You wrote a book. It may not be worthy of a Pulitzer, but it doesn't suck. Your friends like it. Your Mom thinks it's terrific. You worked hard on it and you're proud of the writing. So why won't it sell?
After 25 years as a professional reader and then a writer, here's what I have observed. Agents and publishers don't snap up the best material. They snap up material that they think they can sell.
I worked in development before I became a writer. I read upwards of ten scripts per week. I can tell you FOR A FACT it is not the "best" writing that sells. In fact, it's very rare that a screenplay or novel sells on the quality of the writing alone. Buyers look for "elements." An element is a marketing angle (something they can lean on to get readers to buy your book). Is beautiful writing an element? Of course. It is the most important element? Mmmmm.... no.
There is no official list of important elements (to my knowledge) , but here's mine:
1. STAR POWER. In movies it's actor / director / producer / writer, in that order. Movie agents can sell *almost* any movie with Matt Damon attached to star or David Fincher attached to direct. This is also true in the book world. a NYT best-selling author will sell a mediocre book way easier than a newcomer will sell an exceptional book. Why? Because known writers have built-in audiences, and an agents and publishers will have confidence their books will sell.
2. IDEA. Is the plot easy to summarize? Is there a big idea in there? Is the poster/cover obvious? If a marketing team will have a hard time selling it to an audience, you are going to have a hard time selling it to a buyer.
3. GENRE. Thriller / women's lit / horror / action-suspense... which one is it? Does it sit squarely in a genre? Crossovers can be a hard sell. If the librarian doesn't know where to put it an agent won't either.
4. VOICE. Plots can be reworked. Pacing can be fixed. But it is very hard to overcome a "voice" that is inconsistent or clumsy. Mediocre writing does sell, that's why I put this fourth not first. If you have a slam dunk idea your novel / script still has a shot. In publishing they will hire you a crackerjack developmental editor to rework the prose. In movies they will buy your script then hire someone else to rewrite it. But a fresh, fun, zippy voice can translate into a fresh, fun, zippy back flap, and style is something an agent / publisher may be able to sell, so they look for it.
5. WHO YOU KNOW. Some people will put this first, because it's huuuuuge. Your associations with other writers or producers give you credibility. Agents may read you as a favor to an important colleague. But no one is going to spend money to publish / promote your book or screenplay just because your dads play golf together. It still has to have other elements.
Bottom line: DO NOT TAKE REJECTION AS A SIGN YOUR BOOK IS "BAD." A pass is a reflection of the agent/publisher's lack of creativity, not yours. Unique books without "elements" are a tough sell. So often they go unpublished. That's as much our loss as readers as it is yours. Susan Walter Good as Dead