What to Expect When Your Agent Is Submitting Your Work by Agent/Author Cortney Radocaj and Claire Winn + Query Critique & City of Shattered Light Giveaway & IWSG Post

Happy Wednesday Everyone! Today I’m excited to have debut author Claire Winn and her agent Cortney Radocaj here with a guest post to share about how it works for an agent to submit an author’s manuscript to celebrate the release of Claire’s YA fantasy City of Shattered Light. It sounds like an action-packed story.

Here’s a blurb from Goodreads:

As darkness closes in on the city of shattered light, an heiress and an outlaw must decide whether to fend for themselves or fight for each other.

As heiress to a powerful tech empire, seventeen-year-old Asa Almeida strives to prove she's more than her manipulative father's shadow. But when he uploads her rebellious sister’s mind to an experimental brain, Asa will do anything to save her sister from reprogramming—including fleeing her predetermined future with her sister’s digitized mind in tow. With a bounty on her head and a rogue A.I. hunting her, Asa’s getaway ship crash-lands in the worst possible place: the neon-drenched outlaw paradise, Requiem.

Gun-slinging smuggler Riven Hawthorne is determined to claw her way up Requiem’s underworld hierarchy. A runaway rich girl is exactly the bounty Riven needs—until a nasty computer virus spreads in Asa’s wake, causing a citywide blackout and tech quarantine. To get the payout for Asa and save Requiem from the monster in its circuits, Riven must team up with her captive.

Riven breaks skulls the way Asa breaks circuits, but their opponent is unlike anything they’ve ever seen. The A.I. exploits the girls’ darkest memories and deepest secrets, threatening to shatter the fragile alliance they’re both depending on. As one of Requiem’s 154-hour nights grows darker, the girls must decide whether to fend for themselves or fight for each other before Riven’s city and Asa’s sister are snuffed out forever. 

Before I get to my guest post with Claire and Cortney, I have my IWSG Post.

Posting: The first Wednesday is officially Insecure Writer's Support Group Day.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

The awesome co-hosts with me this month are PJ Colando, Diane Burton, Louise – Fundy Blue, Jacqui Murray!

Optional Question: In your writing, what stresses you the most? What delights you?

The thing that stresses me the most is that I’m a slow writer. It makes me afraid to ever try to get published because I worry that I’ll be too stressed out writing on a deadline for a publisher. I’ve been writing four to five days a week for over a year now, and I am learning to write faster and get a chapter done in a few days to a week. But, I’m still nervous being a slow writer.

I do enjoy the process of writing. I also have been happy to see the quality of my writing improve. Even critique partners are commenting on it.

What stresses you and what do you enjoy about writing?

Guest Post by Claire Winn and Cortney Radocaj

Submission is the terrifying (and exciting!) stage after you’ve signed with an agent, who then sends your book into editors’ hands. But what happens, exactly, during that time? How is it different from querying?

●      Querying vs Submission

Claire: Overall, I found the submission process less painful than querying.

Working with an agent means you have someone with insider knowledge of what’s selling, and who can vet future projects before you even finish them. You also get to skip the long, uncertain abyss of querying, which means fewer hoops to jump through for subsequent books.This can enable more creative freedom.

I also think the “bottleneck” is a little less extreme during submission. There are many more individuals querying books in your genre than there are authors on submission. Because many publishers only take submissions from agents, most editors have smaller slush piles to wade through than agents do. This means editors often spend a bit more time considering each submission, and you’re more likely to get thoughtful and positive feedback with rejections. However, it does not mean you’ll necessarily have faster response times—especially with the industry backed up after 2020.

Cortney: Definitely not on faster response times! A lot of agents can get back to you within a few weeks (at least on the initial request or decline); with editors, it’s not uncommon, particularly after the pandemic started, to have to wait months to hear back. This is partly because of workload, but also partly because of what editors are receiving—generally, submissions to editors are going to look a lot more polished and stronger than what agents see in their query box (that extra set of professional eyes really helps!). Editors have far fewer submissions, but the submissions they do receive are generally around the same caliber, which can make them more difficult to sort through quickly.

Claire: Submission also requires a few extra approvals before you’re offered a contract. Instead of a single agent falling in love with your book and deciding to rep it, an editor will likely need second reads and approval from an acquisitions committee before you get the book deal. Compared to querying, submission has its own complications, but I still think landing an agent is the toughest part of the process.

