Meeting with an acquisitions editor or literary agent can feel like a mixed blessing. Getting to talk with a publishing pro about your work is obviously a great opportunity. But these meetings often come with severe time limitations, which can make the whole experience very stressful.
In this article I’d like to offer five things you can do to remove or reduce the stress of these meetings and maximize their value.
1. Set Reasonable Expectations
Wouldn’t it be great if when you sat down with an acquisitions editor, they greeted you warmly, shook your hand, and said something like, “We’ve read your proposal and think it’s perfect. Would you please sign this?” as they present you with a publishing contract? It would be awesome, but that’s not likely to happen. In fact, I would wonder about the editor or publisher if this did happen!
Regardless, if you go into this meeting with the expectation that it is going to lead you inexorably to publication, you’re likely to be disappointed.
So what is a reasonable expectation for such meetings? . . .
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