{"id":2099,"date":"2025-04-14T13:05:43","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T12:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/?p=2099"},"modified":"2025-06-23T13:10:33","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T12:10:33","slug":"writing-update-debut-novel-on-submission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/14\/writing-update-debut-novel-on-submission\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing Update: Debut Novel on Submission"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Another quick writing update for those of you following along with my author journey:&nbsp;<strong>My Cozy, Comedic Adult Fantasy manuscript, \u201cThe Reluctant Mentor\u201d, is now on submission!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you recall, I signed with my literary agent in February (2025). We then spent the next month going back through the manuscript and making edits. Some edits were larger plot changes, but most were cleaning up more general editorial aspects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My agent, Madison, also took this time to write a \u201cquery package\u201d\u2014basically, a letter and synopsis to entice editors to pick up my book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of Monday this week (April 14th, 2025), my book is on submission!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Does It Mean for a Book To Be \u201cOn Submission\u201d?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSubmission\u201d is where your literary agent takes your finished manuscript and sends it out to editors at publishing imprints, along with a query letter and synopsis. If they find the query intriguing, they might ask to read more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Query letter:<\/strong>\u00a0A short intro to the book (like you\u2019d read in the jacket copy of a published novel) and an author bio.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong>\u00a0A detailed plot summary, spoilers included.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Long Does the Submission Process Take?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>On average, a long,&nbsp;<em>long<\/em>&nbsp;time. As with everything in the publishing industry, I could be waiting months or even years for an editor to show interest in my debut novel, and it could come with many rounds of revisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s also possible that no editor will want to pick up my book (called \u201cdying on sub\u201d). In which case, we\u2019ll likely \u201cshelve\u201d that project and I\u2019ll work on the next one. And the next and the next until someone wants to publish it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who Does the Literary Agent Submit To?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>My agent has curated a list of editors with wishlists matching my book. For example, some editors may express interest in seeing elderly main characters or animal companions. Others have more general interests, like cozy fantasy or D&amp;D-type storytelling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What\u2019s So Special About Your Package? (He he)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m not sure if I can share yet what the bonus extra we added to my query package is, but what I&nbsp;<em>can<\/em>&nbsp;say is that it was\u2026unique! For those of you who know me, that shouldn\u2019t surprise you too much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks for continuing on this publishing journey with me! Traditional publishing can be a long road, but I\u2019m so grateful for the support I have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"872\" height=\"628\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ed792284-5621-477a-adaf-0f0292d8a70d_1456x1048-872x628.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ed792284-5621-477a-adaf-0f0292d8a70d_1456x1048-872x628.jpg 872w, https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ed792284-5621-477a-adaf-0f0292d8a70d_1456x1048-139x100.jpg 139w, https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ed792284-5621-477a-adaf-0f0292d8a70d_1456x1048-768x553.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ed792284-5621-477a-adaf-0f0292d8a70d_1456x1048-300x216.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ed792284-5621-477a-adaf-0f0292d8a70d_1456x1048-850x612.jpg 850w, https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ed792284-5621-477a-adaf-0f0292d8a70d_1456x1048-1320x950.jpg 1320w, https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ed792284-5621-477a-adaf-0f0292d8a70d_1456x1048.jpg 1456w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 872px) 100vw, 872px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>nother quick writing update for those of you following along with my author journey:\u00a0My Cozy, Comedic Adult Fantasy manuscript, \u201cThe Reluctant Mentor\u201d, is now on submission!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2101,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-2099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-writing-journey"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/14.png","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"amazon":{"key":"amazon","url":"https:\/\/music.amazon.ca\/podcasts\/09c34bbc-b359-49af-a286-31830ed5634c\/short-stories","label":"Amazon","class":"amazon","icon":"amazon.png"},"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/short-stories\/id1621456328","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_play":{"key":"google_play","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/feed\/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbGV4aXN2ZWVuZW5kYWFsLmNvbS9mZWVkL3BvZGNhc3Qvc2hvcnQtc3Rvcmllcw","label":"Google Play","class":"google_play","icon":"google-play.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/feed\/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbGV4aXN2ZWVuZW5kYWFsLmNvbS9mZWVkL3BvZGNhc3Qvc2hvcnQtc3Rvcmllcw","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0lcQCRs52MfYlKs35lVX4K","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"itunes":{"key":"itunes","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/short-stories\/id1621456328","label":"iTunes","class":"itunes","icon":"itunes.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/feed\/podcast\/default-podcast","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"7AkG86ZJCk\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/14\/writing-update-debut-novel-on-submission\/\">Writing Update: Debut Novel on Submission<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/14\/writing-update-debut-novel-on-submission\/embed\/#?secret=7AkG86ZJCk\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Writing Update: Debut Novel on Submission&#8221; &#8212; Alexis Veenendaal\" data-secret=\"7AkG86ZJCk\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\n\/*! 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