Cortney: Also on the author side, as something to be aware of, there also seems to be a lot more anxiety and feeling isolated from your peers. Something to watch for in yourself as you navigate submission!

●      What does the submission process look like?

Cortney: Generally, submission looks fairly similar to querying—though there are some differences! The major one being you, as the author, don’t have to do most of the work; your agent is the one who will be building submission lists, emailing editors, nudging, etc. (though I do always ask my clients if they have any editors/presses/imprints they’ve had their eye on, and always make sure they’re happy with the finalized list). I always make sure we have everything prepared before sending off that first email, namely:

-       Full, polished manuscript, formatted to industry standard

-       Partial manuscript (~3 chapters, around 30-50 pages generally)

-       Pitch

-       Synopsis

-       Series synopsis/outline (if the manuscript is the first in a series/potential series)

-       Content warnings

Once we’re both happy with all of these, the submission process can officially begin!

I always start by building the submission list; they’re typically split into three separate “rounds”, depending on who we think might be the best fit and where each editor is at. Once we’re ready, I’ll send out the first round of emails!

….And then the waiting begins.

I nudge about every 3 months. When we get a rejection, I assess from there if we need to do any work on the manuscript, or if it just wasn’t the right fit and we can send to the next. Some agents will stick to individual rounds of editors; I prefer to keep the number of submissions we have out at any given time pretty steady, so when we get a rejection, I look to the next viable editor on our list.

Once you’ve gotten interest (i.e. an editor falls in love with your manuscript and wants to move forward), there are a few more steps that can happen, which Claire briefly mentioned earlier:

-       Second reads; the editor will have a couple other members of their team read the book and decide if they also think it should be picked up. If they agree, the book will move forward (Note: not every publisher has a second reads stage, though many do)

-       Executive approval; after the second reads, the manuscript can be sent to the executive editor, who will then decide if the book should move on to acquisitions or not (Note: not every publisher needs approval from the executive editor specifically, but a few do)

-       Acquisitions; this looks different from press to press, but can consist of the editorial team, marketing, sales, etc. The editor will pitch the book to them, and the team will decide whether to offer a contract. Sometimes there are multiple acquisitions meetings; sometimes the meetings with editorial and sales/marketing are separate.

At any point, the rest of the team can decide they don’t want to take the book on, for a variety of reasons (don’t think the writing is strong enough, won’t navigate the market well, etc.). There are many people a book has to go through to be sold—but be extremely proud of yourself, no matter where in the process you end up!

If your book makes it through acquisitions, the editor will extend an offer, and your agent will notify other editors you have an offer on the table (unless, of course, the offer is a pre-empt, where you take that offer only, and pull your book from consideration from other editors). Once you’ve decided if you want to take the offer, or choose another if you get one, your agent will move into contract negotiations with the publisher. This process can take a LONG time, sometimes months, which is why deals can be slow to be announced. But once negotiations are complete and the contract is signed, that’s when you’ll be able to announce the good news and dive into revisions with your editor! 

●      Advice for authors on sub 

Claire: Pick a day—weekly or biweekly—for your agent to send you any rejections that have come in. This way, you don’t need to worry about getting rejection letters on vacation or during stressful times.

Cortney: Also decide if you want to see the rejection letters at all; you’re free to decide how much of a buffer you want your agent to be between you and those rejections. Some authors need to see the actual emails to feel closure, while others do better either just knowing the answer was no or getting a summary. (And you can always change your mind at any point in the process!)

Claire: Be flexible and willing to change anything that isn’t working. Just like querying, you might see trends in rejections that indicate more revision is needed.

And, though it might seem impossible, try to work on your next project. It’s hard to pull yourself out of the headspace of a story you’ve just polished—one with all the potential in the world—but sometimes the only way to avoid rejection heartbreak is to keep moving forward.

Cortney: And in the vein of avoiding rejection heartbreak—hold your author friends close. Submission can often feel more isolating than querying, for a variety of reasons (fewer resources to know what you’re getting into ahead of time, fewer authors to connect with, increased feelings of competition, increased feelings of failure if it doesn’t get picked up, etc.). Actively work against this when you can, and stay active in any writer communities you’re a part of. Getting positive feedback on something new can absolutely help reduce anxiety and disappointment when rejections come in!

     ●      What happens if a book doesn’t get picked up? 

