Understanding Editors & Agents, a P&W Interview Series
I have been following the series of interviews held by Poets & Writers Magazine on the secrets of the publishing world, and I have found them useful. To get a taste of the thinking that guides editors and agents in their busy work, read this interview: Question : Every reader understands the feeling of falling in love with a book. You guys do that for a living. I'm curious if you've given any thought to the specific things that can trigger that experience. GARGAGLIANO : I don't know if there's a specific thing, but you know it immediately. The minute I start it I know that it's the book I want to fall in love with. And that's the one I keep reading. I will read a hundred pages of something else, but I won't fall in love with it. You have this immediate sense of texture and place, and you're just inside it from the first sentence. I think the thing that everybody says about first sentences is true. Everyone should try to get that first sentence perfec...