So I went through my email junk folder today

[DAgent]

And found this interesting one from Paper Raven Books. Not sure how it got into my junk folder, but what the hey.

The basic idea is the person who wrote this email used to work in a publishers, went through their slosh pile, found a manuscript they thought was good and handed it over to their editor for re-review. The editor did glance over it, then googled the writer and finding they had no presence online, binned it. And apparently that was 15 years ago.

But I've never heard of this rejection tactic before, and it sounds like a sad one if true. Another hurdle no one needs in their bid to get their work read and published, but it is one I can believe happens given the way we have social media's almost stranglehold on our time and attention.

To the persons credit, they did claim "building a platform is a waste of time" and did of course have an offer to help and all the usual yadda yadda yadda you would expect from such an email, but has anyone ever actually heard of this specific rejection tactic used by publishers, and presumably agents too?

 

[msstice]

Depends on the category of book. Some books rely on the celebrity status of the author to sell.

 

[ckatt]

I can't say I have. Though it makes me think of the inverse where someone's online presence helped them get a book deal. There's a you tube book reviewer I came across who had wrote a YA sci-fantasy novel. In one of their videos, they talked about the publishing process and how much time was spent back and forth working on revisions with an editor. And I thought wow if they didn't already have such a large audience there's no way a publisher would put so much work into a first time author.
Now I don't have the strongest position here since I didn't read their books but I was turned off when the writer said they had only read one YA fantasy book before wanting to write their own.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

They definitely look for you to have some ability to publicise your books. For non fiction it’s absolutely critical. For fiction it’s still an expectation. They also check SM for anyone shooting their mouth off too

 

[The Big Peat]

I have heard of being loud and abrasive on social media counting against authors, yes. I haven't heard of it being a straight rejection for no presence for fiction authors, but it wouldn't surprise me.

 

[Biskit]

To the persons credit, they did claim "building a platform is a waste of time" and did of course have an offer to help and all the usual yadda yadda yadda you would expect from such an email, but has anyone ever actually heard of this specific rejection tactic used by publishers, and presumably agents too?

I've no idea whether it's a genuine rejection tactic, but pitching it as such to make Paper Raven Books seem like the answer to all your woes does sound like a solid advertising tactic.