Bested by plot bunnies and pretty covers
The speculative fiction genre, in particular adult fantasy, is undergoing a sort of renaissance in the mainstream publishing community. It is not that fantasy had fallen away. Since the publication of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings in 1954...
...the bar to impress us is much higher than a casual reader who might only pick up a book if it becomes as big as Twilight or Harry Potter. When an editor sees a manuscript in the slush pile, we are not looking to be entertained. We are looking for a reason to reject.
