Welcome back to the eighth edition of my Path to Publication series1.
Today I’m talking about what happens when you go on submission, i.e. getting your manuscript in front of editors in the hope of obtaining a publishing deal.
A lot has been written about going on submission and, yes, it is as nail-biting and cringe-worthy as you’d expect. But it’s also a real Schrodinger’s Cat time, because while you’re waiting for those all-important responses, you can imagine both futures: one in which you will be published, and one where you won’t.
So, without further ado, here’s what happened when I went on submission and how I managed to cope with waiting for the responses…
Our Submission Plan
Prior to going on submission, my agent ensured I had a plan. This is how we thought my submission might go…
Weeks 1 & 2 - Submissions (cover letter & manuscript)
Weeks 3 & 4 - Supplementary Info (author bio & Book 2 synopsis)
Week 5 - early responses (likely passes only)
Week 6 - most responses (possible offers)
Week 7 - if offer received, establish deadline for other offers
Week 8 - if offer received, meet with editors and choose a publisher
This plan, which covered 13th January to 7th March, was built on my agent’s experience to fit perfectly between the Christmas holidays and London Book Fair. There were several advantages to having this information up front:
I wouldn’t worry for the first four weeks if we were unlikely to receive any responses, let alone any offers.
During the same period, my agent could get on with her other work without me bothering her for updates (she said I didn’t, so that’s good!)
Having a firm end date meant I couldn’t worry about being on sub ad infinitum.
I could plan to be available for zooms or meetings in late Feb / early Mar.
Ultimately, I knew that whatever the outcome, all I really had to do was write the next book.
However, the submission plan also came with a comms plan. I’d get an update at the end of each week that would include any declines (my choice) but, and it felt like quite a big but at the time, my agent would only give me positive news if there was a definite offer on the table.
At first, I wanted to argue with this, but my agent held firm. While compliments and requests for more information would be good for my ego, it simply wasn’t worth the subsequent disappointment — for either of us — if the interest petered out and offers failed to materialise.
Coping with Silence
At this point, my hands were now firmly off the steering wheel. My agent had everything under control and I just needed to sit back and relax. As someone used to being in control (a career in project management will do that to you), I’ll admit to finding this very difficult. So I knew I had to have my own plan for keeping myself busy for six to eight weeks.
My first task was to find what other authors did while on submission. Thankfully, I found many good resources, but those below are my favourites:
How to Stay Sane while on Submission - Catherine Balavage (Writers & Artists)
Submission Thoughts - Anna Britton
‘Just be Patient,’ and Other Questionable Advice for Writers on Submission2 - Julie Carrick Dalton (Dead Darlings)
Five Ways to Stay Sane on Submission - Gillian McAllister (Bath Novel Award)
Reading these helped to calm my nerves. While it does feel lonely to be on sub, I’m not the first, nor the last, to go through the process. And regardless of the outcome, sooner or later I’ll have to write my next book. This became such a pivotal part of my plan, that I ended up zero-drafting two different books; the second in my series plus a stand-alone.
But I also knew that there would be days where my anxiety about the process would leave me unable to concentrate on writing, so I had to include other things that were still productive, but easier to pick up and put down than writing another novel:
Reading — I read a lot of books in January, although I did find my reading tastes less eclectic than normal, as if I didn’t want to tempt fate by straying too far from crime and thriller.
Cooking / Baking — we ate very well in the new year, especially since I was in the mood to experiment and didn’t really care what I made as long as it was edible.
Talking to other writers — talking to my writer buddies, helping them by beta reading or brainstorming with them was an absolute lifeline. It only became difficult when the offers came in and I wasn’t allowed to tell them3.
Chores — this sounds crazy (especially since I don’t enjoy cleaning) but during the first two weeks on sub, I deep cleaned my entire house. I found it very satisfying, almost meditative and it kept me away from my laptop.
Craft — anything that keeps your mind (and your hands) busy works, just be prepared to start a lot of projects and still have most of them unfinished six months later.
What Actually Happened
So while I was busy doing all of those things, this is what actually happened…
Weeks 1 and 2 progressed exactly as planned, and by 24th January my manuscript was on submission with 24 different editors.
In week 3, my agent sent my author biography out, and completed the last few submissions. However, we also had some early passes, but they all came with positive feedback that I found hugely encouraging. A big thank you to the editors who took the time to do this, because it still means so much.
In week 4, I had a couple more passes, then something absolutely amazing happened and I received my first offer. Obviously, I was hugely excited, especially since I hadn’t expected to get anything this early. My agent immediately sprang into action, sending a chaser out to all the other editors with a synopsis of my further work and a deadline of one week to get their offers in.
And so started what was definitely one of the longest weeks of my life.
By the end of week 5, we had multiple offers on the table, and while the number of passes far outweighed them, I was (for once) able to focus only on the positives.
This brings us up to mid-February 2025 in my path to publication. In the next instalment of this series, I’ll look at how I assessed the offers I received. If you’ve learned anything about me by now, you can be sure that it involved several quantitative measures and a spreadsheet! That edition will be coming on November 1st.
In the meantime, I have an idea of what I’m going to write over the next few blogs, but as when they are going to be published depends on holidays / editing / various other things, I won’t promise specific topics right now.
But rest assured, I’ll be back on 15th September regardless. See you then!
Apologies for the change in today’s topic. This edition was meant to be Two years of Substack, or, what I should have learned by now, but life got in the way.
This one is particularly good because it tells you what not to do while on sub too, i.e. being obsessed with the process, stalking editors on social media, or bitching when you get a pass. Take heed!
They forgave me afterwards, although at least one of them had their suspicions that something good had happened and I was lying through my teeth…
Love this! Thanks so much for sharing, and belated congratulations for your success! I'm clinging to stories like this as I get ready to query my first novel hopefully this month!