It is devastating to get those rejection slips. No matter how good your writing has been there are valid reasons why publishers have returned your manuscript:

• You do not have the name recognition (you are an “unknown author”) to achieve the sales volume necessary for the publisher to assume the risk.

• Your manuscript got lost in the thousands of unsolicited manuscripts the publisher(s) received.

• Your subject matter may not be compatible with the publisher’s primary market.

• Your subject matter may have a very limited audience with a projected sales volume well below the number the publisher requires to make a profit.

• Your manuscript has a regional topic and does not fit the publisher’s mass market system.

• Your manuscript lacks the necessary focus for the publisher to determine the market.

• Your manuscript is poorly written.