A publisher cancelled their open call.
They only open for unsolicited manuscripts four times a year, and I had all my submission documents ready for their date in May. But two days out, they cancelled that submission date due to a backlog they still had to get through.
What enticed me to them is that they’re fairly new, and their office is two suburbs away from where I live. Yes, I was disappointed, but then considered it a blessing in disguise.
My mum often advised me when I was having trouble with a homework question, to leave it alone and look at it the next the next morning. It was great advice as I often worked through the question with ease after that bit of distance. This came to mind shortly after that cancelled submission date.
I usually leave a project alone for three months before I edit it.
Then I read it in a font I’m not familiar with and look for under-developed characters, typos, overwritten paragraphs etc. I’ve only recently completed an advanced draft of this project, and when I edited it, I was relieved one character sounded the same throughout, but I wasn’t quite sure about another. That’s why I need to put it away for three months.
I have already submitted several chapters of this novel to one agent and three publishers. I didn’t hear back by the deadline set by the agent, while the deadline for the publishers to respond is still open. I have submissions written for others but have not sent them yet.
It’s important to stagger your enquiries.
If these current publishers decline, I have time to rework my manuscript, redo my synopsis, finesse my bio, and rethink all those other bits and pieces they ask for.
And yes, I have a list of agents and publishers starting from my wish list down to the boutique presses.
My mum’s other bit of great advice was always given when something I was looking forward to didn’t come through. She’d tell me it wasn’t meant for me.
One of my novels was rejected within a day from one publisher, but has picked up two awards since published with my usual press several years ago. And the publisher who rejected that manuscript wouldn’t have come close to producing the same quality of cover art that novel currently has.
So I’m reminding myself not to be eager.
Rejection emails and ghosting are part of the process. But hopefully, with patience and revision, it will spark interest with someone on the upper end of my wish list.
kevin klehr 