The New York Times has a piece by author Margo Rabb about her discovery that her readership would not be as… mature as she had envisioned:
When my agent called to tell me that my novel, Cures for Heartbreak, had sold to a publisher, she said, “I have good news and bad news.” The good news: an editor at Random House had read it overnight and made an offer at 7:30 a.m. The bad news: the editor worked at Random House Children’s Books.
My agent recounted the story of my novel’s sale, its rejections and close calls, and its particularly close call with editors at two Random House adult imprints. Both had wanted to buy it until the editor in chief decided the novel would be “better served” by the young adult division.
BTW: Author and Q&Q contributor Christine Walde wrote a very similar piece for our September 2007 issue.
