The Next Circle of Hell, Vol. 2

Another +1 to that idea... I'd kill for some childcare. Or a cleaner.

So after being a total cool cat about being on sub up until now the nervousness has hit today. We're approaching 3 weeks now and with previous sub experiences I did get some feedback (Rs, naturally) around this time... No news is definitely good news at present! And who am I kidding, I am definitely not a cool cat with any of this writing lark.

How many of us on the thread are on sub at the moment?

Well... somewhat obvious since I've been whinging about my rejections haha >.> but I'm on sub.

I'm in week 9, and have had 6 rejections. The first 3 came within a few days, and the next set of 3 were all mid-November.

I have no expectations for selling (cemented by number of Rs) and have moved on to revising something else for now. Either way, I doubt I will hear anything else until January earliest, since it's so late in the year. I'm guessing a bumrush of Rs in the new year will be afoot.

Also on sub, 3 months this week. 3 early rejections and the rest is silence.

It's the 5 month mark for me...

I'm approaching 9 weeks. 2 early rejections including a "very near miss" plus 2 later rejections. All seem to be subjective. Not sure how much hope to have left!
(Also, hi - I am new-ish here!)

typesmith said:

I'm approaching 9 weeks. 2 early rejections including a "very near miss" plus 2 later rejections. All seem to be subjective. Not sure how much hope to have left!
(Also, hi - I am new-ish here!)

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Wow, you totally are. Welcome to the Circle! This is where you find out that Hell Is When Nothing Happens.

Welcome Typesmith! Hell Is When Nothing Happens... Shoeless that's painfully, painfully true.

It's the 11-month mark for me. At this point I'm just working on the Next Thing and not thinking about the Sub Book.

Ah well. We'll get there. <3

Also on sub, six-month mark is Thursday. 3 rejections so far. Still not as worried as I probably should be, but I weirdly have a really good feeling about this month. We'll see if anything happens next week.

Can I ask how big people's first rounds were? Or is that to to give out?

Edit to add, I went out to 11 in the first pitch, and so far she's matched every rejection with fresh pitches (that can't sustain indefinitely, ofc).

I don't mind sharing! I think we did 7 or 8 for the first. We just gradually started a half round of sorts since we haven't heard back.

I don't mind, either! And thanks for the welcome, guys. My agent did a really big round. The pitch was sent to 15 editors. 14 replied with a request. All the R responses have been subjective, so she pitched 6 more about a month ago, and all 6 have it. So I think I'm out with 16?

I'm also still in my first round, just out to 8. So we got 3 rejections and are still out with 5.

I echo s_nov and januarycomet. I'm 1.5 rounds, the first round with 8, plus an additional 2 many months later.

Out of curiosity, what percentage of agented submissions eventually find a publisher?

This is very dependent on agent and genre, but publishers typically buy between 1-3% of agented submissions that they receive. So, assuming you submit to 10+ publishers, you still have to be in the top 10% to get bought.

It's similar odds to what you went through with querying, but querying is arguably easier because the skill pool varies; a lot of queries are poor and a lot of books aren't ready or are the wrong genre, etc. Agented submissions are generally ready to go, and in good shape. A lot of luck, timing, and editorial bias come into play at this stage.

Hi all, I'm back (again). Sorry I checked out the last time I popped in - I've been focusing on some personal stuff and not writing for months. Thanks for those who responded to my Twitter follows back then!

As for my sub status, I've been on sub nearly 5 months, and I've had 5 rejections, all of those pretty early on. Last month, my agent sent it to a second round but still mostly Big 5. Overall, I am still out with a lot of editors - those that are confirmed as reading. I honestly try not to think about it. Some days I succeed more than others...

I took some days to catch up on this thread and I was once again wowed by a lot of good news. Congrats on the book deals, Isobel, Atlantic12, and ShouldBeWriting! Congrats to RaggyCat for getting back together with your agent! So much awesomeness since I was last here!!!

And some not great news. Hugs to (((Cameron and skydragon and Chibi))) and anyone else I'm momentarily forgetting. This business is the pits sometimes. I hope you're all keeping your spirits up.

Thank you Harlequin.

Harlequin said:

This is very dependent on agent and genre, but publishers typically buy between 1-3% of agented submissions that they receive. So, assuming you submit to 10+ publishers, you still have to be in the top 10% to get bought.

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Wow. I really wish I hadn't read this thread.

Hi Typesmith! Welcome to Hell!

Shoeless said:

Wow, you totally are. Welcome to the Circle! This is where you find out that Hell Is When Nothing Happens.

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That sounds about right! But... wow, 11 months, EMaree! You "win", and I say that with my sarcastic voice - in your position I'd be working on the Next Thing, too.

Welcome back, RaggedEdge! It's good to see you again.

It sounds like I'm in good sub company here as there are so many of you. It's interesting reading about rounds, my agents philosophy has on my previous sub experiences been to submit to 6-8 publishers and pause to take stock before sending on a second round. This time for me, my sub round is only composed of 2 editors, but there are unusual circumstances this time round. I am happy with a small round one, though.

merlot143 said:

Wow. I really wish I hadn't read this thread.

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Most of us, very early on in the agenting process, foolishly made the mistake of thinking, "The big hurdle is the AGENT. That's the FINAL gatekeeper, once you get an agent it'll be smooth sailing! I'M IN THE CLEAR!"

[insert sweet summer child .gif]

There are a lot of hurdles even after that. As Harlequin said, editorial bias is a big one. And even if your book actually matches up with an editorial bias, that bias may not be enough to overcome objections from the marketing department. So it's a constant, uphill battle. So the upshot is if you get a trade publishing deal, you no longer have to worry about distribution, packaging, printing, or marketing, but there are a lot of hoops to get through before someone finally says, "Yeah, don't worry, we'll take care of all that."

Shoeless said:

So the upshot is if you get a trade publishing deal, you no longer have to worry about distribution, packaging, printing, or marketing, but there are a lot of hoops to get through before someone finally says, "Yeah, don't worry, we'll take care of all that."

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At which point, you have an entirely new set of problems.

10% sounds horrible but it's a damn sight higher than your odds as someone unagented. Also, you can keep trying. This is why it's important to always have your eye on the next thing Overal your odds of getting published do improve significantly with an agent. It just may take awhile, and may take a few books. Rejections can still build links, editors can still express interest in you generally and your work more broadly, even if a particular novel isnt something they can buy.

At least, that's what I tell myself lol.

Harlequin said:

10% sounds horrible but it's a damn sight higher than your odds as someone unagented. Also, you can keep trying. This is why it's important to always have your eye on the next thing Overal your odds of getting published do improve significantly with an agent. It just may take awhile, and may take a few books. Rejections can still build links, editors can still express interest in you generally and your work more broadly, even if a particular novel isnt something they can buy.

At least, that's what I tell myself lol.

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10% doesn't sound that bad to me. It's significantly better odds that a lot of other very hard things to do in life and let's all face it, getting a book published is HARD.

Funny, while I've always understood the stats prove the odds are slim, like Harlequin stated, I've always had a gut instinct with my book that it had a 50/50 chance of getting an agent - and I squeaked through on the positive side of that equation - and I feel the same way about an editor. It's like of like, I wrote this book and it's either going to float or sink. I don't feel either one is more likely, although some days my gut says it will prevail, and other days my gut says all my hopes are rubbish and to get a better gut!