Hey, folks, it’s time to ask the editor!
I’ve compiled a list of questions and the lovely Abigail Fenton, Editorial Director at HarperCollins, HQ Digital, has answered them. Read on to find out more about the work of, and some top tips from, one of the best editors in the business!
As the world gets into a new normal with the easing of lockdown, you might be thinking of submitting that book you wrote while you were stuck at home! If you are, here’s the info you need because this month’s question is…
What’s your top piece of advice for writers submitting their work to publishers?
Abi says:
Make sure you’re following the submissions guidelines. We get a huge number of submissions, and if they aren’t the right genre for us, or the manuscript isn’t complete, then we can’t progress them – and the author has wasted their time. Whereas if the author has really thought about what they’re sending and is clearly serious about their work, then it makes us take it seriously too. (This seems a good point for me to mention that HQ Digital has an open submissions policy, guidelines here: https://www.hqstories.co.uk/want-to-write-for-us/!)
Thanks Abi!
Thank you so much to Abi for taking the time to answer my questions. Her workload (as you can imagine!) is CRAY-ZEE! So I’m so grateful to her for humouring me and my blog!
Abi is Editorial Director, HQ at HarperCollins and before that was Commissioning Editor at Bookouture.