My Submission Journey to Publication
Recently I updated my submission spreadsheet with my latest round of responses and also placed a little ghost emoji for those empty spaces where silence was not golden. However, this isn’t a dig at editors, I know how busy they are. No one has enough time in the day for everything, but it doesn’t take away how hard it can be just waiting and hoping.
This is a spreadsheet of a mixture of picture book and chapter book submissions my agent has sent to publishers. I never kept on top of things when I was querying agents.
Spreadsheet showing submissions to publishers
The top row is the list of publishers, and the left column is the manuscript/s that went out to publishers. Dashes signify that my manuscript wasn’t sent to this publisher and the ones with the yellow corner show the feedback received. All those ghosts represent no response 👻 and the 3 yeses represent publishing deals. Woohoo!
As you can see, I totally died on my first 2 submissions. There was one close call, but ultimately no offers on any of the picture books that were brave enough to go out into the world. But what I found very difficult to cope with was the silence. After years of querying agents and often never hearing back, I never expected it would be the same for agents. I was desperate for feedback, a reason, but mostly closure.
When do you decide that a book has died?
When do you close that chapter?
I’ve put my own timeline on submissions now. If there’s no response within 2 months, then I’m taking it as a rejection. If by any stroke of luck an offer comes in after that time, then it’ll be a spook-tacular surprise! Plus, this spreadsheet helps me to see the usual responders vs. the silencers, which I find very helpful.
It was 3rd time lucky on submission, closely followed by 4th and 5th time lucky, and for this I feel incredibly blessed. I’m also strangely proud of myself, which has only ever showed its head since I began writing seriously. Embracing the one thing I’ve always loved to do, the thing that’s given me somewhere to express myself and my feelings and then turning it into writing professionally has totally blown my mind. I never truly believed I’d be a published author, but it’s happening, and I am loving it. I’ve learned from every rejection, embraced as much feedback as I could and didn’t give up, although there were times that I thought I should. I devoured information, joined writing groups and organisations –
Big SHOUT OUT to WriteMentor here! Best writing organisation EVER!
I shared my work with people who are now friends, and I took on the nose all the critiques given. This boosted my skills, inspired new stories, sparked fresh ideas, and built my confidence. And all this led to me signing with my agent and ultimately receiving offers on those little sparks of ideas that turned into books that will one day land in children’s hands.
I still can’t quite believe it. Next year my debut young fiction series will launch. Witchy Boo, published by the one and only Puffin Children’s Books will be published in Autumn 2026, then Book 2 and 3 in 2027 and Book 4 in 2028.
I have 2 picture books in development, due in 2027 with another wonderful publisher. I CANNOT wait to share the news on these with you soon!
Illustrator: Saoirse Lou
