THE ONE THAT RACED TO A SLOW FINISH
Cat/genre: Adult literary
Part of my sub story will feel familiar and other parts . . . will not.
About four years ago (2018), I began writing every day with the purpose of finishing a novel in a year. That was the goal: take the last year while I was home with our very small children, before I went ‘back to work’, and write a novel. In my head, I thought “write a novel” meant not only complete a full draft, but also getting it published. (Cue laughter.)
Fast forward six months and . . . I did finish. I found a local writer’s group to connect with and formed a network. I sent out parts for feedback, revised the whole thing and got ready to query. Mind you, while I had found real-live human beings to connect with, I wasn’t on Twitter. My research was based entirely on me Googling literary agencies, reading each wish list, comparing it to MSWL and compiling a spreadsheet.
I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I sent out a first batch to 3 agents all the same.
Now, here’s the first part that won’t sound familiar to a lot of you: I got a full request within a day. And an offer two weeks later. I accepted.
Whew! I thought I was done! (I was not done.)
We went on sub a very short three months later—after a few minor edits. This was January of 2020. Initially, my agent said she subs most novels for 3 months (this will also not sound familiar to most of you—as it’s not that common a strategy.) But . . . that’s what happened. Each week was misery. I’d start the week hopeful, constantly checking my email. By Wednesday, I’d plateau. By Thursday, I was impossible to live with because I was preparing myself for the Friday rejection slush pile. I hated Fridays. I hated myself. I was a failure, and I was kidding myself that this was going to happen. By March 2020, we had heard back from over 20+ editors. I didn’t know it at the time, but all were polite form rejections.
Cue the end of the world.
I didn’t take a lot of the rejection to heart. Ok, I did—but I didn’t let it kill me. By this point, I had found Twitter. I had found other agented writers and realized my querying path didn’t match most people’s. I had signed with an agent on my first book. I had an agent after only querying 3. That had to mean something, right? I had gotten feedback (great writing, great character, boring story) that let me know I had some promise—but also a lot of work ahead of me. Maybe I wasn’t crazy to think I could publish a book. I also learned that getting feedback that quickly was a bit out of the norm. Turns out, it wasn’t as bad as it could be. In the middle of homeschooling our four children during the pandemic, I started writing again.
The idea for the next thing had come to me as soon as I was finishing my first book. I got up at 5am every day before my kids were up to write for an hour or two while my husband did the morning shift, then wrote for another hour during nap time. I read every craft book I could get my hands on. I read everything in my genre published in the last five years that got any buzz. I was going to do this. Writing through the pandemic saved my sanity. It gave me something I could control. I finished a draft, got feedback, revised. Revised again. Sent it to my writer’s group, revised again. Revised again. Remember: writing is rewriting.
By January 2021, we went on sub with book #2. Passes came in almost immediately and right away, I could tell they were different. For one, they said they read the full manuscript (this is when I realized not reading the full manuscript was a thing.) They each said something along the lines of “I know this is going to get picked up right away by someone else, but . . .” and then proceeded to lay out reservations that didn’t quite seem actionable.
Finally, we got a hint that one editor was willing to chat. My agent set up a phone call, and I had the loveliest editorial chat with one of the smartest people ever to have read my book. Her feedback would make the book stronger. She couldn’t promise an offer until after she read the revision, but I knew it would make the book better and improve its chances for a second round. I got a confidence boost that I wasn’t deluded. I was getting somewhere.
I dove into revisions. Finished that draft, sent it to my agent and immediately got to work on book #3.
I finished my third book extremely quickly (I found Save the Cat! I outlined before I wrote! I love outlines, she says, after pantsing her way through her first two books and dozens of revisions!) But now . . . I had this third book that I knew was stronger. Part of me wanted to pull book #2, even though it had only gone out to a small first round of 8. If those eight said no, surely, they had to be right. But then I read book #2 again, remembered why I loved it and how much I loved the characters and story and off we went on our second round.
Book #2 went to another 18+ editors (big second round!) in October of 2021, including the editor I had the phone call with. Three quick passes came in before the holidays—including the phone call editor who still didn’t think it had a big enough mystery (did I mention I’m a literary mystery writer? Also, beware the Ides of March and R&Rs).
This round was the worst feedback (and also the most absurd) I’d ever gotten. It stung. My agent “pulled” the submission during the holidays, (i.e. sent an email saying you can wait to read until January lest anyone make a quick rejection to clear their desks before the new year). By January 2022, there were still 15+ editors who had it and my agent confirmed we were back on sub.
And then . . . nothing.
For the first time in my submission journey, my manuscript was getting met with only silence (which has sadly become the new normal for a lot of writers during the pandemic). Part of me was sure that this was what rejection looked like in the post-Covid publishing world. There was talk of ‘the great resignation’ and orphaned authors, and the general slow-down rippling through submission and querying. Ghosting was now a Common Thing (TM). Part of me was beginning to lose faith in book #2, especially once I had beta reader feedback on book #3 and outside confirmation that yes, book #3 was stronger. I didn’t want to read another rejection, I just didn’t. Maybe it was better to pull book #2 before another barb came through to my inbox.
But.
The other part of my head—and the message my agent kept telling me—was to keep faith. No news is good news. No news could mean nothing, or it could mean second reads—which were also taking longer than they had in the past—and there was absolutely no way to tell the difference. (Isn’t publishing the greatest!)
But I just didn’t think I had another rejection in me.
Turns out, I didn’t have to.
Six weeks into 2022, (still a very quick turnaround for pandemic times), we got two glimmers of hope from two very different houses. Like, VERY different houses. Neither were Big 4, and my agent spoke to both editors who were interested. She called me right after the first call to tell me they were going to offer. (Cue spontaneous hallway crying.)
I spoke to both editors and had two very different phone calls. One editor, from a more commercial house, wanted the book to ‘move faster.’ The editorial feedback didn’t sit right. It would require a substantial overhaul of something I had rewritten from the ground up nearly three times. I spoke to another author at this house and got confirmation, more literary books didn’t do as well there.
Enter the second editor—from a more literary house. They loved the first two-thirds and wanted the last third to feel as literary as the beginning. This, I got. It was confirmation about what had gone wrong: I didn’t realize how literary the book was, and we had subbed to mostly mainstream commercial imprints. So, ultimately, it really was about finding the right fit house.
The more commercial house offered by the end of the week and the more literary house—the one I really wanted to work with—offered 2-3 weeks later (those extra weeks were literal HELL). I was at Disney World when my agent called. It really is the happiest place on earth, apparently.
My takeaway: It’s all going to take exactly as long as it’s going to take. There’s nothing you can do to speed up a process that’s intended to take 500 years. Between rewriting and waiting for feedback, you will absolutely drive yourself insane if you don’t have other ways to keep yourself busy and keep your brain at work. We are writers. We have overactive imaginations. It’s a blessing and a curse. I keep my imagination busy by always be writing, rather than say, refreshing my inbox every fifteen minutes. You’ll have to find your own sanity-soother somewhere, somehow. I say, keep writing. If it’s not your first book, maybe it will be your second. Or your third. Or your fourth. But go to your desk every day because you’re a writer, first and last. And that’s what you do.
*
The stories on this blog are posted anonymously so that authors can speak candidly about their experience. If you have a sub story you’d like to share, drop me an email at: katedylanbooks@gmail.com
*