Will I ever go on submission? Revising a novel with a literary agent.
Sometimes, even when you are signed to an agent, your book may not be quite ready for publication or to go on submission. Your book may require more intensive work, years even, of revising until it is ready for submission.
There aren’t enough blogs out there about the writing process and what happens after you sign with an agent. There are a lot of discussions on Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, but where have the blogs gone? So here am I. I’ve decided to start sharing my process. As I write this blog, it would have been 1.5 years since I signed with my literary agent and we have been doing heavy lifting on my novel since. I think we have finally reached a good place, so I want to share a bit of the process so far.
These words are my heart in a book!
I started writing this novel in December 2018.
Exactly FIVE years ago. Five years of people asking me why my book is taking so long to get published and me not having the answers. Lol. Days and nights of nonstop hard work— honing my craft—revisions upon revisions and complete rewrites and ghosting everyone in the process. Getting signed by a literary agent was just the beginning of the real *hard* work.
Sometimes, even when you are signed to an agent, your book may not be quite ready for publication or to go on submission. Your book may require more intensive work, years even, of revising until it is ready for submission. For example, I had to re-write my book from third POV to first, after my agent and I both agreed its true voice was in first. This allowed me to really let go as a writer and be vulnerable. Something I was truly afraid of doing.
We had about three rounds!
The first round, we weren’t really in agreement with what had to be done and I feel that there was a lot of wasted time—especially on my end as I wasn’t giving it my all.
Round two is when I seriously got down to business and changed the POV and re-wrote most of the book.
Round three was the final polish round, the round I have recently completed. The revising was very difficult at times, but I go through it even when I started to question if it was all worth it.
You need someone to champion your work!
My agent has been nothing but encouraging, which makes all the difference! As challenging as the process has been, she has continued to uplift and encourage.
I did the heavy work! But I know that it isn’t over!
Because even after going on submission, if/when the book is bought by a publisher, the editor will still need to work on it and suggest more changes. It may feel like the process is never ending and you’ve gotta be sure this is what you truly want. Some writers simply don’t have the patience.
I’m trusting the process. I know that it will be all worth it in the end. The fact that I have gotten this far is already a big deal. I’m so proud of how far my novel has come & I’m excited for what’s to come!
Stay tuned and sign up for my newsletter for updates!
How I got my Literary Agent! Better yet, how my agent found me!
I had been in touch with my literary agent since 2020 prior to her signing me. I first pitched her/queried her in summer 2020, but she signed me in summer 2022!
I got my literary agent when I wasn’t trying to get one anymore.
My story is definitely one of a kind—quite unique— so I wanted to share because everyone’s publishing journey is so different and you guys have been curious about mine!
In August 2022, I signed with Literay Agent Katie Shea Boutillier of Donoald Maass Literary Agency.
I had known/been in touch with my agent since 2020 prior to her signing me. I first pitched her/queried her in summer 2020, but she signed me in summer 2022!
Let’s back it up a bit…
How did that happen?!?
So I started querying SOME THINGS, SOMEDAY in June 2020, right when (#AmplifyBlackVoices was trending), given what happened that summer with George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement. Agents were thirsty for Black voices! I received a lot of full/half requests right away—first 2 weeks— (a total of 15) or so but they all evidently ended up passing. I received some useful feedback but most were confusing and contradicting other comments/feedback received from other agents. Very subjective business. One thing that surprised me was that I was getting the attention of big-name agents, so I knew I was on to something. They all commented that the concept was good, but still, something was missing.
Then one day I queried Katie and received a reply the next day! She enthusiastically requested the full manuscript. I was hyped! And she followed me on Twitter as well. A top Literary Agent? Following me? I was so excited. It only took her a week to read through it. She requested a phone call. I thought for sure she was going to offer to represent me.
When she called, she expressed how much she loved my characters, my writing, my voice, and the story, but that it needed a lot of work. It wasn’t an offer. Instead, she wanted an exclusive Revise and Resubmit (R&R). This meant working with her exclusively for 6 months+ to revise the book with her suggestions and then when revisions were completed and if she was happy with the work, she would sign me. I admit that hearing how much she loved my characters and my writing felt nice.
She was so excited!
I felt legit being validated by a literary agent. She said my writing had a voice. That it was hard to teach a writer that. That the writing was beautiful and poignant. This was all great; however, I didn’t feel that it was the right move for me at the time. Firstly, I was sooooo attached to my story that I did not agree with ANY of the suggestions she made.
Sometimes, when we’re too attached to our work, it can be difficult to be receptive to constructive critisism.
I did not want to change a single thing. That draft was mediocre now that I look back on it, but I did not see it at the time. I decided to keep querying and turned down her offer. I could tell that she was a bit disappointed that it did not work out because she had been so excited about possibly working with me on this novel.
Needless to say I continued with the querying process and when nothing came of it months later, I couldn’t stand my book anymore by September/October 2020. I decided to put it away and work on something new. I had queried about 100 agents/editors by then.
I got a new idea and wrote a new novel and finished it November/December 2020 during NaNoWriMo. I revised it and for some reason this one didn’t appear to need much revising so I started querying in February 2021. I thought the concept was very commercial, trendy, and would land me an agent ASAP since SOME THINGS, SOMEDAY seemed to be too complex.
