Publisher Editor Date Status Notes Razorbill Gillian Levinson Scholastic Mallory Kass HMH Adah Nuchi

Recently I got a question on tumblr about submissions and what the process is like. It's a rather lengthy answer so I figured I'd talk about it here.Once a writer signs with an agent--and after they go through any revisions, be it a polish or a more lengthy edit--the next step isIn short, this means their agent will submit the manuscript (fiction) or proposal (non-fiction) to editors.I can only speak for myself, but the process actually starts when I first sign a new client. During my first read, before I've even decided whether I should represent a project, I'll be thinking about submission. Obviously, if I'm thinking ahead, I'm thinking how much I love the story, but I'mthinking about which editors will love the manuscript as well.After I sign an author, I make up a spreadsheet. It looks a little like this:(This sheet is blank because it's fake, and I'm using these editors because I work with them on recently released books--by Nikki Loftin,by Natalie Lloyd, andby Makiia Lucier).I think about what imprints are the right fit for the book and what editors at those imprints would fall in love the manuscript like I have. (One of the things I have to keep in mind is the different rules of submitting to each house--like you can't submit to two editors at the same imprint and some house you can submit to multiple imprints and some you can't.)Then when the manuscript is all ready and polished, I pitch the manuscript to each of the editors on the list. Pitching could mean calling or talking to them in person if we have drinks or lunch or if I know them really well and we've worked together before, I might send an email.After I pitch the project, ideally an editor will be as excited as I am and ask to see it. In that case I'd send them the manuscript with a written pitch (sort of like a query). If the editorinterested (maybe they just signed something similar), I would call and pitch to someoneinstead.Once the manuscript is with everyone on my list, it's officiallyBut that isn't the end of the process.I'd love to say that I always hear back within a few weeks but that isn't true. Just like writers wait for agents to respond at the querying stage, we agents have to wait for editors to read and respond. Sometimes it happens quickly (there are times when I've gotten responses in a week or less!) but other times it takes weeks even months.This is where following up comes in.I follow up with editors (how soon after submission is based on the project or if there's any news and also based on what's happening in life or in publishing). This reminds them how much I love the project and makes sure the ms doesn't slip through the cracks.When responses come in, I usually ask the author how they want me to handle it. Do they want tothe responses or do they want me to just tell them about it or do they only want to hear from me when I have good news, etc.Once the book is on submission, there are a variety of different possible outcomes:: This is where multiple editors are making offers.(It's not like an auction at an auction house or anything. It's largely done over email). I'll set a date and a time, and ask every editors to get me their first bid--or offer--by then. Once all the bids are in, I'll go back to all the under bidders and ask for more and that will keep going until we have the best bid from each house. I've had auctions with two houses that last one round and I had an auction once that was seven houses and a different auction that lasted a week long.Auctions can be stressful for everyone involved, but they also leave room for a lot of choice on the author's part. It's about more than just advance. Royalties, pub schedule, rights granted, the editor's vision for the book, etc--all of these are factors that I'll discuss with an author before the author makes his/her decision about what offer to accept. (I'll give my opinion/advise, but it's always the author's decision).: This is where an editor makes a "offer you can't refuse."Sometimes the editor might be the only editor to see the project. Other times they're just so excited about it that they come in with an offer before anyone else. Pre-empt offers are often higher or better than a first bid for an auction, but that doesn't mean that all pre-empts are huge. A quiet literary middle grade for instance isn't going to get the same advance as a huge commercial YA novel. But the reasons to accept a pre-empt are usually that it's the best offer including advance and terms and the editor's and publisher's enthusiasm.This is the most common positive outcome--it only takes one!In all three of these cases, as an agent, I'm doing a lot of negotiation. And again, the advance is one of those negotiating points but royalties, publication schedule, subrights splits, rights granted, etc are things that I'm asking about. Sometimes I'm even asking for specific language to be in the contract a later date.Hopefully thisthe outcome, but it does happen--more than you'd think. We all announce the manuscripts that do sell, but we don't announce the ones that don't. If there isn't an offer, I usually work with the author to revise and do another round of submission or I work with the author on their next project.