Writing

What happens when an editor receives a submission?

When I was out on submission, this was a question I asked Lucy in various forms probably a hundred times.

This is her brilliant response:

They have to rally their team! Usually it would go something like: editor reads and loves > circulates to their wider team > pitches at editorial meeting > pitches at acquisitions meeting (can be the week after) > and if the book makes it to this point with the support of the team the editor is allowed to make an offer!

Writing

Doin’ it the American way

OR, HOW DOES THE SUBMISSION PROCESS WORK FOR UK AUTHORS IN THE US? I googled the arse out of this when my UK agent suggested a US agent might want to take my book out in the US. Was the process the same? Was it quicker? Was it – GOD FORBID – slower?? Would I…

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Writing

Editing: the WD40 of writing

I am currently on Submission. Or, more accurately, Mrs Wood is on Submission. Whenever I think about what’s happening in the ether, I hear this weird mash-up of both the theme from Jaws and Here Comes The Sun. A discomfiting medley indeed. But there is no time, nor need, for glibness. Because submitting my novels…

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Writing

From Rep to Sub

Once you’re represented by a lovely Literary Agent, you’ll be glad to know that the 3am endless searching for stories on how people got their Agent will be vanquished, and finally you will sleep through the night once more. Here’s the thing I’ve Googled the most since I signed to my wonderful Agent, Lucy (book…

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Writing

My First Book Deal – Part 1

When my book was about to go out on submission to Editors, I spent a loooot of time Googling book deal stories. I wanted to read about those overnight pre-empts, the five way auctions, the clamouring of Italian publishers. But I also wanted to read about the slow-burners: the ones who waited months for the…

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Writing

On Funny

I was recently asked during a Q&A about historical fiction authors who have influenced me and I completely blanked. Of course Stacey Halls and Jessie Burton came to mind immediately because their levels of readership are my aspiration, but while I love historical fiction – because it’s fiction AND it’s historical – the authors who’ve…

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Writing

Writing when you don’t want to write

We all know that if you want to write a novel, you have to WRITE a novel. But sometimes writing is the last thing you want to do. Sometimes our brains go on strike. And sometimes life is too full on to give it the attention it requires – can I just mention here the…

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