20 Tips for Selling Your Novel, Part Four: The Business of Writing
The right collaborators — and the right attitude — make all the difference
Once your submission get bites, you have some thinking to do.
15. Sign with the right agent or editor
If you get an offer from an agent or an editor, it will be thrilling. But don’t leap without looking. Have a good conversation with the person who has expressed interest; try to get a feel for their personality, how they work, and what they expect. Ask them how they like to communicate. Let them ask you questions.
Above all, listen to how they talk about your book. Do they really get it? Are they able to speak specifically to what it offers and why they can see it succeeding? Do they have good ideas about what they’d like to see in revisions yet to come? If their answers are vague or you get a sense that they don’t actually understand your book, think carefully about whether this is the right fit for you.
Similary, if you find that you do not have a good rapport, this should give you pause, because you will work with this person for a long time and you need them to be a real advocate for you.
