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 is E. Latimer, the author of Witches of Ash and Ruin, and The Strange and Deadly Portraits of Bryony Gray. She lives on Vancouver Island, and her breakout success on the online writing platform, Wattpad.com, has resulted in a fanbase of over 100k followers, with over 20 million combined reads. She also vlogs weekly on the Word Nerds Youtube channel, and spends the rest of her days reading, writing and consuming too much tea.
How much did you know about the submission process before you were out on subs yourself?
I had actually been on sub several times before my first YA, Witches of Ash and Ruin sold. The first two times were failed attempts year ago, with my first agent. The third time my new agent sold my MG book. So technically this was my fourth time out, but the process is so secretive that it STILL feels like I don’t know as much as I’d like.
I obsessively researched online every time I went out, and it’s so funny because I read a LOT of these Submissions Hell interviews. I was desperate for any small scrap of info about what other people’s sub process had been like. It makes you feel less alone for one thing, and gives you an idea of what you might expect.
Did anything about the process surprise you?
Yes, how UNCOOL I was about the whole thing. I expected my second time out on sub after selling my MG, I would just sit back and sip tea, be totally calm and collected. Like I was some kind of old pro at this.
Turns out, I’m really really not. I was just as antsy and anxiety-ridden this time around, and actually I had a better idea of the process and what hoops my witchy little book was having to jump through, so if possible, I think I was MORE neurotic.
I really didn’t see that coming.
Did you research the editors you knew had your ms? Do you recommend doing that?
I did, a little obsessively. I’m ashamed to admit it and I absolutely do not recommend anyone do this.
Next time I’m out on sub I’m absolutely not going to do that.
Narrator: She will.
What was the average amount of time it took to hear back from editors?
It used to drive me nuts looking up “average times” for sub to last, because it varies so wildly. And in my own career thus far, it has too. The Strange and Deadly Portraits of Bryony Gray sold in 10 days, which is basically lightening speed for sub.
Witches of Ash and Ruin took longer. I got the call from Hannah Allaman from Disney after it had been out on sub for roughly two weeks. I think. It wasn’t actually an offer initially, just a chat, and then I waited in suspense for exactly thirteen more days (yes, I was counting, why do you ask?) before I got the news that the offer had come through.
What do you think is the best way for an author out on submission to deal with the anxiety?
Write something else. I really cannot emphasize how important it is to focus all your attention and energy into a new project. Don’t just sit there refreshing your email like I did, that way lies madness.
If you had any rejections, how did you deal with that emotionally? How did this kind of rejection compare to query rejections?
I dealt with rejections badly the first two times I went out on sub and failed. The Strange and Deadly Portraits of Bryony Gray was a little better, because we got some good feedback too, but it still stung. It was just too much on top of the emotional drain of being on sub. I knew that about myself this time, so I didn’t press my agent to send the rejections. I knew who had passed on Witches of Ash and Ruin, but I didn’t ask her to send the actual feedback.
When I was querying I used to respond to each rejection by flinging another ten queries out into the world, as a kind of “hah! You can’t stop me!” but you obviously can’t do that on sub. You just have to sit there and wait. It feels a bit more powerless, which is why I stress how important it is to work on a new project.
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?
Sub feedback is a tricky one, because it’s often along the lines of “we have something similar on our list” or “we don’t know how to market this one”. Of course, there’s sometimes practical advice about voice, or characters, but by the point of sub, my agent and I have edited the project so many times, that I tend to let the feedback collect and not look at it unless I need to reassess things when it doesn’t sell.
A beta reader is very different. You’re in the thick of it with them. You’ve got a project in motion and you can change things. Nothing is set in stone yet.
When you got your YES! how did that feel? How did you find out – email, telephone, smoke signal?
My agent called me. She was in New York at the time, I believe. But she’s got a UK number, so we had a bit of a hassle trying to connect, and of course I was practically bouncing off the walls because her email had said “good news, can I call you” and I was pretty sure I knew what it was about.
I like to think I kept my cool on the phone with her, but once I was off I screamed and did a few laps of the house.
Did you have to wait a period of time before sharing your big news, because of details being ironed out? Was that difficult?
I had to wait a few months for this one, but honestly it was nothing compared to the wait to announce The Strange and Deadly Portraits of Bryony Gray (six months) so I wasn’t too impatient this time around. And as much as it’s completely maddening to have to wait, it does make it all the sweeter when you can shout it from the rooftops.