Cortney: This is a very real possibility for every book that goes out on submission—and a very normal occurrence. If you exhaust your list of editors with no success, that’s okay! It happens, and at that point you’ll discuss with your agent if it’s time to shelve the manuscript, if there are a couple other editors you could try, or if there are any revisions that could allow you to keep trying for this manuscript (i.e. if your book straddles age categories, like YA and adult, and you pitched as YA, you can discuss tweaking the book and sending out as adult).

But ultimately, if you shelve the book, you move on to the next. You’ll work with your agent on your next book, make it submission ready, and start the process again with a fresh manuscript. Shelving a book doesn’t mean it will never sell; sometimes books are better pitched once an author has a couple titles under their belt and the publisher sees it as less of a risk, since readers now know the author’s work. Sometimes the market just wasn’t quite right, and years down the line it might be. Sometimes the right editor wasn’t even taking acquisitions at the time, and now is. One book not selling absolutely does NOT mean another won’t, and it’s okay (and very normal!) for the book you sign with your agent to not be the one that sells first.

Claire: I haven’t had this happen on submission (yet), but the first book I wrote and queried is trunked for now. I’ve also grown as a writer since putting it aside, so it’s possible that those characters and concepts will be repurposed and sent on submission in the future. But it’s important to remember that you’ll always have more stories in you. 

●      What should you expect of your agent during the sub process?

 Claire: It’s important that your agent keeps you in the loop and is willing to strategize with you frequently about next steps—editors for next submission rounds, whether revisions are required, etc. An agent who also checks in on your well-being is a godsend, and Cortney is amazing in that regard.

 Cortney: (<3 <3 thanks Claire!)

To expand on what Claire mentioned:-       Updates on what’s going on. How often and what you hear will vary, mostly on what YOU personally would like (i.e. some authors like updates as they come in, want the emails from editors forwarded to them, etc. and others prefer to use their agent as more of a buffer), but you should be aware of what’s happening with your book, and should always be able to get answers when you ask for them!

-       Nudging editors. Again, the exact details of this will vary from agent to agent, but you should expect your agent to nudge editors throughout the process. Not hearing from editors happens, and your agent can’t prevent that, but your agent should be doing what they can to get the response (within the bounds of publishing etiquette, of course).

-       Support. Subbing is scary! It’s a big unknown and can feel a lot more anxiety-inducing and isolating than querying for a lot of authors. Every author’s needs will be different and every agent’s approach to supporting their authors different as well, but if you have questions or concerns about what’s going on during sub, you should feel comfortable doing so, and your agent should be able to answer to the best of their abilities. There are a lot of things both agent and author won’t have control over during this process, but we understand that in itself causes anxiety in a lot of authors, and we’re here to support you and be your champion throughout! Be aware of and respect your agent’s personal boundaries (i.e. we can’t be therapists, for our own mental health), but if you’re concerned or need a little reassurance that you’re doing everything you can, ask! 

●      Conclusion 

Overall, the mechanics of query and the submission process are extremely similar—but the nitty gritty of them are vastly different. Submission can feel overwhelming and terrifying, as a lot of the information on individual editors isn’t widely available for anyone to see (which is why agents connect with editors often!)—but having a good agent in your corner is a gamechanger, and they’ll get you through the process as smoothly as possible.

LINKS:

Claire Winn (Author, City of Shattered Light)

Twitter: @Atomic_Pixie

Website: www.clairewinn.com

Instagram: @clairewinnauthor

TikTok: @clairewinnauthor

Cortney Radocaj (Agent, Belcastro Agency)

Twitter: @CortneyRadocaj

Website: www.cortneyradocaj.com

Agency site: www.belcastroagency.com

Query: QueryMe.Online/CortneyRadocaj

Giveaway Details

Claire has generously offered a paperback of City of Shattered Life and Cortney has offered a query critique for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower of my blog (via the follower gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right sidebar) and leave a comment by December 18th. If you do not want to be included in the critique giveaway, please let me know in the comments. If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest. Please be sure I have your email address.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog and/or follow me on Twitter, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry for each. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. The book giveaway is U.S. and the query critique giveaway is International.

Upcoming Interviews and Giveaways

Monday, December 6th I have a guest post by debut author Karen Pokras and a giveaway of her MG historical The Backyard Secrets of Danny Wexler

Monday, December 13th I have an agent spotlight interview with Jemma Cooper and a query critique giveaway

Wednesday, December 15th I have an agent spotlight interview with Stacey Kondla and a query critique giveaway

Thursday, December 16th I’m participating in the Dashing December Giveaway Hop

Hope to see you on Monday!