The Submission Process

Meera Shah is a psychological suspense writer based in London, UK. Her debut novel will be published by Hodder Studio, an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton in Spring ’23.

The submission process. Google it and you’ll find only a handful of entries on what it entails. A couple of blog posts. A video or two, if you’re lucky with your search terms. Nothing compared to the multitude of Bookseller ‘hot off the press’ articles announcing pre-empts, auctions and six figure deals. But if most traditionally published authors go through this process, why is it shrouded in a veil of mystery? I think I might have the answer. 

As of tomorrow, Thursday 29 April 2021 I will be four weeks into the submission process (this article was first published on my author website on the 28th April). My wonderful agent Camilla Bolton of Darley Anderson Literary Agency submitted my debut and a snippet of my second novel out to a curated list of editors just before the Easter weekend. To speak truthfully, without blowing my own trumpet, I thought by now I’d have popped the champagne and signed gleefully on the dotted line. 

So, why was I under this illusion? 

Well, back in October (2020), I submitted my debut to seven first choice agents. It took me a day to receive my first full manuscript request (with the five others following close behind) and two weeks to receive my first agent offer, with the next two following soon after that. 

I know this is rare. Extremely rare. I know I was lucky to find several incredible agents to champion my work. But this in itself led to unrealistic expectations. Because of my experience, I began to have faith in my work. And somewhat mistakenly I believed that publishers would be queuing up outside my door. And who could blame me? Twitter, Instagram, the book community only ever documents the golden tickets. You have to search hard for the other story. The most common story that is, of rejection, several unpublished manuscripts tucked away in a dusty drawer and weeks, months, years of relentless waiting. 

In the last four weeks, I have morphed into someone I despise, who can move from hysterical laughter to rage to sickening sobbing in a matter of seconds. I can’t write because my confidence has plummeted to ground zero. I can’t concentrate on anything (the day job, Netflix, my three gorgeous dogs) except the loud contemplation of failure. But I think the hardest part for me is the lack of control, the not knowing whether editors have even read my novel or whether it has been tossed in an ever-growing TBR pile. The knowledge that I have done everything I possibly can, but it still might not be enough is crippling. I know editors are busy. I know that there are so many different stakeholders who have an input into the eventual outcome. But it doesn’t take away from how HARD the waiting is. The waiting with absolutely zero guarantee. 

As I continue to maniacally refresh my e-mails, sob into my Earl Grey and contemplate alternative careers (a dog walker sounds nice), I thought I would end this post on a high – with some success stories, words of wisdom and advice from some of my favourite debut authors who have kindly given me their time. 

Buki Papillion, Author of An Ordinary Wonder 

Being on submission to editors is one of the most nail-biting, stomach-roiling experiences a writer can undergo. The whole experience of first writing your book and then putting it out into the world has likely so far felt like one of those long-distance obstacle races where the next hurdle you have to clear is even higher than the previous one, and yet you cannot stop running, and you can hardly breathe. 

Here is the thing; being on submission to editors is the point where you do have to stop and take that deep breath, because you have done the work. You have written a whole book! An agent fell in love with it and you finally got a professional partner in your obstacle race, someone to whom you have now passed the baton, and who possesses the knowledge and sustenance and high-tech gear that you both need to make it to the end, and to win. Imagine, for a moment, that for your agent, this is like an adoption. They want very much for this beautiful and innocent new ‘infant’ they have embraced to succeed and thrive.

If the initial rejections roll in, as they might, remember none of it is about you. All of that is about how one singular editor is experiencing the current publishing atmosphere, and about their personal tastes. Your book is a valid existing work of art which will make yet another editor’s heart beat faster till they say I must have that! It’s not unlike dating because you want an editor who will be so starry-eyed with love for your words they will stay enthusiastic throughout the whole wild publication ride and beyond. 

If you must worry, pick a time when you will check your phone obsessively for about 20 minutes and allow yourself to do so within that time but not at any other.  To help keep your mind off things, ensure that your phone has a specific notification tone that dings when your agent emails, or a special ringtone when they call, so you know you’ll be immediately alerted if there’s news. Then go ahead and leave that refresh button alone! A particularly apt African proverb (these play a big role in my novel, An Ordinary Wonder, which is set in Nigeria,) states; ‘One does not, in addition to rearing, scratch the ground for the chicken to find food’. Meaning you have done your part and your book is now out there doing the good work that you and your agent have designed it to do, so occupy yourself meanwhile with something that will be more profitable and helpful.

