 In this insightful Q&A, Alec Loganbill, editor at Plainspoken Books, pulls back the curtain on exactly what makes a query stand out in the slush pile. Drawing from years of acquiring narrative nonfiction, sharp political commentary, and stories with a strong sense of place, Alec shares the questions he asks in the first thirty seconds of every submission, the one delete-key fix that can transform a lukewarm pitch into an irresistible one, and the surprising truth about why timing matters more than writers think. Whether you’re polishing your first proposal or recovering from a stack of rejections, this candid conversation delivers practical, hope-filled advice straight from an editor who still gets excited every time the right manuscript lands in his inbox.  What first drew you to editorial work, and what still excites you most about it after all these years? I was originally drawn to book publishing while I was a graduate student studying history. About halfway through my Master’s program, I started questioning whether I really wanted a career in academia (if you think publishing is a tough industry to break into, try being a tenured history professor!). Several of my advisors encouraged I reach out to editors at the University Press of Kansas, and when I did, I was immediately hooked. I discovered that a career as an editor offered all of the things that had led me to think about being a professor: constantly learning new things and considering new perspectives; surrounded by colleagues who understand the power of ideas; supporting people as they improve their craft; and always being around books! Five years in and that’s still at the core of what I do. Every day I’m excited to be a part of an energetic and inspiring community of publishers, help incredible authors tell the best version of their stories, and sit on the front edge of the ideas and stories that people will be reading and talking about tomorrow. When you open a query, what are the first three things you look for that make you want to keep reading? What is this book about? Who is it for? Why are you the person to write it? The best queries answer these three questions immediately and concisely. These may sound terribly obvious, but it is amazing how often this information gets buried in a proposal—or is never even answered! Before I can fall in love with a book, I have to understand it. The sooner I can orient myself around topic, audience, and author, the sooner I can start imagining it on the shelf. What is one of the most frequent mistakes you see writers make in their submissions? What’s one quick fix that can make a big difference? One of the most frequent things that delays my understanding of topic, audience, and author is exposition. A mysterious and evocative vignette may be a compelling way to open your true crime book and draw readers in, but in the context of a proposal—where I’m looking for information, not read an enjoyable story—it often has the opposite effect. If I’m three paragraphs into a query and am still reading about the night a woman disappeared but don’t know what the book is really about (let alone who it’s for), I’m not feeling excited to keep reading, as the author hoped I might be. On the other hand, if I understand what the book is about, who it’s for, and who you are in the first 30 seconds, I will have got my footing and be ready to dive into the story in the sample chapter or extended description. The easy fix here is your delete key. Cut the exposition from your opening pitch and put your key points right up front.  Want to sell more books and market yourself? Check out the guide CREATE YOUR WRITER PLATFORM. The book explains how to build an audience, understand social media basics, sell more books, increase promotion & publicity, get engaged online, and much more. What’s one thing you wish every writer would do before hitting “send” on a query. Be sure that you have a clear reason for choosing the editor you’re sending your query to. Even though the press website and my social media profiles say I am only acquiring nonfiction, I still receive queries for fiction, poetry, and children’s books on a weekly basis. Also, learn what lists an editor is building, what specific genres, subjects, perspectives, and regions they’re looking for. So, think twice before you send your prescriptive guide to parenting in the Deep South to an editor who is focused on narrative nonfiction grounded in the Midwest. You want your editor to read your query and think This is what I’ve been looking for! not Why the heck did they send this to me? If you don’t have a confident rationale that your work will resonate with the specific editor you’re querying, you’re running the risk of putting time, effort, and hope into a pitch that never had a chance. Also, this is a good time to check that your query letter is actually addressed to the person you’re sending it to, and not “Dear [editor],” or a different name entirely. I’ve seen both, and it’s not a great look. For writers who have received rejections or are feeling discouraged, what words of wisdom would you share? Timing is a huge variable in publishing. Just because your work isn’t finding traction now doesn’t mean it will never see the light of day. Working in nonfiction, I am seeing “untold histories” come across my desk that would have died on submission ten years ago, but now, in today’s political context, are some of the most exciting and relevant books in my list. Readers’ tastes are also always shifting, and the next big trend is often the one no one sees coming. And there are new editors with new interests entering the industry. I recently signed an excellent book that had been sitting idle for three years and the author had all but abandoned it because they weren’t finding any interest among publishers for nonfiction essays from a strong Midwest perspective. Fast forward to today, just months after I launched Plainspoken Books, where this book has the perfect home. The book didn’t change—the market did. If your current project isn’t seeing interest among editors or agents, don’t throw it in the trash. You might just need to set it aside and let the world change around it. Coffee, tea, or something wildly unconventional while you’re deep in edits? Any quirky editing rituals? My mornings are fueled by at least three cups of hot, black coffee. (My best man’s toast at my wedding was structured entirely around my consumption of Folger’s 100% Colombian, brewed in a Black & Decker twelve-cup pot.) I know I’m deep in edits when I forget about my cup and the coffee goes cold. I’m also a big snacker, so I try to find something to graze on if I’m going to be locked into a project for four or five hours. Usually, it’s something easy to grab without looking and won’t stain my pages, like trail mix or candy. My go-to is Good & Plenty licorice candies, much to the horror of everyone around me. I also need to do my first edits on paper and far away from my computer. I feel like I can see a manuscript more clearly when it’s physically laid out in front of me, and I can think easier with a pen than a keyboard. And I don’t want email notifications pulling me out of a good flow.  