Melissa Charles author

In case you thought that anxiety ended once you signed with an agent, allow me to introduce the next stage of publishing: going on submission.

Step One: Depending on your agent, there are also revisions to go through. Personally, I freaking love how editorial my agent is. I knew when querying that it was something that was important to me, so was definitely something I asked about during The Call.

Step Two: When your agent pronounces that revisions are complete, it’s now time for the submission letter. Basically, it’s a query letter to editors, and your agent writes it instead of you. My agent showed me the sub letter and asked for feedback. Agents may also ask if there is editor they’d like included on the sub list.

Step Three:

The first round of sub has begun! Different agents have different approaches. Generally, they fall into two camps: the first sends only the sub letter, and waits for the editor to request the full manuscript. The second includes the full manuscript with the letter. How many editors in the first round vary, but from asking author friends, 12-15 seem pretty common.

What is a ’round of sub?’ Agents curate a list of editors they think will be interested in your book. Just like when querying, you don’t blast it out to every agent on your list, agents select editors according to whatever criteria they have in mind. If you want to know what the criteria is, ask your agent. Seriously. If in doubt at any point during the process, ask. Your agent is your business partner. This is your career. Ask the questions.

First round is out, now what? Every agent has their own method of doing things. Some nudge after thirty, sixty, or ninety days. Some send out a second round after x number of rejections or x number of days. The number of rounds that happen are completely dependent on what genre, age group, etc your ms is in.

How do I know what’s going on?: That’s something to discuss with your agent before you go on sub. You can ask for what you want/need in terms of communication. I have friends who only want to be updated once a month. Some want every editor response forwarded as they come in. Some agents establish a spreadsheet that they share with their clients with editors listed, then updated with any activity.

I find the spreadsheet helpful, although I did ask my agent to pause on recording any rejections that might come in around my birthday.

The End: There’s really only two endings for being on sub: the book sells or it doesn’t. If an offer happens, there are contract negotiations, etc before signing and an announcement may be made via Publishers Marketplace. (Be aware that negotiations and announcements may take a very long time. I’ve heard of deals being announced a year after the deal was made.)

Dying on sub: This happens far more often than folks like to talk about. I don’t know if it’s a ‘fake it til you make it’ situation, that people are worried that a book not selling somehow casts a gloom over future novels or they’re worried about ticking off whatever publishing deities may be lurking, but it definitely isn’t an uncommon thing to experience. Publishing trends wax and wane, markets contract, and there’s nothing to be done about it other than get through it.

Final Thoughts: Whether you sell or end up having to shelve your book (for now, there’s always the potential for it to sell later when the market shifts again), I think the most important thing about being on sub is having open and clear communication with your agent. Being able to ask questions, to be fully informed about what’s going on with your work is vital. As authors, sub can be harder than querying because of the lack of control. Our agents are steering this ship, and are the first line of communication with editors. We wait.

And what do we do while we wait? Altogether now:

WE WORK ON THE NEXT THING.