My goal while on the journey to become a published author is to be transparent about every step of the process. The writing community helped me with so many resources and information, and I want to return the favor.
My last post was about how I got my agent (the amazing Kat Kerr) and most of this is going to be me filling in the gaps between that and landing my publishing deal.
Here are some quick stats:
My agent and I did two rounds of revisions before going on submission, with a third round partially through submissions
I was on submission for just under a year, with a two-month editing break in the middle, so a total of around ten months.
In total, we submitted my manuscript to 28 editors. 24 were rejections, 3 were no response, and 1 was an offer.
The journey:
After getting my agent, we dove into revising my manuscript pretty quickly. I received a developmental edit letter and in-manuscript revision suggestions, which mostly focused on pacing, chapter-by-chapter plot edits, and swapping some scenes around. My agent was great and we had a video call beforehand to talk in person about the suggested revisions to make sure we were on the same page. This was my first time doing official edits and honestly, I enjoyed it way more than I expected. Working with a professional who really knows the craft felt like such a valuable learning opportunity and my manuscript improved massively.
After that, we moved on to line edits. This was essentially just cleaning up the story and grammar, and cutting out anything non-essential to get my word count down to where it should be. This was the hardest part for me, mostly because I was so pleased with the story and had to cut out around 15,000 words, which felt impossible at points.
We ended up finishing all revisions within six months and going on submission at the end of August 2022.
Our first round of submissions went out to fourteen publishing houses. Over the next few months, my agent sent check-ins, I received my first soul-crushing rejections, and we ultimately decided to do another quick round of revisions after going over the feedback my manuscript had gotten. Our main focus was just to tighten up the plot and pacing, and edit the ending.
We sent out the second round of submissions with my edited manuscript in February 2023 to nine other publishing houses.
The third and final round of submissions was to five publishing houses in April 2023. This is the round where I received an offer from Titan Publishing on August 10th, 2023.
We received the offer and I got in a call with my agent to discuss. She shared their great feedback and offer, and then we set up a call with the editor who made the offer, Katie Dent. Our call went great, Katie was beyond lovely, enthusiastic, and complimentary of my story. I could tell she was passionate about it and I was immediately excited at the thought of working with her.
My agent then notified the editors we hadn’t gotten a response from yet and after waiting to hear back from them all, she went into negotiations with Titan Publishing. This took a bit of time but eventually, everything was accepted, the deal went through, and I got to share the news with everyone!
The joy I felt is honestly beyond describing. Manuscript rejections hit like a punch to the gut and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about giving up so many times. I served my story and my heart up to these editors and every rejection felt like they were saying I wasn’t good enough. And in the publishing industry, there’s such pressure to get an immediate deal, a Big Five deal, a huge advance, an auction over our book, etc. so it’s disheartening when your experience isn’t a magical one. It really makes you wonder if you’re not going to make it.
But I know this was the editor and publishing house my books were meant to end up with. My experience with them so far, their kindness and enthusiasm, and their values as a publisher have all exceeded my expectations.
Twitter/Instagram Q&A
I asked for any questions people had, to make sure I touched on everything that could be helpful. Below are those questions and answers.
What was the revision process like? Did your agent work with you to decide what’s best or provide you with issues and you came up with fixes?
I talked about the revision process above but overall, it was a great experience for me. Seeing my story improve with every round was so rewarding. As for my agent, it was a bit of a mix of the above two options. For smaller issues, she would mark it on my manuscript with a comment along the lines of, “This reads a little out of character” or “I think this scene could be condensed” and then leave me to fix it. For bigger developmental edits, she often worked with me. We have many back-and-forth emails and messages trying to work out how to change something up or where to move a plot point so it’s more effective. I think one of the reasons this was such a great experience for me is because of my agent—her suggestions were always insightful and great, but the story never stopped feeling like mine. If I disagreed or had a question about the thought behind changing something, we would discuss it, but I always knew the final decision was up to me.
What kept you going?
Stubbornness, if I’m being honest. This has been my dream for so long and I put all my eggs in this basket, so I wasn’t going to give up. Aside from that, my friends and family being a constant source of encouragement, and my agent’s unwavering belief in me. She was such a true champion for my book and never hesitated to cheer me up or fight for me.
What did some of your editor rejections look like?
Most of my rejections, if not all, were very kind and helpful. I got some of the generic rejections, but the editors who took the time to give feedback were always very nice and complimentary of my manuscript.
Some of the main highlights were that my writing was charming, my story had suspenseful romantic angst, darkly fantastical undertones, and an immersive world, and that my main characters had a compelling connection.
Some of the main reasons my manuscript was rejected were that it didn’t spark enough passion to champion it, the editor wasn’t the right fit or already had a similar book on their list, or that they were focusing on a different genre currently.
What made you decide to go with the publishing house you did?
Honestly, I knew it was a perfect fit during the call with the editor. My biggest fear while being on submission was that I’d get an offer from an editor who I didn’t quite click with but felt pressured to accept because it’s an OFFER. Katie, the Titan Publishing editor, was so friendly, so kind, so easy to talk to, had great ideas about my book, and I just got that tug in my gut that told me this was the one. Trust your gut and your agent to be objective.
What are the next steps for you now?
Ahhhh, this is such a great question! I’m going to get my first round of edits from my new editor in the next day or two, and then I’m on deadline. Absolutely wild to think about. We’re going to do a few rounds of edits, then my manuscript goes to a copyeditor, and then more revisions. I’ll be sure and keep you all updated on the process as I go along!
Thank you all for the endless support and for all of the congrats and excitement around my book announcement! I can’t wait to put it out in the world and see what you all think.
Camilla Raines 