Promoting
“Tea or coffee?”, Greg asked the publisher who he was trying to network with.
“Coffee please.”, the publisher replied.
Greg makes coffee.
“I’ve got this book about this bloke, a writer. He falls in love on a writer’s retreat … there’s a subplot about his friend who is a doctor …”
“What is the woman he falls for like? The doctor, what’s he like?”
Greg smiled, said he’d talk about it sometime, went to find a publisher who might be right for the project. His main character fell for a bloke. His doctor friend was a woman. This wasn’t a good fit.
My book Black Coat based on a previous Friday Fictioneers prompt is available at:
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Yes, I should think you need to be on the same page 😉
Definitely. 🙂
That’s why self publishing is the way of the future.
I couldn’t agree more! 🙂
Looks like the assumptions made by the publisher cost him the deal. Nice one.
Completely! Thank you. 🙂
Maybe the next publisher won’t immediately make so many assumptions.
I hope not. 🙂
Sometimes our filters and background really do fill in inaccuracies
Definitely agree. There is still quite a lot of everyday prejudice sadly.
So true
Smart move on Greg’s part!
Indeed! 🙂
Your story has an excellent message that insensitivity to diversity can cost business. However, is Greg wise? I mean, he actually has a publisher willing to listen to him! That doesn’t happen very often! Even if we take it as read that the publisher is personally bigoted, that doesn’t mean he won’t publish a sure-fire best seller.
It’s definitely a difficult one for sure! Thank you. 🙂
Took me a bit to untangle all the clues. Good job 🙂
Thank you. 🙂
One of the best things about writing is playing on those assumptions and turning them round. Nice one.
It most definitely is. Thank you. 🙂
Challenging perceptions is difficult, hopefully, it will turn out ok for the writer.
Definitely can. Hopefully it will. 🙂
Little complicated for me.
It’s really about assumptions and assuming something that someone hasn’t said & it being an erasure of a particular identity intentionally or not like in this story Greg said his main character was a bloke who fell in love & the publisher assumes it was a woman he fell for & that the character’s friend who was a doctor was a man when Greg didn’t say that the doctor was a man.
Hope that helps, sorry if it was complicated & thank you so much for reading Abhiji. 🙂
Now that you explained, I understand the last line when he is looking for a different publisher.
Dear Lisa,
One particular agent turned me down for my first novel. I’m still grateful to her for that. Not a good fit. I related to your story.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Thank you so much for reading Rochelle. 🙂
I can understand the the publisher failed the test… maybe authors should be the one selecting instead of the other way around,
Sounds like a good idea. Thank you for reading Björn. 🙂
They weren’t on the same page…time to find a new publisher who understands!
Absolutely. Thank you for reading Anshu. 🙂
A good publisher! That’s all it takes. And a good MS, of course. 😉
I like to think Greg will find a good publisher in the future. Thank you for reading Priya. 🙂
Maybe the writer should have given the publisher a little more of his time. They do say jumping to conclusions is the best exercise a lot of people get in a day (me included) and maybe the publisher would have been impressed by the writer’s plot.
If it was harmless conclusions, it’d be fine I think. But this particular publisher thinks every man who falls in love falls for a woman & every doctor is a bloke & I think they are harmful assumptions which have prejudice & erasure of minority groups intentionally or not at their heart. I think that’s why Greg didn’t give the publisher much time because he didn’t want his work associated with prejudiced viewpoints or those that encourage erasure of minority identities.
Thank you for reading Jilly. 🙂
Oh dear, a publisher who jumps immediately to stereotypes is not someone great to work with. At least Greg found out early and was able to move on.
Absolutely. Thank you for reading Sarah. 🙂
Good for him, we should never waste time on people that don’t deserve it.
I totally agree. Thank you for reading. 🙂
Lots going on here!
There definitely is! Thank you for reading Dawn. 🙂
You can always learn something when speaking with a publisher–even when it’s not a good fit. Figuring out who NOT to go with can be as important as finding a good match.
That is so true. Taking each incident as a learning curve. That’s a great outlook on things. Thank you for reading Russell. 🙂
Ah those networking events can be brutal!
They certainly can be! Thank you for reading Laurie. 🙂