My Publication Journey

On the first day of my master’s degree in creative writing, the course director asked us all what our hopes and aims were for the end of the course.

Did we simply want to complete a novel? Did we want to get the book published? If so, did we want to be traditionally published rather than self-published? If I’d been under any illusions before then, I was now put straight. 

Publishing is a brutal industry and the rejection rate for manuscripts is over 99 %. If you are one of the lucky ones, then only a tiny minority of the most successful authors are able to give up the day job to write full time and rely solely on their writing income. The rest must slog at day jobs to make ends meet and find time to write in the early hours or late at night to satisfy the writing bug. Any naïve dreams were removed when we were told that if the course achieved one published author out of every hopeful cohort, that would be an excellent result. So, when one of our number got an agent and a publishing deal before we had even graduated, we were all absolutely delighted for her, but I realised in a moment of gloom that meant, statistically, there was little hope for the rest of us.  

But, aspiring writers, do not despair! I do not believe the publishing world is as doom and gloom as some would have us believe. Behind what appears to the un-represented and un-published hopeful, the impenetrable wall of agents and publishers who ‘block’ our attempts at scaling the wall with unceremonious ‘no thank you’s,’ lies an industry relying on creatives to pay their wages and keep them in business. They need authors for their very survival and, despite appearances, they really are on the look-out for new writers and great stories. The secret is to keep writing and improving your craft, listen to advice and above all, persevere. ‘Never give up’ is a motto I stick by doggedly, indeed instilling it into my children until they roll their eyes at the oft-repeated phrase.   

My own journey to publication was, in common with the vast majority, bumpy and long-winded. The novel I started before I began the master’s programme, I ditched half-way through. The bare bones of the story were kept, but the manner of telling it was revamped. Long after the course finished, I completed my second draft. Over the next year I edited, re-edited and edited again. I took the plunge and sent it to fifteen agents, in three lots of five, and then sat back and waited. It didn’t take long for the rejections to come rolling in. I’d been expecting that, so I wasn’t too disappointed, especially as a couple were complementary and not the standard, ‘thanks, but no thanks.’  

But the rejections kept coming. Despite all you hear about even the most successful authors and their rejections, it’s hard to stay positive. It is easier to think your writing really is a load of rubbish. But I was not ready to give up. I was certain that one day, I could achieve my dream and get this book published, I just needed to make it better. The problem was how? 

After a lot of thought, I decided I should invest in having my manuscript assessed by a literary consultancy. It was yet more money, but it was definitely worth the investment. The report was encouraging and devastating in equal measure. I had made so many beginners mistakes. There were problems, it seemed to me, with every part of the book. But once I’d got over my emotional response to the report, and read it a couple more times, I was able to see that the editor thought the book had loads of potential. The story was great, the writing was good. I just needed to make it all better. 

And so began a big rewrite. I put the book aside for a while and then did another two rewrites. All in all, this took another two years. I finally felt ready to send it out again. I joined twitter and stalked agents. I researched them, read interviews about what they look for and who was open for submissions. This time I was more careful about who I sent it to. I became far more savvy. I honed my synopsis and cover letter. 

In the first batch of seven I sent it to, I had three requests for the full manuscript. I was beyond ecstatic. Then began a nail-biting wait. The days turned into weeks and the weeks passed by with no news. My excitement evaporated. I concluded it was time for another round of sending off.  This time I had four ideal agents on my list.

One Friday afternoon, just before the school pick up, I sent it to two of the four. I ran out of time and resolved to send it to the other two on the list on Monday. That became unnecessary. On the Saturday morning I received an email from one of my dream agents who said she was reading my book and really enjoying it. I literally danced around the kitchen. By Monday evening, she’d finished the book and asked to meet. It was just before Christmas and I could hardly believe my luck. It really was the best Christmas present I’d ever had.  

She suggested a few, relatively minor changes to the book which I was able to work on over the Christmas holidays. In the third week of January, the book went out on submission to publishers in the UK. The nail-biting wait began all over again. But this time, good news came fast in the shape of an offer for a two-book deal from Head of Zeus. Things moved very quickly when my agent submitted to the US, with a pre-empt offer from HarperCollins coming within just a couple of days of submission. There then followed offers for foreign rights. The stuff of dreams had suddenly become reality. 

The same day as we received the US offer, a rejection arrived from one of the agents who months ago had asked for the full manuscript. Funnily enough, I didn’t really care!