All this might seem easier to say than do but it will assuredly save your wellbeing and sanity, so immerse yourself in something uplifting. Instead of hitting refresh every few minutes, turn to something that brings you great joy and takes you out of the current moment. Reading? Running? Dancing? Cooking? Gardening? Karaoke? If you have another writing work in progress, see if you can completely lose yourself within that other world. Or maybe take this fallow time to experiment with a different writing form; e.g. if you usually write novels, then maybe try poetry? Short stories? 

The idea is to divert yourself with something that brings immediate reward and makes you feel good, because pretending that this isn’t a time of great anxiety is not helpful but recognizing that it is and then deliberately going out of your way to distract yourself from that anxiety, is the most helpful thing. This is also a good time to invest in one of those breathing and calming meditation apps and use it as frequently as your mind turns back, as it inevitably will, to being on submission and your breath hitches with worry. Instead of hitting refresh, do a five-minute calming meditation then continue with whatever other activity you were doing. You can no more influence the process at this point than you can use your mind to bend a steel bar. Stay positive. Hope for the best. Believe in your work.

These tactics helped me take those deep breaths when my agent, Juliet Mushens sent my book out on submission to editors. It was not easy to stay calm, but I applied these strategies and, by the time I got the good news that Dialogue Books had acquired An Ordinary Wonder, I was already deep into writing another book which I am now completing, even as my debut novel has now been published and is finding its way into the world. 

So, in brief, while on submission:

1) Consciously breathe and meditate, even if only for 5 minutes at a time.

2) Set a special alert so you will be immediately notified if there’s news, to make it easier to persuade your mind to focus on something else meanwhile. 

3) Practice productive distraction – any activity you enjoy that will give you something to feel good about while waiting.

Wishing you all the very best of luck!  
Lorraine Brown, Author of Uncoupling

If I thought waiting for news from agents was difficult, the process of submitting the novel to publishing houses was even more anxiety-inducing! I signed with my agent, Hannah, in August 2019 and by that September she had submitted Uncoupling to 17 editors who she thought might like the book. I didn’t know who they were, so there was something very mysterious about it all, and it felt too big to imagine that any of them might actually like it enough to make an offer. I was told that two weeks was a typical time to wait for a response, which turned out to be about right – some ‘passes’ came within days, but other editors took nearer to three weeks to make a decision. At the same time, my agent submitted to about the same number of editors in the US, and the foreign rights agent at my agency was also submitting to editors elsewhere in the world. I actually got two offers from Germany first, which was amazing in many ways, not least because the book went to auction – more than one person was offering me an actual advance for my book! But still…deep down I knew I really wanted a deal in my own language, in my own country, and so I was constantly on edge, waiting for news from the UK. I refreshed my email approximately 150 times a day! It felt completely overwhelming; I couldn’t think about anything else.

My agent had told me that the ‘no’ replies would probably come in first, so I calculated numbers in my head, working out how many editors were yet to respond, getting more and more panicky as time went on and more ‘passes’ came in. Sometimes my agent would give me snippets of feedback – stuff like ‘they’re giving it to the wider team to read’ or ‘they’re loving it so far.’ I think the stress came to a head when editors liked the book enough to take it to acquisitions – I knew what that meant because I’d read everything about it I could find on Google, and it sounded terrifying! I think it was probably the thought that I’d come so far, but that things could very easily go wrong at the final hurdle. I knew I’d find it devastating if it did.

My advice for authors going through the submission process would be to find things to distract yourself with – perhaps starting a new writing project, a new TV series, a new book, anything to take your mind off the inevitable for a second! And monitor how often you check your emails – it’s not healthy to become obsessive about it, I don’t think. Also, it really reassured me to listen to other authors’ publication stories, which had rarely gone smoothly, either – I binged on podcasts like The Brit Lit Podcast and The Honest Authors Show.

