In true me style, as mentioned in my previous blogs, I went full speed ahead in my quest to find a publisher or agent. I had a completely unrealistic expectation of timeframes and precisely how long some companies require to consider submissions.
The majority request a period of three months and recommend that you consider it a rejection if you haven’t heard back by the fourth month.
For others the timeframe was unspecified and a what they considered a reasonable duration for review was excessive to say the least.
I understand that these firms have hundreds if not thousands of queries to wade through, but I’m convinced that some of them must be working on island time.
I started to submit in July 2024. I subscribed to Query Tracker updates to receive information on publishers and agents newly opened for queries, and slowly but surely got through my extremely long list within a few weeks.
Back then I was working as a teacher, tutor, and Business Broker and so my time to go through the arduous task of form filling was limited.
When all was done, I sat back and waited with the patience of a toddler at a church mass.
As previously mentioned the responses were sporadic and ranged from a single word reply to a templated thanks but no thanks. A few offered feedback and a few requested further chapters or the full manuscript, but of these some turned out to be vanity press publishers.
I had already been well and truly stitched up a few years ago by a vanity publisher for a children’s story, that saga is still ongoing. As soon as there were any requests for money, or contract offers that necessitated any kind of payment from me I quickly declined.
For a brief period I did consider the self-publishing, or indie route. It secures the full royalties paid out and gives the author complete control over their work, but just researching into editors, proofreaders and cover design artists left my head spinning. I had no way of deciphering between the genuine reputable services and the scam artists.
Aside from the prospect of being overwhelmed I knew that attempting to self-publish would leave me vulnerable to the undesirable companies that currently operate at a time when I had extremely limited funds. Teachers are ridiculously underpaid especially in my state of residence; I simply did not have the money to throw at something I would undoubtedly at some point screw up.
At the beginning of October I received two requests for my full manuscript. Another followed a few weeks later.
All of these publisher was pretty quick to respond, taking only a few weeks to read my work and reach out with questions.
One found the content too graphic and violent for the work they represented, (oopsie). One gave me really positive feedback but also felt that some of the content was a little too much and would need to be toned down, something I was reluctant to do.
The third offered me a contract.
They all covered the full costs of editing, proof reading, cover design, print and distribution, but not the cost of marketing. That said, I was impressed with the level of support and guidance they all offered in regards self-promoting and marketing.
The one I signed with is a small traditional publishing house. The editor has been brilliant, she has kept me fully updated throughout the entire process and is always quick to respond. The information given is clear and concise and there’s a strong sense of community with the authors they represent.
So far I have worked through three edits, the blurb and the cover design. I’m now awaiting a sign off from the proofreader at which point I should get me release date.
I am incredibly happy with my experience up to this point; however it should be noted that I have since received another two requests for the full manuscript from publishers and one request from an agent.
The lesson here, I really should have exercised a little more restraint and waited to receive all my offers before making a decision.