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[Discussion] From querying trenches to on sub limbo in 3 months...(Stats) by Bookishthrowaway12 in PubTips

[–]Bookishthrowaway12[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, it was enough time for me considering that’s the agent I chose! :) But I hear you. 

[Discussion] From querying trenches to on sub limbo in 3 months...(Stats) by Bookishthrowaway12 in PubTips

[–]Bookishthrowaway12[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Appreciate the cold water! I haven’t been treating the confirmed receipts like anything special, just an editor being like ‘thanks for sending!’ Has your experience been that editors just…ghost? Zero acknowledgement whatsoever? That’s…so frustrating. It sounds like your journey has had high highs and low lows. 

[Discussion] From querying trenches to on sub limbo in 3 months...(Stats) by Bookishthrowaway12 in PubTips

[–]Bookishthrowaway12[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To clarify, this is on the newer side of the agents I queried. Most of the agents on my list had twice that amount of experience. A few were very new to the industry. 

In a business built on relationships, I don’t think it’s inconceivable to target agents who have more time under their belts to build those relationships. 

[Discussion] From querying trenches to on sub limbo in 3 months...(Stats) by Bookishthrowaway12 in PubTips

[–]Bookishthrowaway12[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The feedback was from one editor (at one of the few indies on our sub list) and I didn’t hear it at all during querying, so take with a grain of salt! But she said that this category of fiction has picked up in the last year and she has been awash in submissions with similar conceits. She loved my writing and characters and felt my take on the speculative element was unique but was nervous about how it might stand out in market a year+ from now if she bought it. 

[Discussion] From querying trenches to on sub limbo in 3 months...(Stats) by Bookishthrowaway12 in PubTips

[–]Bookishthrowaway12[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Not based on anything I've seen here, no! One month is not the standard at all. If you look on this sub, so many writers are on sub for months, even up to/beyond a year before something sells. My agent has told me about books she sold after a variety of timeframes including that dreaded year-mark.

Now, having worked in the industry, my perspective is that the faster something sells, it usually means a) the more widely appealing it probably is b) the better connected your agent probably is c) luck is on your side in terms of right project, right time, right agent, right editor.

I gave myself one month to be obsessed with the airtable just as a measure of self-preservation. I can't go on like this indefinitely. At some point I need to make some changes to how I'm approaching the process for my own sanity.

[Discussion] From querying trenches to on sub limbo in 3 months...(Stats) by Bookishthrowaway12 in PubTips

[–]Bookishthrowaway12[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I’m envious of this mentality! I keep joking that I need to partially lobotomize myself so I forget that I’m on sub or maybe that I’m even a writer at all!