How does Argyle Fox Publishing choose books to publish? Our decision-making process involves a few basic questions.
Does the Story Grab Us?
A quick look at our catalog shows that we publish a lot of religious books and children’s books. However, we’re more than a children’s book publisher or Christian book company. We work with authors who produce poetry, science-fiction, self-help, memoir, short stories, and more, regardless of their faith background.
What links all these books? We like them. Something about the storyline or the author’s writing style grabs us, and we want to work with the author.
Put simply, we work with authors whose books we want on our bookshelves.
This isn’t unique to Argyle Fox Publishing. Most publishers work on books they like.
Knowing this should encourage writers. If having your book accepted for publication depends on the publisher’s taste, finding the right publisher is simply a matter of time. So, if you get rejected from a publisher, keep moving. The right one is out there.
Do We Have the Bandwidth?
As a small publishing company, we can’t take on every book that comes our way. We simply don’t have the time or resources. Part of the process as we choose books to publish is making sure we have the time to take on the book.
We take great pride in every title we produce, and we want each and every book to be its best. So, we only accept books for publication that we know we’ll finish in a timely manner with the highest possible quality.
Sometimes, this forces us to turn down books we really like. It’s painful, but it ensures we give every author the attention and respect they deserve.
Initially, this happened with Joe Connor. We loved his book, but we couldn’t fit it into our schedule. It was too long. A few months later, things changed. So, we reached out to Joe and published his fantastic book, Implosion.
That should also encourage authors. If we don’t have time to give your book our full attention now, we may in the future!
Can We Do the Book Justice?
Next comes a third question as we choose books to publish: Can we make the book as great as it deserves to be?
You put a lot of effort into your book. The publishing process should take your hard work and expand upon it. Editing, layout, and design should bring all the wonderful things about your book out for readers to enjoy.
If we love a book but don’t feel we can make it shine as it ought, we don’t accept it for publication. This doesn’t mean the book is bad or that it won’t sell a million copies. All it means is we don’t feel we can do the book justice.
Do We Get Along? (When We Choose Books to Publish, It’s Personal)
As Marcus Aurelius said, life is short. With that in mind, the final question that helps us choose books to publish is Do we get along with the author?
Why does personality matter?
The publishing process takes a lot of cooperative work. There’s give and take, frequent emails and/or phone calls. Because of this, we exclusively work with authors who are easy to get along with.
Fortunately, personality rarely rules authors out. Most authors who approach us are kind and easy to work with. However, we’re people, too, and sometimes our personalities don’t match with authors. Since we believe the publishing experience should be fun for all involved parties, we only work with people who are friendly, flexible, and as excited to publish their books as we are.
Hope we’ll choose your book to publish? Get the process started by submitting your book for consideration.