The Next Circle of Hell, Vol. 2

Welcome January! Hope your stay is short for all of the best reasons. There's a mythical TENTH circle out there that I've peered at a time or two but can't join yet. Here's hoping some day!

Got feedback from my first beta about my revised MS and it was mostly very positive! I have it out with a couple of others who are experts in the field that the MC works in, so here's hoping my research passes the sniff test.

Thanks, Jeneral and polishmuse!!!! My agent said SFF subs have been taking 8-10 MONTHS hahahahahahaha I'm gonna be drunk for a long time.

januarycomet said:

Hiiiiiii Gang!

I've officially been on sub for 2 days.

This is the worst. I understand now what I never understood before lol.

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Welcome!!

Welcome, January!! 8-10 months isn't uncommon for most, I've noticed. Hope yours goes much faster. Grab a beer and come join the party

Hugs to QB and everyone dealing with anxiety, frustration, and Rs.

It's been exactly one month since I've heard anything about MS #2. Gulp. I hope that's a good thing??

So a senior editor is enjoying my manuscript and has shared it with their colleagues for discussion. *gulp* It's not anything, but definitely positive news.

januarycomet - Welcome! Hope your stay is short here

Putputt--that is harsh, but we have to remember about that friggin Word-That-Shall-Not-Be-Spoken that starts with an S and ends in a Y. Why, indeed.

That's good, Cameron! That's the next step in the process!!! Yay for leveling-up! *fingers-crossed*

Thanks for the welcome, guys! And Cameron, that's so exciting!!! Leveling up, indeed.

I knew it would be a long haul, but damn. Again, all the things I thought I understood, I did not. I do now lol. You really just cannot understand it until you're waist-deep in it.

*wades into the anxiety with a beer* wheeee

januarycomet said:

You really just cannot understand it until you're waist-deep in it.

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I so agree with this. I honestly thought that once the book was out on sub, I would be hugely relieved because I didn't have any more revisions, it was out of my hands, let's just see what happens while I work on the next one.

hahahahahahahahahahaha nope I'm still checking my email every 15 minutes like a dope.

But I got a halfway decent first chapter done this morning on my WIP that I had trashed and started over. I mean, it's still first-drafty, but it's not a garbage fire. So I'm feeling a little hopeful again. If I can stay distracted by the New Shiny the waiting isn't quite so bad. Onward.

Same!!!!

Like ok let's just get to submission because I am sick of revising and I can't wait to kick it out the door and then move on to something else.

...the cake is a lie.

Cameron, all the crossables crossed for you!!

I have a novel on submission with my agent. We've been out almost three months now. There were 2 rejections very early on (within the first 2-4 weeks), and nothing AT ALL since. In previous submissions, I remember getting more rejections earlier on. I'm at that stage of biting my nails. Does anyone know the standard response times with major houses? Most of the feedback I can find online refers to response times to unagented submissions to publishers. I would have expected more responses to come in by now at the 8-12 week mark, especially 12 weeks. And I'm worried that, as it's coming into summer and there's been nothing, it doesn't look too good for this round. What do you all think?

Edit - Glad to have found this thread and to see I'm not alone. I didn't realise other people weren't getting responses for this long either. Even my agent thought it was strange. So good to see it seems to be pretty common (this year anyway), and here's hoping we all start getting responses soon!

If it helps, I'm in almost exactly the same place. Next week is 12 weeks for me, and I had one rejection in less than a week, and a second one at about 5-6 weeks, and nothing since then. I haven't heard anything from my agent either way, but she's pretty much just indicated that we settle in for the long wait. It's frustrating, and I'm mood-swinging like crazy, but I'm hanging in there.

writera - Welcome to the thread!! Settle in and have a slice or three of cake and a jug of booze. I'm in a similar boat as you, but I can let you know from what I've witnessed with other authors that sales can take anywhere from a few days to a few years. Most people hear back around the 6-8 month point if they haven't already. Some houses take longer. It's all kind of a crapshoot depending on what the editors and houses are working on, what they're looking for, etc. It's not a reflection of how good your work is! This business is unpredictable and slow and often agonizing.

