THE ONE WITH A HUGE RISKY ROUND
Cat/genre: Upmarket
My sub story begins with a writing story followed by a querying story.
Writing story: 25 years ago, I became that cliche, a teacher hoping to whip out novels in her summers (ha!). I started MS#1 in secret because I barely believed in this dream. Made slow progress because of life and a need to study craft. Stopped teaching to stay home with kids, carved out a tiny bit more writing time. Fast forward to 2020: two teens and a marriage under my belt, three write-to-learn manuscripts of different genres (MG, YA, thriller) in drawers—never queried because the editing work felt daunting. Then Covid hit: I faced my mortality (Ah! I could die without really trying!!) and got to work. It helped that I stopped spending my life in a car, shuttling kids around.
March 2020: began MS that had simmered in my mind for years
Summer 2021: finished first draft; started critique swaps
Most of 2022: 10 beta swaps and four MAJOR overhauls.
Summer 2022: Workshopped some at a conference; positive feedback
Oct 2022: started querying*
*Used query tracker to enter slush piles (no publications, no writing degree, no social-media presence).
Querying story:
Round one: 18 agents: 4 fulls pretty quickly. Two passed; two returned as RnRs—one vague and one very positive with detailed revision notes from a dream agent I so wanted, who’d requested first.
Revised during holidays and January.
Round two: mid Feb 2023, out to 18 others plus my dream agent: four more requests for fulls.
Reputable agent, passionate about the book, offered at the end of March after a great phone call. I set a 2-week deadline for the others, hoping my dream agent would offer; she stepped aside (a stab in the heart, that slow-no!), as well as the others. Officially signed with the original offering agent mid-April.
So now we’re finally at the bit you’re after: my Sub story.
After two rounds of agent edits, the book went on sub August 1st, supposedly publishing’s deadest month besides the festive season; this was due to conflicting vacations/personal issues and because my agent didn’t want to just wait.
Huge round: 37! Mostly big 5 imprints and several boutiques I’d never heard of. I worried about the big round and prayed for a big 5 bite.
Week 1: one RnR (from a dream editor) and two rejections (34 left)
Week 2: four rejections (30 left)
Week 3: one rejection (29 left)
Week 4: silence, but it preceded Labor day
Week 5: 3 rejections (26 left)
Most of the rejections were complimentary, from great houses. Several editors said “this was a close one for me,” and two said “it’s rare for me to finish a MS these days,” which was a startling revelation.
But even with all that excitement, the “buzz period” (month one of sub, according to my agent) came and went without an offer. And I feared my agent had gone out too hard in a dead month.
Surprisingly, in week five, my dream editor with the week 1RnR reached out to my agent asking if we were considering the revision, as the book was still on her mind. My agent said that hardly happens, so we discussed changing structure and the ending for this editor. But I feared doing a huge overhaul, with only this long-shot editor to submit to since we’d exhausted our options with such a big round. I asked my agent about waiting for the outstanding 25, but she said we probably needed to read the writing on the wall, that she doubted any of the others would come through in a big way, and that we should probably start revisions. This shocked me because I’d read (right here on this site!) that 5 weeks is a blip in the publishing world. I spent that weekend depressed, feeling like the book had been killed by going out too strong, that I would spend two months of nose-to-the grindstone rewriting, courting a slow no.
Then in week 6, while sitting down and outlining the rewrite, I got my shout-from-the-rooftop news: a boutique publisher loved it, wanting the book in a big way! That feeling!!—I hope you all get to feel it too. Met the editorial team on a Wednesday over zoom; four of their people were on the call (all had read), confirming that I’d get way more attention/support from them than any Big 5. That afternoon, the editor asked my agent if she had a price in mind for a pre-empt! What?? Apparently, that can be part of the poker game, and this particular indie has a budget to play with the big 5. At this point, I loved this company and wanted them over any big 5. But agent played hardball and threw out a number that made me worry we’d lose the deal. Then there was silence for a nerve-wracking anxiety-filled day during which I thought we’d scared them off. But at the 11th hour they came back with a much smaller but respectable number. Agent threw back another number and we settled in the middle to take the book off the table. Whew!
Morals of the story: indies rock; trust your agent; and a big gamble can pay off.
*
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
*