In this extract from her article for the Writers' & Artists' Yearbook 2025, Jessica Irena Smith offers her refreshingly honest take on the highs and lows of the submissions process. The key to success? Resilience.
When I first began submitting to literary agents in 2009 – far too early, I realise now – I used a combination of my trusty Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook and the internet. Many agency websites were pretty basic at that time, lacking the more detailed guidelines on offer now, and I made all the mistakes you read about in ‘submission dos and don’ts’: I addressed queries to the wrong agent (in one case, to one who was long dead!); forgot to attach my synopsis and sample chapters; even let the odd typo slip through the net. But despite my rookie errors – and, in my defence, they were relatively few – I was lucky enough in those early days to receive feedback from one agent, which spurred me on. And so, over the next few months, then years, I continued in an endless cycle of round after round of submissions.
What kept me going was that I always got some interest, some full manuscript requests, though ultimately the feedback was much the same: close, but not close enough. After every round I’d wallow in self doubt, then rework my manuscript and begin the process all over again. I lost count of the number of drafts I went through, never mind how many rounds of submissions (it was a lot). I’d swing from wanting to give up (surely if I’d been going to find an agent I’d have found one by now?), to knowing I couldn’t (I was too invested – the fact I was getting full manuscript requests had to mean something). At one point, I even met with an agent, but – long story short – he didn’t take me on, saying that, to sign an unknown debut on the strength of a single manuscript was ‘too much of an eggs in one basket situation’.
[…]Would I have even started writing if I’d known how long it would take, or how hard it would be? I like to think so but, honestly, I really don’t know. Looking back, I’d always viewed getting a publishing deal as the end goal. Now, I realise it’s just the beginning. It goes without saying that having an idea for a story, and being able to write, are key to becoming an author. But resilience is also essential. So perhaps the most important piece of advice I can give, is keep trying. No doesn’t mean no forever, it just means not right now.
Jessica Irena Smith is a glass artist from County Durham. Her debut novel, The Summer She Vanished, was published by Headline in 2023. The Night of the Crash, her second book, is due to be published by Headline in Autumn 2024.
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