Learn secrets and proven paths to finding an agent with the book GET A LITERARY AGENT. The guide explains query letter writing, submission dos and don'ts, how to craft engaging opening pages, synopsis FAQs, nonfiction proposal tips, literary agent pet peeves, and much more. Some writers worry they’ll “lose their voice” during editing. How do you make sure the final book still feels like the author’s own? I always seriously consider style and voice before even scheduling an initial call with a querying author. It’s important that the writing is strong and is authentic to the author. If the writing is weak or the author’s voice doesn’t connect with me, I’m much more likely to pass on the project than to consider several rounds of intensive line edits. Once a book is under contract, I try to give most of my editorial feedback as in-line comments and conversations with the author, rather rewriting sections myself. My goal is to make the manuscript the best version it can be while also staying invisible on the final page. Being an editor may be a dream job, but every job has its challenges. What is a small part of your job that causes big stress? Definitely writing descriptive copy. Distilling an 80,000-word into three tight paragraphs that make bookstores want to carry it and readers want to buy it is torturously hard. What makes it even more challenging is that it’s really important. Even more crucial is the one-sentence sales line (think about the bold headline at the top of the Bookshop.org description). The trick here is to answer the questions What is this book about, and why should I read it? and then have that answer make it through a long game of telephone. I need to describe a book in a way that can go from me through a chain of press staff, publicists, journalists, reviewers, sales reps, bookstore owners, and ultimately readers, all without losing its focus or persuasive power. Once a book is acquired, how involved is the editor in title changes, cover art, or marketing decisions? Where I’m at in traditional publishing, these decisions ultimately rest with the publishing house, although authors are often consulted throughout the process. The editor is the one who drives these conversations, with input from marketing, sales, and the publisher. This is because editors are the ones who know the manuscript best and have the clearest vision for the book’s audience. Having the right title, cover design, descriptive copy, and other elements that position a book in the marketplace is some of the most important work that I do as an editor. The best books succeed when the content, positioning, and audience are all strongly aligned. I’m always thinking about what the right title needs to be, and it informs my editorial work at every stage of the process, from giving high-level feedback on early sample chapters to the last bits of polishing before the work is considered final. In addition to finalizing the title and putting together the cover design brief, I also write the descriptive copy, map out the target audience, draft key selling points, and gather a list advance endorsers. I pass these things to my colleagues in marketing and sales, who refine them based on their knowledge of the market, what they know works with sales reps and bookstores, and the strategies they plan to use for the book. Further along in the lifecycle of pre-publication, and the more detailed marketing decisions become, the less the editor is involved. However, editors will always set the tone and the vision for how a book will reach its audience. If you weren’t editing narrative nonfiction at Plainspoken Books, what would you want to acquire? I would love to acquire cookbooks, cocktail books, and other beautifully designed, full-color projects in the food and drink space. Or I would want to pivot hard into fiction and work on big, epic fantasy and weird science fiction—anything with a lot of worldbuilding.  Alec Loganbill is the editor for Plainspoken Books, a nonfiction trade imprint of the University Press of Kansas. As a lifelong Kansan and a proud Midwesterner, Alec began Plainspoken Books with the goal of bringing Midwest stories into national conversations. He is excited to find relevant stories and authentic voices that show the Midwest is far more than flyover country. He is excited about strong concept-driven books about the politics, cultures, and environments of the Midwest. Whether it’s narrative journalism, sharp political commentary, stunning nature writing, or zeitgeisty history, he looks for authentic authors, stories with a strong sense of place, and ideas that can capture the national imagination. Alec holds a BA in History from Bethel College (KS) and a MA in History from Kansas State University. When he's not reading, Alec enjoys cooking, traveling internationally, working on his house, and gardening.  This post was complied by Brandy Vallance, a literary agent with Barbara Bova Literary Agency, an award-winning author, and a Story Consultant for Writing Day Workshops. Brandy is the winner of two national writing awards, one of which included a $20,000 prize. Her novel, THE COVERED DEEP, has been featured in USA Today & Writer’s Digest. WITHIN THE VEIL has been called “passionate and riveting” and Publisher’s Weekly encourages those who like sweeping Scottish sagas to dive in because “the journey is wonderful.” Brandy loves helping writers break the chains of fear and self-doubt. You can find out more at brandyvallance.com.  Pitch Agents at a Writers Conference in 2026:
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