knowledge of the field commercially tell you. It doesn't happen regularly, and hopefully those two sides of the equation balance. But it isn't always the case. I've seen beautifully written books with interesting characters but no dynamic storyline, and I know perfectly well that in that case neither the sales directors of publishing companies nor the national buyers for the bookselling chains would be interested. So I've said no...in the final analysis, no one is writing in a vacuum, and all books are judged commercailly by publishers against what they have sold to the book trsde in recent years.

A point here: your work will not be judged against long-term bestsellers, but against those who have recently sold well. If you're writing epic fantasy, you will not be compared by a prospective publisher to Brooks, Eddings or Jordan, but to Erikson, George R R Martin and other more recent writers...if you're writing SF, the same is true: not Bear, Brin or earlier stars, but Peter Hamilton, Iain M Banks, Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Ken MacLeod, Charlie Stross, Richard Morgan, Al Reynolds...

[I, Brian]

Originally Posted by John Jarrold

A point here: your work will not be judged against long-term bestsellers, but against those who have recently sold well. If you're writing epic fantasy, you will not be compared by a prospective publisher to Brooks, Eddings or Jordan, but to Erikson, George R R Martin and other more recent writers...if you're writing SF, the same is true: not Bear, Brin or earlier stars, but Peter Hamilton, Iain M Banks, Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Ken MacLeod, Charlie Stross, Richard Morgan, Al Reynolds...

Thanks for the answers, John - and that last line is great - I've tried to make sure I read my genres to some extent, but the point to focus on the latest in the genre is an excellent point to make. I'll have to go visit Amazon soon for a couple of those names.