Although she feels some encouragement from her conversation with Zoe, Natalie still feels depressed at the reality of publishing as she stares at the piled-up manuscripts. She goes back to her mother’s office, where her mom is deep into reading a manuscript. 

Natalie doesn’t want to interrupt her, but she must ease her anxiety somehow. She asks her mother if all the envelopes are unpublished books. Natalie’s mom explains the “slush pile,” which is a pile of unread, unsolicited manuscripts sent in by authors or their agents. The company gets new additions to the slush pile every day. Natalie’s mom explains that most of the stories in the pile get rejected. Sometimes the editors work on the pile, and sometimes they bring in interns to sort through it. Natalie’s mom explains that most of the time they can tell from the first few pages whether a book is publishable or right for their company. Natalie feels it’s unfair for writers to be rejected based on just a few pages. 

Natalie’s mom’s boss, Letha, appears in the doorway. She tells Natalie’s mom that she needs the current manuscript on her desk before the end of the day. Natalie’s mom promises to have it done in an hour.