On Submission
My book went out to editors in the UK and US last week.
Having never got beyond … well, my own laptop, before all of this is new and bewildering. I’m constantly looking for blogs with an in on what happens and how it happens, so now … why not add my own?
Getting Ready
No matter how glossy your manuscript was when your agent signed you, it’ll probably need at least one once-over with your agent before it goes out to publishers. Mine was NOT glossy – I was signed off the back of 8k from a competition – so I went through several drafts. There were long periods in between D1 & D2 where I didn’t write at all because I was working or because I was distracted or because I was trapped in childcare-less lockdown. So my schedule looked like this.
Draft 1 – Jan 2021: Substantial. The shitty first draft. Which of course I thought was perfect. Lucy, gently, fed back that it might need a tiny bit more work.
Draft 2 – Jan 2022: Substantial. Pretty much full rewrite – from 93k to 120k, with about 20k of the original words. Lucy announced it transformed. But there was still work to be done.
Draft 3 – Mar 2022: General plot. Tightening up on structure, relationships and arcs. New ending.
Draft 4 – Apr 2022: Specific changes, targeted. Another new ending and line edits
Draft 5 – May 2022: Tweaks and line edits
Draft 6 – June 2022: Final line edits and proofing
SUBMISSION
Along with the sparkling MS, we submitted:
- An author bio
- An author’s note on the real story that my story is VERY LOOSELY based on.
- Images of Victorian spiritualism in action
- Lucy’s pitch – I’ve not seen her pitch, but she’s used as much colour as possible to draw the editors in.
AND NOW WE WAIT …
It’s the strangest sensation waiting for responses. Lucy has said that how it usually goes is that if an Editor likes it, they have to get their team on board, then the acquisitions team, then the sales team. It’s a complex, often drawn-out process. So if I hear before the end of summer I’ll be pleased!
I’m not nervous, though. I’m excited. I’ve never done this before, and I’ll never experience submitting my novel for the first time again. This is a big deal, but it’s also one to savour. So I’m excited for what lies ahead. I’m hoping one of them likes it and will offer, but if not, I got this far and that’s an incredible achievement. I’ve worked as hard as I could on this book. It’s the best thing I’ve ever written. But it’s out of my hands now. There’s absolutely nothing more I can do.
Here’s to Mrs Wood and all who are reading her right now. I hope you like her!
