Something Nasty In The Slushpile

Description: Most publishers keep a "slushpile" - the stack of unsolicited manuscripts which contains a large percentage of preposterous or frightening book proposals, which might just conceal that one jewel of a bestseller or classic novel lying near the bottom. Authors discovered via the slush pile include Roddy Doyle, J. K. Rowling and Philip Roth. Stephenie Meyer sent 15 query letters about her teenage-vampire saga and got nearly 10 rejection letters; one even arrived after she signed with an agent and received a three-book deal from Little, Brown. Kathryn Stockett's The Help was turned down 60 times over 31/2 years before becoming a best seller. Sadly though, these are the exceptions...Written by a reader with over a decade of slush pile experience, Something Nasty in the Slushpile takes a tour through the 'do's and 'don't's of book proposal, including many examples of hilarious, misguided and plain weird approaches.