Strategizing Your
Book Submissions
By Mary Kole
Mary Kole is a former literary agent, freelance editor, writing teacher, author of Writing Irresistible Kidlit, and IP developer for major publishers, with over a decade in the publishing industry.
If you’ve written a manuscript and want to publish your book, you are probably curious about the book submissions process and how to get your project out there into the world. Since you’re looking to publish and going down the path of query letters and writing agents, you need to realize that the journey itself is sometimes winding and fraught with obstacles—just like a good novel outline. Here’s how to strategize your book submissions so that you have the best odds possible for whatever success means to you.
Avoid Serial Book Submissions
I was once a literary agent in charge of evaluating tens of thousands of book submissions per year in my very own slush pile. Given that experience, I'd like to take this opportunity to drive home an important point, especially those of you who have a ton of manuscripts or write in different categories: Never send out serial queries.
What does that mean? That’s sending query after query for a bunch of projects without really stopping to work on your writing. Once you do a round of book submissions and there’s no offer of representation or publication, take a step back, evaluate your project, and really take some time with your craft and your manuscript before getting back out there.
When you get writing rejection, what the gatekeeper is trying to tell you is that it still needs a bit of polishing before it's ready for publication. You have to remember, you wrote it during a certain stage of your growth as a writer, and it was probably the best that you could accomplish at the time. But you need to take the feedback and go back to learning your craft, practicing revision, and other writer tools.
If you’ve done some book submissions without achieving your desired result, consider whether you're ready to move forward. As such, I advise you to refrain from submitting anything else from the same stage of your creative growth. Instead of chasing more book submissions opportunities, chase your writing craft and personal development.
Stop Thinking About Book Submissions Before You’re Ready
So many writers go on submission before they’re ready. When it comes to writing, agents and publishers want to work with writers who are constantly honing their skills. Writers who are more interested in producing their best work, their freshest book ideas (ideally, with an eye on the market), and their ever-growing talent. Pull back from the book submissions process and interpret the message that your rejections or revise and resubmit letter requests are giving you. Give your words the time they deserve to evolve and reach their full potential.
Don't be like a log ride—where manuscript after manuscript after manuscript comes down the query chute! When it comes to book submissions, decide your next move strategically. No wild guessing, no random ideas thrown against the wall just to see what happens. You’ll want to make your next book submissions moves intentionally, especially if you’re eager to see results.
Click here to purchase Irresistible Query Letters, my book on query letters, including over forty examples with comprehensive notes on each one. There’s a ton of submission advice, best practices, and insider information in these pages, and you’ll really enjoy seeing what other writers are doing in the slush.