Things I wish someone had said to me before my book was submitted to publishers
Being on submission to publishers is a weird, mysterious time. There’s a certain level of secrecy around the whole thing, which sometimes becomes not talking about it at all. At least not publicly. I wanted to chat about the things I wish I’d been told before my book was sent to publishers.
IT WILL BE HARDER THAN YOU THINK
The main thing people share about being on submission is that it’s hard. Foolishly, I didn’t listen to this (which I realise doesn’t exactly bode well for you listening to me…). I convinced myself that because I’d queried three novels, I knew what this time was going to be like. I’d received hundreds of rejections from agents, so waiting on responses and getting passes from publishers couldn’t be much worse, right?
Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Silly past Anna.
Being on submission to publishers is really different. Lots of the elements look vaguely the same – rejection, lots of waiting, impostor syndrome becoming your bestie – but with the added bonus of YOUR DREAM IS ONE STEP AWAY FROM BECOMING TRUE. Very unhelpfully, I kept thinking to myself, ‘I could get an email today that would change my life.’ What a ridiculous amount of pressure to put on my inbox.
I’m not going to pretend that my experience of submission wasn’t easy compared to a lot of people’s. I was lucky enough to get a deal with my first book, and relatively quickly as well. But even so, the experience was so much harder than I thought it would be.
I wish I’d realised that and minimised stress in other areas of my life where possible. While on submission, I also had my house up for sale and was dealing with some tough health stuff. There were points when I felt completely overwhelmed, unable to carry anything else and unsure how to keep trucking.
Being on submission is wearing and absolutely so much harder than expected. The rest of this post focuses on how to make it a little easier.
WRITE SOMETHING STUPID
Another bit of advice (which I actually listened to this time – go me!) was that you should write something new while on submission. So that’s what I did. Until I couldn’t anymore.
I started getting anxious every time I sat down to write. I thought I was doing the right thing, so I forced myself to carry on, but the feeling got worse and worse. I would try to write my story but all I could think about were editors who might be reading (and rejecting) my other story.
I realised, after stepping back, that I was writing a serious thing that I could go on submission with next. So obviously, every time I tried to write it my mind went straight to the book I already had on submission.
I wasn’t able to write anything sensible while on submission, so instead I wrote something stupid.
I’d had an idea for a while about a Teen Wolf fanfic I wanted to try. I hadn’t had the time before, but all the other ideas that usually demanded my attention felt too scary. So instead, I wrote something I knew would never get published (except on AO3) and was purely fun.
It was incredible. I loved writing it. And it totally distracted me for great swathes of time from the grind of being on submission.
Try writing sensible stories when you’re on submission. Maybe you’re not like me and you can fall into the story and forget all about what’s going on in editors’ inboxes. But if you’re like me, try writing something fun. You’ll keep the words flowing and be ready to launch into more serious projects when the time comes.
This is an area where you can release yourself from some stress and pressure. Figure out if the project you’re writing while on submission is a joy or a chore, and change things up if you need to. Any writing (even werewolf humping) is going to help hone your craft. Writing something else is good advice – but it doesn’t have to be anything you don’t enjoy.
Side note – I also found it hard to read anything sensible at this time. I’m an avid reader, so a slump felt really weird to me. KU became my friend – short, fun stories that I didn’t have to think about too much helped me until books didn’t feel so scary anymore.
DON’T DO YOUR RESEARCH
Before we went on submission, Saskia (my lovely agent) sent me a list of publishers we were going to submit to. Even if your agent doesn’t do this, then there’s the temptation to google the heck out of editors looking for work in your genre.
DON’T DO IT!
Apart from a cursory check that none of them were in fact pirates, I did very little research about the editors Saskia was sending my work to. This kept me sane as the passes came in, as I’d not allowed myself to form a connection with any given editor. Only after someone showed interest did I go over to their website and find out more about them.
This is counter-intuitive, as while querying agents we gobble up every bit of information we can about them to make our query as strong as possible. But this is where your agent comes in. It’s their job to find the best suited publishers to send your work to. You have to trust that they are doing their job well and let them shoulder knowing editors well.
YOUR INBOX IS NOT YOUR FRIEND
So stop spending so much time with it! (I’m speaking to myself. I won’t listen. Gah.)
I honestly cannot tell you how many times a day I checked my emails while on submission. At times, I didn’t even think about it. The muscle memory was so ingrained that I’d be cooking pasta and find myself staring at my inbox. I didn’t know how I’d gotten from one to the other.
I had brief periods where I was a good egg and only checked them twice a day – both times when my husband was around to give me cuddles. BRIEF.
Most of the time, I treated my inbox like a friend. But one who ghosted me for long periods and then turned on me.
This constant checking definitely made me more anxious. It’s something I still struggle with as I now wait on emails from my editor. If you have self-control, exercise it in this area. Become accountable – and make sure people will tell you off if you check too much. Take your emails off your phone so that you can’t look every few seconds.
Hopefully, one day you’ll get an offer email. But in the meantime, you don’t need to torture yourself by looking at an empty inbox one thousand times a day.
Side note – one thing that made me less anxious about my emails was the subject my agent used. Saskia made sure the content of the email was abundantly clear straight away, so I didn’t have to do that panicked scrolling thing. It’s a good idea to ask your agent about how and when they are going to pass on feedback – make sure it’s a way that helps you.
OTHER WRITERS ARE THE BEST
The best. EVER.
Being on submission is a time when you need a group of people you can rant to and cry with and scream at (in joy. Mostly). Non-writers are okay, but even the most book-loving chum will often need some explanation.
But other writers get it. Even if they’ve not been on submission yet, they know what rejection feels like. They know the waiting sucks. They share in what you’re going through.
I don’t know what I would have done without my writing chums. They proved yet again (and you know who you are, you hotties) that they are super-human. They put up with all my angsting and SHOUTING and every bit of nonsense I threw at them.
They were also there with me (in spirit, since they stupidly live far away) when I got good news and couldn’t stop crying.
Find yourself some chums to chat about being on submission with. Reach out to more experienced writers and ask if it’s always going to be so hard (they will say helpful things). Don’t try to do this thing alone, because there are going to be times when you’ll need someone to hold your hand (or if you’re me, give you MANY hugs).
I hope being on submission has a happy ending for you. Please take care of yourself in every way you can. It’s a brutal experience, but the goal is worth it.
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Anna Britton 