today we had an acquiring editor come and visit our novel class, and ask for a pitch from each of us. It was a pretty interesting scenario, because she had asked to come and meet us, rather than being asked herself.

I had no idea what to expect, but she was very warm and interesting, and more than that interested. I was very impressed with the way she listened to the pitches, really helping to clarify for a lot of people what their audience might be, or what the hook or point of interest is in their work.

The best part of the experience for me was getting a sense of the “real life”ness of the actual publishing industry. The way she responded to people came from a desire to find something of worth for herself and her company in what we were saying.

So, when I mentioned that I write romance she didn’t bother saying her publishing house would be interested, because they don’t know the first thing about how to properly market a romance novel (her words). And it wasn’t negative feedback, it was her dealing with my proposition seriously.

(She actually went on to say she knew an agent who would be very interested in me – whether anything comes of that or not, it also shows that she’s listening for what’s available and possible.)

Puts things in perspective, in a good way.