What Kind of Questions Does a Publisher Ask a New Writer?
One of the questions publishers ask of new writers is, what are you working on next? This is not a statement of interest for contracts or publication. The publisher asks this question to find out if the writer has more than one story in him. If the writer has completed this one novel and has only vague plans or none at all for a second novel, the publisher realizes that they probably cannot “grow” this writer into a success. In that case, the writer’s first novel is the only chance the publisher has of making a success out of this writer. If, however, the writer already has plans for or has already started a second or third (etc.) novel, the publisher knows that even if this first novel is not a flaming success, the second novel could be much better. A second novels also means that the writer will have gained some readership, and so this second novel will be expected to do better in the market. A third will be expected to do even better, and so on. Questions about a writer’s future wor
