My Agent Told Me To Make A Blog

What does it mean for an author to be on submission? In a word, angst. Being "on submission" means your agent has pitched your manuscript to editors at publishing houses. As the author, literally the only thing you have to do is wait. And you know what? It's balls. I have no idea when I will get an offer. It could be tomorrow, next month, or next year. I get updates from my agent about rejections, so toward the end of the month, if I haven't heard anything, I know it's only going to be bad news. Meanwhile, a bunch of super big-name publishing houses have my MS in their hands, and I'm sitting here imagining them reading it, and freaking out. Did they read it already? Did they reject it already? Is it still in a pile to be read? Submissions is both better and worse than querying. Querying, when you're soliciting agents to represent you, is generally a first foray into the professional world. At that point, you have no idea if what you've written

If you ever feel frustrated with your writing, like everything is horrible and your book is stupid and everything you write is bad, allow me to leave you with a little tidbit. Everyone feels this way sometimes (or all the time). A friend mentioned to me, "I just wrote the worst line ever written in fiction." To which I replied, "No, you didn't." That very day, I had edited a chapter that, in the first draft, I got so frustrated I ended it thusly: “It’s all right,” she whispered. She hugged her arms around him, and the chilling tingle of her touch was an unexpected comfort. He hugged her back. And then everyone died, the end.