Oh boy was I wrong. I hardly received any requests. I even queried Katie again with the new book! I had a dream that she was my agent and was sure she would love this one!
Womp Womp.
She wasn’t feeling the new novel and said she had more of a connection with SOME THINGS, SOMEDAY and didn’t feel like the new story was a good fit.
When nothing at all came from querying the new novel, I decided to step away for a bit. I had left SOME THINGS, SOMEDAY alone for a while, so I decided to read it again.
It’s always refreshing to step away from your work and come back with fresh eyes—with a new perspective!
It indeed needed MAJOR work!
I knew what was missing and finally knew how to fix it. I finally understood what Katie and other agents had suggested…her feedback made sense. I started revising again.
I fixed what I could, which was rewriting 70% of the novel!
When I was done and read it back to myself, I had tears in my eyes by the time I finished reading it all. I realized how gripping and heartfelt this story is. Not only is it a coming of age, love story, but it covers many important subjects such as immigration, the African Dream, and the loss of dreams.
I was ready now (I thought!). I queried small presses and a few other agents who had told me to query them again if I revised it, including Katie. Katie said she was still interested in working together on it and would take a look at the changes, but when a UK based Small Press offered me a contract (that evidently didn’t work out months later), Katie stepped back. I was in such desperation to get my book published that I didn’t give her enough time to properly read the updated version again. And she didn’t want to stand in my way so we went our separate ways again. :-(
The contract with the Small Press did not work out. I ended my contract. It was not the right fit for me in the end, so six months after signing, I walked away heartbroken, disgusted, and discouraged about the traditional publishing industry.
In December 2021, I decided to take a break from writing and focus on launching my coffee roasting business KANFUELA. I decided that I’d eventually go back to writing, but I desperately needed a break (I’ve been writing since 2010 on and off). I didn’t want to hear anything about agents or publishers! I was DONE!
Towards the beginning of the month of June 2022, I read my novel for the first time in almost a year and started making small edits to it (mainly adding more descriptions and details). I had just returned from Congo and had more vivid details to add.
I kept thinking about how wonderful of a book it is and was so sad it would probably never get published. It’s the kind of book that just pulls at your heartstrings and takes you on a journey and into the world of the characters: Aicha and Michel are special—and their story is deep. I even told a writer friend (hey Tamarria) this: “I’m beginning to realize that perhaps I wrote this book for me more than anything else.”
I truly believe that.
As writers, we should be writing for ourselves first. You are your first audience.
Write the story you want to read. And that is exactly what I did.
Toni Morrison said it best:
If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.
I missed writing, but wasn’t ready to query again yet or to start writing a new book. I was mainly reading other writers’ works and supporting fellow writer friends. But SOME THINGS, SOMEDAY was in my heart—daily. I often thought about whether or not I was so foolish to turn town Katie’s offer (The Exclusive Revise & Re-submit), but what was done was done. SOME THINGS, SOMEDAY is a great novel, but I knew it still needed work—work that I no longer knew how to fix on my own. Self-publishing was out of the question. The story is too important—with international appeal—it transports the readers from Dallas to Paris to London to Kinshasa. I knew I needed an agent to take it to the next level—possibly to the big house NYC publishers with possible foreign rights translations in many languages in the future. Can a girl dream? I want the whole thing! :-)
…and then on one random, August afternoon, I received an email from KATIE SHEA BOUTILLIER.
I thought I was tripping!
To paraphrase, she said she normally didn’t do this, but she was thinking about my writing. She asked if I’d ended up signing with the small press and if not, she wanted to know what I was up to writing-wise.
My first thought was: “Girl, nothing. Nothing at all. I’m too hung on SOME THINGS, SOMEDAY.”
My second thought was: “Wow, she reached out to me? Agents don’t do this normally!”
I didn’t say that, of course. I told her that I did originally sign that contract with the Small Press, but that it did not work out and that I’d been taking a break from writing anything new. Also that I had been thinking about the novel she’d loved so very much and had made some changes to it since we last spoke. And was more willing to revise it more because I knew it had potential. I didn’t think she’d still be interested since I had nothing new to offer.
To my surprise, she was so excited to hear this! She said she couldn’t stop thinking about SOME THINGS, SOMEDAY and was soooo happy to hear it was still available. That after much thought, she wanted to work with me on it and wanted to SIGN ME AND REPRESENT ME AS MY AGENT if I was still willing…
ughhhhh what!?!?
I did not see this one coming!!
She called.
We talked about possible edits/revisions and the game plan.
We finally saw each other eye to eye.
She expressed that she’d looked me up to see if the book had sold already and kept thinking about their story—Michel and Aicha—the kind of story you can’t forget. That she truly believed in me as a writer and the potential in SOME THINGS, SOMEDAY and future works.
I accepted the offer.
Crazy huh? I got my agent when I wasn’t trying to get one anymore.
That’s my story!
About SOME THINGS, SOMEDAY:
SOME THINGS, SOMEDAY is a gripping, coming -of-age, love story in which the characters experience loss of dreams, heartbreak, sacrifice, and ultimately, love. It also explores the immigrant life, as well as the sacrifices we make for the American dream.