What happens after you get an agent…
I signed with my agent Tanera (Darley Anderson) in January and can’t tell you how many times people have said, “so when is your book out?” A completely fair and reasonable question. To which, I’d love to answer, “soon.”
But I can’t.
The simple answer is, “who knows.”
The publishing industry is notoriously slow. It moves at a glacial pace. Which is agonising and frustrating in equal measure for emerging authors.
To give you an idea, an author I frequently chat to on IG got signed with her agent in September 2020 and her debut is publishing in Spring 2023. For the majority of new authors, it is years between signing and publication.
Why? Because there are a lot of variables and a lot of steps in the process leading to publication. For some reason, it’s not a stage that many authors talk about either.
So here’s a rundown of what happens after you get an agent.
Agent edits
As soon as you’ve signed a contract with your agent, they will send you their editorial notes to get your manuscript into the best possible shape before it is ready to be sent out to publishers. Any conversations you had pre-signing, should have included a discussion about the direction the novel needs to go to become publishable. These changes could be fairly minor or they can be major structural re-writes. It depends on the book and on the agent.
My first agent edits involved me changing one POV and switching my timeline around slightly. It took me about a week and involved re-writing quite a few scenes. I also did a full read-through and tweaked parts along the way.
My second edit involved adding more dialogue to my opening scene, which had changed in the previous edit. It took a few hours.
After each edit, you’ll send it back to your agent for feedback. This will happen as many times as your agent feels it’s necessary. Remember, this is all about strengthening your MS.
I was nervous when I first received the notes (several A4 pages of detailed notes) but my agent was extremely positive and included plenty of things she liked about the manuscript too. Everything is a suggestion, not an instruction. You are the author and it is your decision. But, I agreed with practically every change that was suggested. It was a bit like, ‘oh yes, of course that’s what should happen.’
Very quickly, I realised I actually loved the re-writes. The MS needed professional eyes on it and someone impartial to identify things I’d missed and areas that need developing. The important thing to remember is that you’re working together to make the MS as strong as possible.
Preparing for submission
Once your agent feels your MS is ready, it will be sent to editors at various publishers. Important to mention here that I’m only talking about the UK market. The agent will likely send you their submission list — the UK publishers they will approach and might ask if you want to know which editors they will pitch to. The agent knows the industry and knows the editors who will likely love your MS, so this part of the process involves you trusting your agent.
They will also share their pitch for your book. This will involve author comparisons that you should decide if you’re happy with.
At this stage, you should also discuss how much you want to be kept in the loop during the submission process. Do you want a weekly update or to be informed, as and when the agent hears anything?
Going on submission to publishers
The rollercoaster of being on submission starts again! Except this time, it’s much more complicated.
The process is:
An editor will receive your MS in their inbox, read it, along with the agent’s pitch, and will go back to your agent if they like your novel.
They will share it with the rest of the editorial team.
If others like it, the book will be taken to an acquisition meeting.
Acquisition meetings are a publisher-wide meeting which involves multiple teams coming together - the sales department (UK and international), publicity, marketing and finance. The editor will pitch the novel to get approval from all departments to put forward an offer to the agent.
Having interest from an editor is a positive sign, but it doesn’t mean you’ve reached the finish line yet. You need all teams to get on board with buying the book.
If you are very lucky, several editors might be interested and if the book appeals to multiple publishers, your book will end up at auction.
The submission process can take weeks or months. It depends on certain variables such as:
what kind of books they’ve bought recently
if they have a novel that’s too similar
how many manuscripts the editor is reading or still has to read, which affects how long it takes them to reach yours
if they’ve got annual leave booked
if sales teams are confident they can sell it
if the industry has a big event on, eg, London Book Fair or Frankfurt Book Fair
So much depends on timing and that is just something you have to get your head round. If an editor doesn’t take it, just as other agents chose not to offer you representation, it doesn’t mean your MS isn’t any good. It’s not personal; it’s publishing.
Book deal
If/when your agent receives an offer for your book, whether it’s by auction or a single offer, there is plenty to discuss. These discussions can take weeks/months. Such as:
what kind of book deal (for debut authors, it’s usually a 1 or 2-book deal)
the size of the advance and at what point the advance(s) will be paid
estimated publication date (eg, spring 2023)
formats (hardback, paperback, audio, e-book)
rights (UK & Commonwealth, World English Language or World rights)
This is the time to ask questions. Ask about their vision for the book, what their editorial notes will be (at a broad level), how involved they want you to be in publicity, what their budget is for marketing, etc.
Signing the contract can take days, weeks, or months. Again, it depends on various factors so patience is key.
Editing
Then the editing process begins again. This time, it’s not about getting the MS in shape for an editor - it’s about getting it right for readers. There are structural edits and line edits. You will read your book dozens of times. It will feel like hundreds!
There’s also conversations about cover designs, deals for foreign rights sales and marketing plans being put together.
And in the meantime, there is normal life to contend with too.
I hope this gives you an idea of the journey it takes from getting an agent through to publication. It’s not for the faint-hearted! I’m still very much on this path and the finish line (I count this as publication day) feels a long way off at the moment, but I try not to stray too far from remembering my WHY.
I write because I love it. And because I want other people to fall in love with the characters and story I’ve written.
Good luck!
Sara x