Beth Ellyn Summer On Surviving The Submission Process... For Two Years

If there's one thing that many aspiring writers have few clues about, it's the submission process. There are good reasons for that; authors aren't exactly encouraged to talk in detail about our own submission experiences, and - just like agent hunting - everyone's story is different. I managed to cobble together a few non-specific questions that some debut authors have agreed to answer (bless them). And so I bring you the submission interview series - Submission Hell - It's True. Yes, it's the SHIT.

Today's guest for the SHIT (Submission Hell, It's True) is Beth Ellyn Summer. Beth writes contemporary young adult fiction that always includes the following elements: fame, makeup, and television. She graduated from Long Island University with a degree in print and electronic journalism, but the real highlight of her college years was interning for Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Fallon. Her debut novel, At First Blush, is available now.

How much did you know about the submission process before you were out on subs yourself?

I’d say I knew a decent amount of what I was in for. I did a lot of Googling and though there’s not much info out there on sub, I was thrilled to find your blog. I read every SHIT interview, and knew that I was in for a long process. I was also fairly well prepared for how many people need to like your manuscript before it’s accepted.

Did anything about the process surprise you?

The sheer agony of it all. I knew it would be slow but didn’t realize just how slow. Mine was not a quick sub story. It took nearly two years of sub, edits, sub, edits, lather, rinse, repeat till I got my deal with Bloomsbury.

Did you research the editors you knew had your ms? Do you recommend doing that?

I did. I was extremely curious to know who would be reading my manuscript, and I thought if I read enough interviews with the editors we’d subbed to, I’d be able to “find the match” in their answers. For example, if an editor liked makeup, I firmly believed it was a sign. But of course, sadly, it’s not quite so simple as mutual interests or a shared love of cats. A million things have to fall into place.

I do recommend doing it though, because I think it’s always cool to learn as much as we can about this business, and maybe you’d discover that one particular editor could be a good fit for a future project.

What was the average amount of time it took to hear back from editors?

I’d say about a month or two.

What do you think is the best way for an author out on submission to deal with the anxiety?

Everything I didn’t do. Ha. Honestly, writing that next book. I know it’s said time and again, but that’s really the only way to take your mind off the waiting. Just try to get absorbed in anything you can to distract from refreshing email because all that will do is drive you insane. I also watched a lot of TV.

If you had any rejections, how did you deal with that emotionally? How did this kind of rejection compare to query rejections?

It sucked. Plain and simple. But I gave it ten minutes or so (ok more like a day) to sting, I’d complain to family and friends, and then I’d move on. It was both better and worse than query rejections. Better because when you’re on sub, you’re past that first difficult hurdle. Worse because the pool of editors is narrower than agents, and because I lacked the control to fire off more queries.

If you got feedback on a rejection, how did you process it? How do you compare processing an editor’s feedback as compared to a beta reader’s?

My agent would forward me the helpful rejections and we’d determine if the ideas fit with my vision. Editor feedback is definitely more detailed than beta readers’ feedback. They’re coming at it with a whole new, fresh perspective and angle, and so typically their notes involved full rewrites (which, at the end of the day, is what you’ll be doing with your editor anyway so learning new ways to visualize the story is important.)

When you got your YES! how did that feel? How did you find out – email, telephone, smoke signal?

It was THE BEST. I’d known I was going to acquisitions but of course there are no guarantees with that. To say I’d been on edge for over a month is an understatement. I found out on a random Wednesday when my phone rang and it was my agent. She instantly said Bloomsbury offered, and there was lots of screaming and celebrating.

Did you have to wait a period of time before sharing your big news, because of details being ironed out? Was that difficult?

Thankfully not at all! I think just a few days till I was able to announce it!

Don't Just Kill Your Darlings... Hurt Them

Writers are told often to kill their darlings.

This doesn't mean we all need to end our novels with planet-enfolding nuclear holocausts. It means that you have the bollocks to cut the scenes you love, but don't need. Slice the dialogue tags that make you smile, but aren't necessary. Exsanguinate the paragraph you feel is the perfect zinger, but all your CP's are saying is dead weight.

It's a hard lesson, killing those darlings.

Here's a harder one- hurt the people you love.

Yeah, that's right. Hurt 'em. These fake people that live in your head who you've nursed to life and massaged dialogue into for months or years need to be in pain every now and then. Let them step on the glass on the kitchen floor. Make them burn their hands on the stove. Allow the water to boil over and scald that first layer of skin off. Slide that knife right through their thumb.

Can you tell I'm not so good in the kitchen?

Beyond physical pain, if you want a truly realistic and moving story arc you are going to have to allow bad things to happen to them. Their husbands cheat. Their moms die. Their kids get sick. Their cat eats their guinea pig (I have a big cat). Their dog gets hit by a car. Their car gets hit by a dog.

You name it. Make it happen to them.

Of course, not all these thing at once. That would be one hell of an odd story. But you get the drift.

