![]() ![]() They may pass on your manuscript to their assistant, intern, or in-house editorial staff for a read before they even consider it. Oh, and your one, single editor at an imprint? They have a team. have far fewer editors available, making it much riskier and significantly more difficult to land a book deal. There are approximately 40 editors in the total publishing pool (one per imprint) where an agent can send your manuscript before the submission process is exhausted, although some genres like sci-fi, or specific markets like the U.K. This is known as sending out in “rounds”. Some will send to a handful, wait for feedback, then move on to the next few. Some literary agents send to all editors at once, hoping to drive up interest with a “big bang” effect. Once your literary agent has her pitch letter and her list (she may or may not share either of these with you, or she may even ask for your input in writing her pitch letter, which will look eerily similar to your original query letter), she will send your manuscript out into the world. They’re extremely adept at literary matchmaking. And, by the way, if you’re still unconvinced that you need a literary agent to secure a book deal, one of the best things about agents is that it’s their job to find out exactly what editors are looking for and which genres they represent. Your literary agent can only send to one person per imprint, so she’ll likely spend a while refining her list, ensuring that she’s aligning your manuscript to an editor’s tastes. Essentially, she will do whatever she can to hype it up, making it irresistible to editors. And, in some cases, she may even get a few book blurbs before she takes it out, especially if you happen to know any big-named authors who are willing to vouch for you. She may even make a few phone calls, generating hype around the “launch”. Your literary agent will prepare a pitch letter to send to editors within publishing houses and imprints. In other words, your baby is about to be sent out to acquisitions editors at publishing houses who are simply going to LOVE it. Your literary agent will have worked with you to give your manuscript the best possible chance of success, as she will know better than anyone that it all comes down to this: your shot at a traditional book deal. You’ve signed with a literary agent, been back and forth several times on your manuscript, editing and polishing it to bulletproof perfection. If you have reached the on submission stage: congratulations. What does it mean to be on submission to publishers? Nothing quite compares to this journey, and every author’s journey is unique. Staying sane, and having an excellent support network around you (plus chocolate chip cookies and/or Ben & Jerry’s) as you navigate being on submission to publishers is crucial. And the timeline – more on that below – can be completely bananas. Personally, I didn’t sleep well for the first couple of weeks. Writer imposter syndrome inevitably creeps in. At this point, there’s no rhyme or reason to doubt that your book is good enough to be published, and yet, this is inevitably what you start doing: doubting yourself. Having personally been out on submission once, and now about to go out for a second time, I can tell you, it is truly agonizing. Publishing is an incestuous industry, and news travels fast. So it’s fine to say you’re out on sub, but not to say who’s reading it. ![]() It sort of ruins the game – much like you wouldn’t tell one company at a job interview all of the other companies you’re interviewing with. However, a more probable reason is that other editors shouldn’t be able to easily locate who else is reading it. ![]() And yet, being on submission is how book deals happen! It’s the end game to getting your book published! So why aren’t we talking about it more? My main theory is because money is involved, and it’s uncouth to talk about money. It’s like this great, mystical process that is totally overshadowed by the importance of securing a literary agent. The secret of being “on sub”įor reasons unknown, being out on sub is not something that’s commonly spoken about by writers. Forget any semblance of control being out on submission (or “on sub”) is a wild experience, and one that’s totally out of your hands. Plus, it’s totally driven by publishers: the gatekeepers to your publishing dreams. That’s because going out “On Submission to Publishers” is such a different beast than just subbing a short story to Submittable. You’ll notice this posted under the Publishers topic rather than the Submissions topic. ![]()
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