Susan Velazquez Colmant

This post is an adaptation of my Twitter thread from June 14, 2024.

While I was working on prepping submission materials for some of my clients, I decided that I want to pull back and the veil explain what happens after you sign with an agent and are prepping to go on submission (aka “on sub”) to editors.

For what it’s worth, this is my process and other agents may work differently or similarly. Just to say, generally speaking, if you thought you were done agonizing in the query trenches, I’m very sorry to say the agonizing does not stop in the submissions phase.

Regardless if it’s the same manuscript you queried me with or another project, the process is the same: I read the manuscript and I give notes, I do market research, I research editors, I write the pitch letter, we review together, and then we go out into the world.

Phase 1: Reading the Manuscript

When I read a client’s manuscript, I’m reading both as a reader and as an agent. As a reader, I’m reading to identify any issues with plot/pacing/characterization. As an agent, I am thinking, “Where does this fit in the marketplace? Are we pretty in line with what the market is currently looking for or do I need to give a heads up that we’re in a tough place?”

As an agent, I wouldn’t necessarily advise to try to write to trends unless you’re planning to self-publish and you can write fast to keep up with changing trends.

To note, writing to market is different than writing to trend. Writing to market means focusing on projects for a specific target audience. Writing to trend means trying to emulate an existing popular book just because it’s popular and you think you’ll make an easy sale if you do.

If the #1 New York Times bestselling book right now is a space western, don’t think that if you write a space western right now that it means you’ll find an agent at the snap of your fingers.

A majority of writers work day jobs and life happens. If it takes you 6 to 12 months to finish your manuscript and then another 6 to 12 months to sign with an agent, then market may already be saturated with space westerns. And then you can get frustrated because you really wanted to make the sale.

The point is, don’t write a space western unless you really love writing space westerns. Publishing trends are cyclical so something may be “in” by the time you start writing it and then “out” by the time you’re ready to go on sub. Conversely, the opposite is true.

Plus, I acknowledge that sometimes the plot bunnies won’t leave you alone until you finish whatever you have on hand first. And really, when someone comes into my query box, I’m not just thinking about whether I want to sell the project they queried me with. I’m also thinking about whether I want to work with this person on all of their projects.

As an example, I had an author who queried me with a YA historical western. I told her during our call, “Look I don’t know if I’ll be able to sell this. We can try; I’m always happy to be wrong. But I really liked your writing here. What else are you working on?”

As of this writing, we still haven’t sold the YA western and she moved on to something else but if westerns ever come back, we’ll be ready. We just have to keep an eye on the market.

Phase 2: Market Research

Next, I do some market research to see what comps (aka “comparison titles”) we have. Similar to what querying authors are researching comps for their submission letters, comps should ideally be from the last 3-5 years. There’s some room for comps to be from older popular titles–whether it’s book, film, or TV show–but I always try to draw at least one favorable comparison to a book.

Comps do not have to be perfect 1:1 comparison to the book. But comps do need to draw similarities to the plot, style, or tone in your book. Why are the right comps so important? Because when an editor takes a book to acquisitions, they need to show their higher ups or their imprint’s sales teams that this book would be a relatively safe risk to spend money behind. (Because remember, although we’re all in here for the love of the books, publishing is a business.)

After getting my comps, I research editors that might be a good for this submission. My agency has an internal database where we’ve kept our own log of editors and their preferences but despite our best efforts, that may not be up to date so I always double check it against Publishers Marketplace to see what an editors’ recent acquisitions look like. Maybe they were on a YA rom-com streak for a year and now that side of their list is full so they’re now focusing on YA thrillers.

I also look at the official Manuscript Wish List website because if an editor has an entry there, it’s usually detailed with their likes and dislikes that will explain exactly what kinds of thrillers, fantasy, etc. that they are looking for.

I then share the list with my clients with sometimes a note like, “X editor says on her MSWL she loves sister stories” or “Y primarily does picture books but someone at my agency had a meeting with them and they now are getting into YA.” The client usually approves of the list as-is but some may have alternate suggestions or they have made a networking connection that they want me to be aware of.

Phase 4: The Pitch Letter

If it’s any consolation to querying writers who hate writing querying letters, pitch letters are basically the same thing and I hate them to.

If we’re going out on submission with the project that a client queried me with, we’re likely re-using the their query letter for the pitch letter I share with editor. Sometimes, the original query letter (in part or in full) winds up being used in the final marketing copy for the book!

If we’re going out on submission with an entirely new project, then I have to write the pitch letter myself. Sometimes the client writes their own pitch letter and I make tweaks from that.

Generally speaking, I like to follow a 3-paragraph structure:

• Paragraph 1: intro, brief overview of the plot, comp titles, logline
• Paragraph 2: plot description
• Paragraph 3: conclusion, final line about why I think this book is amazing and sits really well in the market

Having a formula makes things easier to write out for me although the structure of the pitch letter may change as it goes through additional drafts.

Phase 5: Final Review

I share the pitch letter with the author and we may do additional tweaks to make sure we’re describing the most salient aspects of the book in an engaging way.

If the client has revised the manuscript, I do a final check to make sure the file we’ll be sharing with editors has accepted all tracked changes and comments.

If there’s been any big changes to publishing houses (i.e. layoffs, an imprint shuttering, someone else on my team reporting that an editor is moving to another position) or I had a positive meeting with an editor, I may need to review the submission list again to see if there’s anyone to add or remove from the list.

Phase 6: On Submission

And now we go out into the world!

I personally like to queue submissions to go out Monday through Thursday because I’m paranoid they get forgotten about on Fridays, especially during the summer when a lot of the industry takes half-days (aka summer Fridays).

You’ll also hear agents say that they try to avoid sending submissions before a major holiday especially if a long weekend is involved (Memorial Day, 4th of July, etc) and basically the period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day (lots of holidays where people take time off).

And then we wait to see if we’ll get offers! When will that happen? I don’t know!

I once sold a book 96 hours from its submission (it was during London Book Fair and probably would have been shorter if not for the time zone differences). My very first book I sold I think a year and a half from its initial submission. I sold a book within six weeks from its initial submission and I helped sell another book four years from its initial submission.

The point is, the sale could happen right away or not for awhile. That’s why i advise my clients to start thinking about their next project when we go on sub. You can’t let yourself drive yourself crazy waiting for the phone to ring.

There’s always things happening outside of your control. The publisher already bought a book very similar to yours and there’s a worry that two similar titles will cannibalize each other’s sales. The editor who would have been perfect for it left publishing forever. The editor took it to acquisitions and couldn’t get the consensus to make an offer. There’s another book that everyone’s waiting to see how well it performs before they decide to take a risk on something similar.

All we can do is move on to the next thing because the next thing might be the project that sells. I always love the day when I get to write the email with the subject line “OFFER RECEIVED.”