Don't step back so far from your perfect shining character that you don't want to make them suffer. Suffering is part of life and part of their journey, if you aren't willing to convincingly hurt them in order to sell the story then you're not the writer for this story.

Don't go easy on them just because you love them.

I started taking kickboxing lessons a couple of years ago, towards the rounding up to 40 part of my 30s. I am not awesome at it. I never will be. But I like kicking and punching things, and my instructor likes to piss me off so we get along well.

When I landed my first hit (a right hook to the kidney, thank you very much), I was so ecstatic that I threw my hands up in the air and yelled HOORAY!

And my instructor punched me right in my unprotected face.

"Never, ever do that again," he told me.

I am a much better defensive boxer for having been punched in the face, and my instructor is good at his job for not having any qualms about punching me. It's a good lesson for writers, too.

Don't pull the punches on your characters because you care for them. If you're crying when you wrote it, chances are a reader or two will tear up as well.

And that's awesome.

Christina June On Pushing Yourself & Changing Your Writing Routine

Welcome to the SNOB - Second Novel Ominipresent Blues. Whether you’re under contract or trying to snag another deal, you’re a professional now, with the pressures of a published novelist compounded with the still-present nagging self-doubt of the noobie. How to deal?

My guest for today is Christina June, author of It Started with Goodbye and Everywhere You Want to Be. Christina writes young adult contemporary fiction when she’s not writing college recommendation letters during her day job as a school counselor. She loves the little moments in life that help someone discover who they’re meant to become – whether it’s her students or her characters.

Is it hard to leave behind the first novel and focus on the second?

Yes! The debut year comes with so much hype, and I sometimes feel like waving my hands and saying, “but wait, there’s more!” In many ways, I’m lucky that my second book is a companion to my debut. It is set in the same world and takes place a year later, narrated by a different character; often, it feels like an extension of the first.

On the other hand, I had to figure out how to see the characters I created through a different set of eyes. I’ve been praised for developing a real, genuine teen voice in the first book and trying to meet that bar for round two was quite the journey. Readers seemed to really connect with Tatum in It Started with Goodbye and I’ve really struggled with believing that my new main character, Tilly, is just as authentic and likeable, even though she is completely different.

I finally understood, when my husband was reading it, that every character has a reader. He kept saying how he really connected with Tilly, because he’s had similar experiences, and that was the moment I realized I’d done my job right.

At what point do you start diverting your energies from promoting your debut and writing / polishing / editing your second?

I was preparing the final version of Everywhere You Want to Be a few weeks before It Started with Goodbye was published. At that time, I was not only working on polishing the new manuscript, but writing blog posts and answering interview questions, planning a launch party, and posting on social media, on top of having a full time job and being a parent.

It’s been a challenge to stay in the headspace of two novels at once, talking about one with readers and talking about the other with my publishing team. I imagine it gets harder as you add more books to your catalog, but I’m up for the challenge. I’m so lucky to be able to do this more than once and fully expect that each book will teach me something new to take with me to the next.

Your first book landed an agent and an editor, and hopefully some fans. Who are you writing the second one for? Them, or yourself?

I never planned to write a set of companion novels, but I’ve long admired Miranda Kenneally and her ability to connect characters and keep an inviting contemporary world going. When my editor wrote, “ Tilly fascinates me,” in my first edit letter for It Started with Goodbye, the wheels started turning. I realized she had her own story to tell and it was my pleasure to draw it out of her.

I guess I would say that I did write this one for myself—I challenged myself in new ways, and indulged myself by setting it in New York City, one of my very favorite places. Writing about a dancer also allowed me to do something really fun. One of my dear critique partners, Katherine Locke, wrote an adult romance series about dancers and she graciously allowed me to borrow two of her characters. That part was for both of us.

Is there a new balance of time management to address once you’re a professional author?

I’ve always had to be good at managing my time, fitting in writing time around work and parenting and adulting. I’m a champion at finding small bits of time in my schedule and using them efficiently. The part that surprised me was how much time promotion takes. Even when you’ve got a marketing team with a great plan, a lot of the legwork falls on the author. We’re always hustling. So I’m still trying to find that balance—which includes speaking up about what doesn’t work for me and saying no to the things I just don’t have time for.

What did you do differently the second time around, with the perspective of a published author?

My second book sold on proposal, which meant a full synopsis and three chapters. I’d written a one-page synopsis before, to use while querying, but never one that contained every little plot detail. Before this, I mulled over things a lot in my head, wrote down character sketches and the biggest plot points, but never really planned more than that. But knowing the book wouldn’t sell if I didn’t work out all the details was a lot of pressure.

Writing that seven-page synopsis was excruciating, and my agent and editor can verify that. In the end though, I ended up with a detailed road map and I knew exactly where to go from there. Drafting was easy. That process taught me that I am capable of changing my routine and pushing myself harder. And, in fact, we just sold my third book and the proposal process was so much easier this time. I am someone who marinates on a story for a long time before putting anything down on the page, and, knowing what I know now, getting it all out of my head before I even begin to draft is something I plan on doing from now on.