Sara Ochs: remember that the books you read have gone through dozens of edits

So thrilled to have debut author Sara Ochs on the blog. We started chatting on Instagram last year and I’ve loved watching her journey to publication, plus seeing snippets of her life in Sweden, the US and her travel hopping across Europe.

I’m lucky to have read Sara’s debut THE DIVE (out on 20th July). It’s described as The Guest List meets The Beach, a sun-soaked locked-room thriller - that’s exactly the vibe. And it’s a brilliant book to escape into. It’s pacy, intriguing and dark, all set in paradise. I’m personally a huge fan of Thailand (I got married there) so I really loved being taken back to that setting.

Here, Sara tells us all about her experience getting published and where she’s at now with book 2.

What led to your offer of representation?

I had a bit of a nonconventional approach to querying. Once I had my full manuscript completed, I was nervous to pull the trigger and begin sending it out to agents. Thankfully, at the time there existed a Twitter pitch contest called #PitMad, where you could tweet a pitch for your book and participating agents would “like” it if they were interested in having you query them. I received several “likes” from agents, and this gave me the confidence to begin querying more widely. In total, I submitted to about ten different agents, and I ultimately received two offers of representation. I decided to accept representation from my incredible agent, Kate Burke at Blake Friedmann Literary Agency in London.

What was the publisher submission process like for you? 

 In retrospect, the submission process was pretty quick, although at the time it felt endless! I received a pre-empt from a UK publisher about a week and a half after my agent first submitted, and a second pre-empt from my current UK publisher—Transworld—followed the next day. The US book deal took a little bit longer, about three weeks, and I was lucky enough to go to auction, ultimately accepting an offer from my US publisher, Sourcebooks.

I am an extremely impatient person, so the waiting was a killer for me! I’m pretty sure I’ve never checked my emails as many times as I did those weeks.

What has been the best part so far and what has been the toughest? 

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to visit London, where both my agent and publisher are based, and finally had the opportunity to meet my agent (who I’ve worked with since 2021 but had never met in person) and my editor. We visited bookshops throughout the London area to deliver proof copies of The Dive, and I even went to the Transworld office, where I was able to connect with the full team who have been hard at work on bringing my book to life. It was a complete and utter dream!

I think the toughest part for any author, including myself, is having the confidence and motivation to write your first book. As I’m sure many of your readers know, when writing fiction, it is standard to query agents only once you’ve finished your full manuscript. That means that you’re writing your first book on nothing but faith—faith that an agent will be interested, faith that a publisher will eventually offer you a book deal, and faith that it will ultimately get into the hands of readers. And some days that faith is… less present than others. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of thinking, ‘why am I spending so much time on this when it is very possible that this book will never see the light of day.’ On those days, I just tried to remind myself that I was really writing for me and because I loved the craft, rather than out of any hope that I would obtain a book deal.

Do you plan your books? 

So, I have a complete Type A personality and try to stay super organized in most aspects of my life, but for some reason I am a bit of a mess when it comes to planning my books! It could come back to my lack of patience (!) but I’m usually eager to get drafting as soon as I have an idea rather than wait to complete a full outline. Instead, I usually end up writing a “half” draft—which consists of the beginning and the main scenes I have in mind—and then going back and filling in the scenes and sections I skipped.

Who would play your characters in a movie?

Despite having had years to dwell on this question, I still don’t have a good answer! There are so many young actresses who I think would be incredible as the two protagonists of The Dive—Cass and Brooke—but I think Elle Fanning as Cass and Madison Lintz (from the TV show Bosch) as Brooke would be superb choices.

What do you hope your readers take away from this book?

 I hope The Dive gives readers an escape from their daily life and allows them to mentally travel to a beautiful, remote Thai island (albeit one filled with danger and secrets!).

What advice would you give a new writer, someone just starting out?

 It is so easy to compare yourself to other, established authors, especially when you are just starting out. I can’t tell you how many times I almost gave up when writing the first draft of The Dive, because I thought it would never live up to the books that I was picking up from a bookstore or the library. Just remember, no one is an expert at anything when they first start out. Just keep at it and remember that those books you are reading have gone through dozens if not hundreds of rounds of edits.

What are you working on at the moment? 

I’m currently awaiting edits from my agent on my second novel. I can’t say too much about it at this point, but it is another thriller following an international cast of characters, this time set in Australia.

And just for fun…

Your most anticipated reads of the year?

 I have heard SUCH great things about The Quiet Tenant by debut thriller author Clémence Michallon, and I cannot wait until The Hike by Lucy Clarke is released in the U.S.

A favourite book you’ve read recently…?

I absolutely devoured Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

 Travel! I love to pack up and go somewhere new every chance I get. I also like to read, run, and spend time with my family, and I’m a law professor by day.

Your dream weekend would be…

 Hopping on a plane to a new place for exploring, eating, and drinking!

A TV show you’d recommend…

Right now, I’m binging Ted Lasso. If you like that type of heartwarming comedy, I would strongly recommend Trying on Apple TV. I’m pretty sure I laughed and cried in every single episode of that series!

Thanks so much for your time Sara! Loved this. Great recommendations too.

Sara x