High Risk Manuscripts

Hi LDS Publisher,

How much impact does a first-time author's sales from their first novel have on your decision to accept another manuscript from them? If a book sells only about 600 copies in the first year, would you be hesitant to accept their next manuscript, if that manuscript was good?

Thanks.

Unless I am personally committed to your cause or career, or I'm trying to impress you for some reason, sales of a previous book has a HUGE impact in whether I accept your next manuscript, because in that scenario I will have lost a ton of money.

Exceptions to this would be:

• I made some type of marketing mistake and it's my fault they didn't sell (highly unlikely, and I'd never admit to it publicly, but it could be possible).
• Your next manuscript was much better or would appeal to a different market.
• You were published by another publisher and I thought perhaps I could do a better job at promotion and marketing than they did.
• I can lock in 1,000 pre-sales before I go to press (and you would need to be the one creating the buzz for those pre-sales, because I will be thinking it won't happen).
• You're willing to share the expense of publishing--but I would only consider this option if the manuscript was significantly better.