If Literary Agents are the Sphinx from The NeverEnding Story, as my belabored analogy in the previous post made them out to be, then Acquisition Editors are Commodus Aurelius from Gladiator. They sit on high, gazing down at the rabble of authors below, and decide which books get to bathe in the glorious light of publication and which are condemned to keep trudging on, searching for their big break. All with a cold, calculated thumbs-up or thumbs-down. For some of those books, that thumbs-down could very well be the final nail in the coffin that keeps them lost in submission purgatory, the Great American Novel that never was.
At least, that’s how they can appear to writers, who admittedly have an overdeveloped flair for the dramatic.
The reality is that, much like everyone else involved in the publishing process, Acquisition Editors are just people who love stories and want to pay their bills. Unfortunately for authors that get the thumbs-down, paying those bills involves more than a little bit of crystal-ball-reading, as they need to anticipate whether or not a manuscript will deliver a return on their employer’s investment and make everyone happy, or if it will become another of the millions of books that fail to earn out their advance and get swallowed up by the avalanche of new titles with little more than a whimper.
Once they commit to a project, however, they become that book’s champion at their publishing house. After all, as the one that decides what books a house will publish and what ones they pass on, their reputation hinges on reading that crystal ball correctly more times than not.
Luckily, my debut found a champion that I am thrilled to have in my corner. A veteran of the publishing industry since 1993, Daniel Ehrenhaft has worked as editor, author, and packager, specializing in books for teens and children. (Making exceptions every now and then for adult fiction, like mine). Career highlights include the founding of Soho Teen in 2011—whose diverse and acclaimed debuts include New York Times bestsellers Adam Silvera (MORE HAPPY THAN NOT) and Samira Ahmed (LOVE, HATE & OTHER FILTERS)—and launching the Sourcebooks Fire imprint in 2009. As an author, Mr. Ehrenhaft has been an international bestseller, winner of the 2003 Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Novel (THE WESSEX PAPERS), and a 2012 National Book Award Judge for Young People’s Literature. As a packager, he spearheaded the creation of the iconic GOSSIP GIRL and PEACHES series. Literacy and education are a lifelong passion; in addition to co-founding WAAC, he co-edited charity anthologies with children’s publishing luminaries David Levithan (21 PROMS) and Jon Scieszka (WHO DONE IT?), raising thousands of dollars for nonprofits that serve kids. He is currently Senior Acquisitions Editor at Blackstone Publishing.
Dan was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions, and hopefully pull back the curtain on how a book goes from submission to one of the best calls an author can ever receive.
In my previous interview in this series, I spoke with my literary agent, Dan Milaschewski. One of the things we talked about is how agents have to pitch the books they represent to Acquisition Editors like yourself, in much the same way authors pitch to them. So, here’s a similar question to one I asked the other Dan in my life: Beyond the quality of writing, what is it about a manuscript that makes you consider taking it on?
I have two criteria: voice that I’ve never encountered before, and any kind of surprise in terms of plot or premise—as in I didn’t see this twist coming; I would have never imagined this take on a familiar setting, etc… That’s what keeps me from putting the book down and moving on to something else.
The phrase “Going to acquisitions” is one that sparks simultaneous fear and excitement to any author who hears it. Can you pull the veil back on those meetings and give us an idea what really goes on there?
In a nutshell, we editors must prove to a large committee—one that includes the entire editorial team, our CEO and President, as well as members of sales and marketing—that the book will be profitable. To do so, we look at similar books in the market and run an analysis (called a P&L, short fort “Profit & Loss) that allows everyone in the room to agree with unanimous confidence that investing in this book will pay off. We also look at other factors: an author’s platform or background, their connections, etc. But every book is a gamble, of course. There’s no great mystery… a lot of it is plain old math. A lot of it is fun, too. When we all love a book, it’s a special moment.
It’s been said that anyone who writes a book based on today’s hot trend is going to be about two years late to the party because of the time it takes to put a book out in the market. That makes predicting the future part of your job description as the person who has to decide today what will be popular two years from now. How do you manage that trick?
Again, for me, it comes down to surprise. An unexpected take on whatever is hot at the moment always has a better chance of long-term success than a derivative take, regardless of genre. Of course, it helps to know what other editors are acquiring, so a lot of predicting the future comes in knowing what the landscape will look like… generally, acquisitions are announced 18-24 months in advance of publication.
We see a lot of authors become editors and vice/versa, which is a career move you also made. How has your perception of Acquisition Editors changed now that you’ve worked on both sides of the fence?
I’ve always been both, actually! Although I haven’t written in a long time… for whatever reason, I haven’t been all that inspired to write ever since I became a dad. (Maybe I’ll get back to it once my son hits high school and starts slamming the door in my face.) But as an author who has known some very depressing lows and some weird highs during my career, I am empathetic to my authors’ varying emotional states during the process. I much prefer cheerleading for them than I do for myself.
In addition to being an accomplished author and editor, you are also a musician in Tiger Beat, the world’s only rock group made up entirely of YA Authors. Which is just an awesome sentence to write. If everyone in the band all morphed tomorrow into characters from YA fiction, who would you become and why?
Ha! I would never presume to speak for my fellow band members, but I think I would morph into the entire cast of characters in The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. It was the very first book I ever fell in love with (I was 10 at the time), and it informed the trajectory of my life ever since.
Okay, time’s yours! As a thank you for sharing your wisdom with us, take a moment to plug any of the other amazing authors you work with at Blackstone, or a project of your own that you have coming up, or explain why you chose Floyd Pepper from Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem as your Twitter profile pic.
I co-founded a non-profit, WAAC, that gets authors into under-resourced schools and books into the hands of kids that need them the most. Please check us out, and if you’re so moved, please support our mission!
For more on Dan the author/musician, check out his website http://www.danielehrenhaft.com. And if you’re lucky enough to get a call from your agent that he has acquired your manuscript on behalf of Blackstone, know that you’re in great hands. Thanks, Dan!
