How To Stay Sane While On Submission

Congratulations! You did it. You beat the odds and signed with an agent. Now you’re on submission. That high you worked so hard for. It is like querying all over again, but worse because you are so close to your dream now. I want to take your hand for a moment. If you are finding being on submission hard that’s because it is. Brutal even. A rollercoaster of refreshed emails and endless waiting. Do not underestimate how tough being on submission is. Yet, it doesn’t have to be so bad.

The most important thing to do is surround yourself with other writers. If you are not in a querying group then join as many submission groups as you can. Join writing groups both online and in person. Follow as many writers, editors and publishers as you can on social media. Interact with these people and become friends with them. There is power in numbers. I also recommend reading Kate Dylan’s sub stories, where there is every submission story you can think of there. Every submission journey is unique.

It is easy to obsess, but when you find yourself spiralling self care is important. Go for a walk. Don’t refresh your emails a hundred times a day. Rant to your writing friends. If you get a rejection, cry or drink wine. Buy yourself a huge box of chocolates and eat one for every rejection. Self care is important while being on submission. If you see a lot of people getting book deals, log off social media if you need to. It’s not wrong to protect your mental health.

It is important to decide with your agent what kind of feedback you want. Do you want an update every week? As they come in? Maybe you only want to hear good news. Either way, it is best to decide this in advance. You can change it later if it gets too much. Your agent should give you as much feedback as possible. Communication is important. Read widely and make sure you read books on editing and writing. I recommend On Writing by Stephen King, Refuse To Be Done by Matt Bell and Dreyer’s English by Benjamin Dreyer.

Being a writer is a competitive career but there are things to do to tip the odds in your favour. Working on your brand can attract the attention of publishers. They have limited marketing budgets and like authors with a good profile. An engaged and loyal following on X, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, Facebook and Bluesky might catch their attention. Don’t focus on only one social media account, as something might happen, like with X after the American election. You don’t want to lose access to your readers. Get an author website and a mailing list. Starting a substack is a good idea.

The worst can happen. I have died on submission and it hurt. To pour your heart and time into a book that no one seems to want is a unique heartbreak. Publishing is a long game and a book that dies on submission can still have a future. A book of mine that died on submission got a deal years later. It’s not personal. Reading is subjective. The best thing to do is to know it is out of your hands and move onto the next project. No book is a waste. Keep writing and editing. Either it makes you a better writer or that book can still find a home later. So keep at it. The only writers who fail are those who give up. 

Catherine Balavage Yardley is the author of Ember. She is the editor-in-chief of Frost Magazine and a freelance writer who has written for Good Housekeeping, The Bookseller, Writing Magazine and Metro. Her new book, Where The Light is Hottest, is based on her past acting experience.