I wouldn't worry too much. I've gotten 4 passes from major houses in about 2 months and then silence as well. Silence can also be a good thing; it can mean that editors are reading carefully and maybe getting second reads. If they do want to purchase, it can take weeks or months to go through acquisitions. My first book took 8 months to get an offer, and then it took 3-4 months to get the contract negotiated. So be ready for a long haul. It helps A LOT to work on a new project while you're on sub.

Hang in there!! You have an agent (which is HUGE) who believes in your work, and you're on submission with amazing editors. You've already made it extremely far and accomplished some incredible things. You'll make it!

Pinkbow - I know that was addressed at writera, but I needed to hear all of that. Thanks for the reminder. Sometimes I get too caught up in everyone else's book deals and fancy announcements and get frustrated.

Thanks for the kind words pinkbowvintage, and thanks also jeneral - appreciate the kind comments!

welcome writera! I love our little, sometimes anxious corner of the internet. I'm in a similar boat of no news in the past few months. Still waiting on a single editor from round one (my dream house, of course, so I don't want to give up the ghost for good just yet).
Got some good news about a different submission recently, so that's been nice! I need to get into drafting my new thing while Project 3 is out with betas or I might go crazy.

polishmuse said:

Got some good news about a different submission recently, so that's been nice!

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Congratulations, Polish! I love how you casually slipped this in. And I can't wait to hear your news!

Finally, things are happening here.

I've almost finished my R&R and hope to get to my agent within the next few days. Then we wait.

MartinaMay said:

Congratulations, Polish! I love how you casually slipped this in. And I can't wait to hear your news!

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RE: well, it's an essay so not HUGE news (but it is for a place I've always wanted to be in, so that's cool!)

EEK! Martina, that's awesome! Best of luck with being patient!

Jeneral said:

Pinkbow - I know that was addressed at writera, but I needed to hear all of that. Thanks for the reminder. Sometimes I get too caught up in everyone else's book deals and fancy announcements and get frustrated.

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Well...think of it this way. Every time someone announces fancy news about book deals, it's actually good news for everyone, because it means editors are buying. I would be worried if no one announced any deals/sales at all. Then it's panic time...

Welcome, writera!

My MS went out 12 weeks ago. We had one rejection about a month in and nothing since then. I was on sub last year and had a handful of rejections at this stage. I don't think it means anything except sometimes editors are busier than others. Sucks though!

Everyone sounds upbeat as we all wait. That's good. Welcome writera, and enjoy pinkbow's cake and booze jug!

Well, as long as we're all upbeat, how about I bring down the room??

Got rejection #3 on this MS during my lunch break today. This one offered an R&R, but didn't say what she wanted; it was more of a "if she decides to rewrite, I have some ideas..." It's frustrating, because this is the second editor at a big five that's loved my voice, got caught up in the story, and couldn't put it down, yet doesn't want it. Based on her reasons for turning it down, I'm not sure if I'm interested in an R&R (some of the things she didn't like were the reasons I wrote the book the way I did), but we're tabling it till we get more responses.

Agent says that having these close calls is really encouraging, so I'll take her word for that. She's going to nudge non-responders, and I've asked if there's plans for a second round if they all turn it down.

I just shoved some Oreos in my face here at work, and I have gelato at home in the freezer. I'll survive!

Jeneral said:

Agent says that having these close calls is really encouraging, so I'll take her word for that. She's going to nudge non-responders, and I've asked if there's plans for a second round if they all turn it down.

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(passes you all of the oreos)

Uuuggggghhh Jeneral, that sucks.

I fully endorse dipping oreos IN gelato for maximum caloric therapy.

Jeneral, that SUCKS!!! Have all the Oreos you want.