What happens if your book dies on submission? ☠️
What happens if your book dies on submission? ☠️
Answering your questions about the submission process
After successfully getting yourself out of the querying trenches and securing a literary agent, you might think the hardest part of your publishing journey is over. Right?
For some authors, what comes next can be just as difficult: going on submission. This is the next critical stage in the traditional publishing process, where your agent pitches your manuscript to editors at publishing houses in hopes of securing a book deal.
While many authors openly discuss the querying process on platforms like X and Threads, the phase of going on submission is less discussed and can feel shrouded in mystery. So today, I’m demystifying the submission process and answering your pressing questions about what happens after you sign with an agent.
Here’s what we’ll discuss:
How long should you expect to wait while your manuscript is on submission?
Is it common to face multiple rejections before an editor shows interest?
How common is it for books die on submission?
What happens if you don’t get a book deal?
What should authors do while on submission?
How long should you expect to wait while your manuscript is on submission?
Going on submission is somewhat akin to querying — which I know no author wants to think about anymore once they have an agent. But when you’re on submission, it's now the agent's turn to reach out to editors and see if one of them is interested in publishing the book, similar to you reaching out to literary agents and seeing if one of them wants to represent you.
And, just like querying, this can be a long process.
With all of the chaos in the industry in recent years (layoffs, mergers and would-be mergers, internal restructuring, etc.), editors may take longer than usual to get back to agents. When I worked at an imprint of Penguin Random House, I always had a backlog of submissions from agents that I was working to get through. It’s not uncommon for editors to take a month or more to review an agent’s submission.
That said, it's completely reasonable for you to check in with your agent while you’re on submission, especially if it's been more than a few months, and say, "Hey, where do we stand with the submissions? How many submissions are still outstanding?"
Many agents will give you updates as they hear back from editors, while others may wait until they have several responses and then loop you in. Make sure you have a conversation with your agent about what your communication process will be like during the submission process. You have every right to know exactly where you stand and which editors are still considering your book.
Is it common to face multiple rejections before an editor shows interest?
This is another area where going on submission is similar to querying — it is highly likely that you are going to get rejected during this part of the publishing process.
Just like you likely got rejected before you found your agent, your agent is likely going to field rejections before they find you the right editor at the right publishing house. It’s not expected that every book that an agent submits is going to be able to be accepted by the first publisher they reach out to. Just like agents are picky, publishers also have to be extremely picky about the specific books that they decide to take on.
So, try your best to not get hung up on rejections (I know, I know, easier said than done). But they nearly always are part of this process.
How common is it for books to die on submission?
It’s possible that, after presenting your book to multiple editors at publishing houses, no one decides to make an offer to buy the rights to publish your book. This is (rather morbidly) called “dying on submission.”
There are no specific statistics collected regarding how often books die on submission (at least that I know of), because this data isn't reported anywhere specifically, and it's something that agents and authors don't necessarily want to publicize because, of course, it is a disappointing outcome.
To answer the question of how many books die on submission, all we have is anecdotal evidence. There are more and more authors who are openly sharing about their experiences dying on submission and what happened next.
For instance, I recently posted an interview with traditionally published author MK Pagano, who shared that the book that she got a literary agent for ended up dying on submission, so her next book was actually her debut published novel. (Definitely read it if you haven’t yet — she has great tips on navigating the submission process!)
So, even though there's no specific number or percentage we can turn to, it's certainly not an uncommon experience, especially for authors who are early in their writing career.
What happens if you don’t get a book deal?
I want to alleviate some concerns that you might have about dying on submission, so let's talk candidly about the possible outcomes of this situation:
Revise and resubmit: You could revise the manuscript according to feedback that your agent got from editors, and then your agent could resubmit the manuscript to publishing houses (not dissimilar to revise and resubmit requests at the querying stage). This could end up resulting in a book deal, especially if an editor was very close to making you an offer but wanted to see specific editorial changes.
Work on something new: Another outcome could be that you focus on a new project for the time being. There are plenty of cases where the first book that an author gets published via a traditional publisher is different than the book that got them a literary agent to begin with (such as MK’s experience), and you could always potentially revisit the novel that died on submission down the line.
Reevaluate your author-agent relationship: While dying on submission doesn't necessarily mean that your agent is not a good match for you, this could be a time to re-evaluate the relationship and make sure that it is making sense for both of you. Perhaps you weren't the right editorial match to begin with, or perhaps you have a different vision for how to pitch the book and which editors to submit the book to. In those cases, maybe you feel like a different agent could be a better match to get you the publishing outcome that you want.
The bottom line here is that dying on submission, as terrible as it sounds, does not at all mean that your publishing dreams should die as well.
If you are concerned about the possibility of dying on submission, I encourage you to talk about it with any agent who is offering you representation. This is an important conversation for you to have, and it is a really good idea to have this conversation upfront, before you become professionally involved. Ask the agent, "What is your plan of action if we submit this book to publishers and no one takes it? Has this happened to you before, and what was the outcome with that author?" These are totally fair questions, and then it sets expectations so that if this does happen to you, you know what the agent's plan of action is.
What should authors do while on submission?
Being on submission can be nerve-wracking — you’ve come so far and are so close to seeing your book published, and of course you don’t want to see it die on submission this far in the process. It’s natural to wonder what you as an author can do, if anything, to increase your chances of getting an offer from an editor at a publishing house.
Frankly, there isn't a ton you can do when your book is out on submission. At this point, it's really in your agent's hands to make connections with publishers, pitch your book effectively, and hype you up as an author with a ton of potential.
Many authors feel that being on submission is one of the toughest parts of the publication process. Some compare it to querying or say it's even more challenging than querying, especially because you can feel powerless in this situation.
You'll definitely want to keep open and honest communication with your agent during this phase and ask them if they feel you should be doing anything specific during this time to strengthen your possibilities of getting a book deal. Many authors will either focus on their next book project, take a break from writing for the time being, or work on building a platform of some kind if that interests them, such as a newsletter or a social media channel.
Right now, you're going to have to let your work speak for itself and trust that your agent is doing everything in their power to present your book in the best possible light.
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