Sarah Lawton, Author of All The Little Things

I don’t think there’s a lot written about submission because it’s so painful. It’s so exciting initially, but when the rejections start coming in, it quickly turns to misery. I think many people think getting the agent is *it*, job done, you’re going to be published but that’s often not the case and it makes the process all the more crushing. It took my tenacious agent four months to find me a publisher, and I don’t know what the norm is. I just know that if you’re not snapped up immediately in an auction, you could be in for the long haul, or ultimately, having to go back to the drawing board. No one wants to talk about how much rejection hurts. Personally, hearing that big five publishers would have bought my book if I’d only written it two years before was an absolute killer. That and editors wanting it but acquisitions teams turning it down because I was a debut and the market was saturated. All the reasons are killers and absolutely heartbreaking – it’s such a personal pain too. Not many other people understand, and I think silent solidarity is the norm.

 This all sounds very negative doesn’t it? I don’t know if it’s what you were looking for. If it’s advice, it would have to be – don’t take it personally. The market is subjective. Your book is wonderful, but if publishers don’t think the market is right for it, it just won’t sell. And they make the market. It’s not a reflection of your talent, and there’s not a lot you can do to change that. You just have to try again. Don’t give up. And make sure you’re already working on the next project, because you’ll need the focus!

Haleh Agar, Author of Out of Touch

There is no universal experience for being on submissions, and I think that’s an important thing to keep in mind through the process. For me what is most helpful is working on a new writing project, whether that’s a new novel or a short story. This keeps the feelings of excitement going. I love writing for so many reasons, one of the main reasons being that I enjoy evolving ideas– from their conception through various drafts where they build depth. I also read in my genre during submissions, books which I greatly admire because it keeps alive that feeling of inspiration.

My mindset overall is to keep fostering feelings of excitement and inspiration, because that is why I write. It can be easy otherwise to get lost in other feelings, and to forget the reason for this drive of writing.

Another thing I’ve realised about the submissions process is that you are in effect looking for someone to co-create with, someone who can help you progress your ideas, even take them in new directions. I see the manuscript as an ever-evolving thing, and this helps me stay open, instead of holding a narrow vision for how submissions should go.

Caroline Khoury, Author of It Must Be Love (out in Feb’22)

I could hardly believe it when my agent said we were ready for submission. It had been a long year of rewrites and editing mixed up with family health issues and the start of a pandemic. It was summer and we were three months into the first lockdown and possibly not the best time to be on submission but I had put all my trust into my agent’s hands and knew there was nothing more I could do. Looking back at the dates it took three weeks between that first submission day and my offer from my publisher. It’s impossible not to compare yourself with others. Previous authors of my agent had gone to massive auctions with their debuts so the initial news in the first week that three editors were enjoying the manuscript and wanted to share it with their teams made my heart soar.

Days then dragged, people had holidays and no news came except from my agent to say ‘be patient’ . My emotions were constantly see-sawing. Start writing book two they say but it was impossible to focus. Then came those magic words that one publisher wanted to make an offer. In the end it didn’t go to auction because the other two editors couldn’t get it past their finance teams. But to me it didn’t matter because I was euphoric and knew the book had found its perfect home. I think I was lucky. Three weeks is a very short time. I had been geared up for it taking months but I think there isn’t much out there online about what actually happens when you are on submission, how many people need to read it and approve the deal. Too often we only hear about those submissions that took two days and went for six figures. But that’s not the case for so many books. My advice? Trust your agent, find good distraction techniques and don’t put yourself under any pressure to get more writing done!

FINALLY, if like me you are in the depths of the submission process, I found this article by Phoebe Morgan, Author (we share the same amazing agent) and Editorial Director at Harper Collins UK really helpful: https://phoebemorganauthor.com/2021/01/16/on-submissions/

GOOD LUCK xxx

NB Since writing the original article, I have gone on to secure a two-book deal with Hodder Studio, an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton, the first of which is due to be published in Spring 2023. I received my offer after a long six weeks of waiting and am absolutely over the moon. 

I hope you found this article useful. If you would like to follow my publishing journey or have any questions, you can reach me on Twitter @ElbayMeera. 

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: How To and Tips