The Submission Experience Part 4: Acquisitions

Hello, friends! And welcome back to the most interrupted series of all time! I am so sorry for the delays in each part of this series. I am loving everything I'm doing to prep for the #KidsChoiceKidLitWritingContest, but it is quite honestly a lot of work, and I am still in the middle of my revisions for my NF MG, so life happens. Thank you for understanding and being patient with me. This post should be much shorter than the other parts so far in this series. (Famous last words... because we all know that I am not one for brevity).

If you are new around here, you might not know what this series is all about... basically, I am trying to shine a light on the entire submission process, because it really is not clear, even for authors who are on sub. If you missed the first three parts, catch them here:

Part One: Going On Sub

Part Two: Second Reads

Part Three: Revise and Resubmit

Two posts ago we talked about second reads and last time, we talked about the potential for an R&R. So this next step comes after one (or both) of those. Some people go straight from second reads on to acquisitions, other will have an R&R first, and others might even get an R&R after a try at acquisitions. But today, we get to talk about that really awesome-really stressful moment when an editor takes your book to acquisitions!

Even if an editor falls completely head-over-heels in love with your book. Even if their team agrees that it's the best thing they've ever read. Even if you nailed the R&R... you still aren't quite guaranteed an offer. There's one more step--the acquisitions meeting!

Sometimes an editor will tell you that they are about to take your book to acquisitions. Sometimes you don't find out that it went until after the fact and they send you either a pass or an offer. But either way, you have to make it through that meeting.

So, what is an acquisition meeting? Well... it's the big meeting where the entire publishing house gets together to talk about the books that each editor wants to offer on. This is a huge meeting. At the big publishing houses, it includes the entire group. Every imprint under the larger umbrella. (For example, KID MADE went to the Macmillan acquisitions meeting with my editor from Feiwel and Friends and at that same meeting, editors were there from FSG, Roaring Brook, Henry Holt, Etc.) My understanding is that some mid-size and smaller imprints don't have the massive meeting and can take care of acquisitions decisions in their smaller group, even if they are under a larger umbrella.

But those big houses have a big-ol meeting. Editors, managers/CEOs, and the heads of all the departments (more on that below) come to this meeting. And then the editors pitch the books they want to take on and everyone has to agree to it. The editors share a pitch, a profit and loss report (basically, how many copies they think your book will sell based on comp titles, how much they think it will cost the publisher to print, promote, and market the book, and what the overall profit will be), and a report on why they want the book, where they see it fitting in the market, etc. They'll likely read portions of the MS (or perhaps the entire thing with PBs) and talk about exactly why they love your book.

Now... You should know that they are trying to convince a lot of people to give them the green light on offering on your book. Because again, loving it isn't enough in this capitalist world we live in. Here's a bit more on the people they have to convince:

Publicity and Marketing: does the publisher see where this book will fit into the market and how they will be able to place it for maximum sales?

School and Library: is this a book that schools and libraries are going to want?

Sales: is this book going to sell enough copies to be worth the cost of printing it? Does the house already have something too similar? (they don't want to compete with themselves).

And then of course there are the managers and CEOs and big-boss-guys who also have to be convinced.

Everyone has to agree that this is a book they want to take on.

So, what are the chances that your book will get that offer after this meeting? Well, let's look at the statistics from my awesome survey respondents...

(As a reminder, I had 102 amazing authors who have been on sub respond to my survey. You can check out more statistics in the other parts of this series).

The statistics are MUCH better this week than they were in our last part about R&Rs. While there is still a good chunk of people who unfortunately get a "no" at the acquisitions stage, over 62% of books that made it to acquisitions ended with an offer!

To speak of my own experience, of the 4 books I had go to acquisitions, 2 of them came out with offers right away. The other 2 got "no's" the first time they went to acquisitions. But then they went to different acquisition meetings with different publishers, and ultimately received a "yes" from those publishers! So I think that this statistic is actually probably even higher on books that get a "yes" at the acquisitions point, because they maybe will go on to a different acquisitions meeting and receive a yes then.

So after the editor leaves an acquisitions meeting, they will either have the green light to send you an offer letter, or unfortunately, they will have to send a rejection. We're going to talk all about the super exciting part of offers, pre-empts, and auctions next time, but for now, I will say... there is seriously nothing as exciting as getting a call from your agent with an offer. For reals. Toon in next time for all the details on that. But before I let you go, I'll sign off with some words from my anonymous survey respondents.

"An editor can love your book and it still might not end up in a sale because the money people don’t think it’s easily marketable."

"It's all about finding the right fit. When you hear an editor gush about what they love about your manuscript, you know it was worth the wait!"

"We had a meeting with an editor and went to acquisitions at a press - only to find they’ve decided not to acquire any more picture books. It is what it is I guess."

"Publishing is incredibly slow…until suddenly, it’s not! But in the glacial wait, just breathe and take the time to get inspired by something else, rather than obsessing over your inbox!"

"It’s very subjective and informed by ppl’s prejudices , a lot depends on network and personal connections - sucks for marginalized humans."

"I think it has less to do with the quality of writing and more to do with hot topics/luck of timing. I mean, there has to be some level of quality to writing, but a lot has to do with topic/timing (I know I'm not a better writer than others who maybe haven't sold yet or as quickly)"

Well... there you have it, folks! I hope this series continues to be helpful to you. And remember, get your submissions ready for the Kids' Choice KidLit Writing Contest opening in 2 weeks!

About Kailei Pew

Kailei Pew is a wife, mother, and children's book author represented by the amazing Emily Forney of Bookends Literary. Kailei's debut Middle Grade Book, KID MADE will be coming to you from Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan Summer 2023

Kids' Choice KidLit Writing Contest Rules and Prize Donors

IT'S HERE!!! IT'S HERE!!! IT'S HERE!!!!

Can you tell I am super excited? I mean, SO SO SO excited!

It's the 1st Annual Kids' Choice KidLit Writing Contest!!!!!

Well... almost ;)

Today is the day I share all of the rules so that you can spend the next three weeks writing your hearts out in an effort to win over our kid judges! We'll start with the basics in case you missed my announcement post, and then we will dive into the veeeeery specific rules. You will want to read these and follow them exactly, because if you don't, you could be disqualified.

Also, as a side note, you can use and follow #KidsChoiceKidLitWritingContest on Twitter to help spread the word and let me know what you're working on!

The Basics:

The Kids' Choice KidLit Writing Contest is a writing contest like no other. PB, MG, and YA authors will submit entries here on my website from January 31st through February 2nd.

Then, (with the express permission of their parents/guardians), KIDS will judge the entries in a series of rounds until we arrive at the finalists. We don't want any kid to have to read hundreds of entries, so each kid will read a set of approximately 10 entries in the first round of judging. All entries will be read and voted on by multiple kids the first round (exact number of readers in round one will depend on how many entries we get, but it will be enough to have a consensus).

Then based on the votes from the first round, I will send ALL the kid judges the approximately 10 finalists in each category (PB, MG, and YA) for final voting (again, the exact number of finalists will depend on the number of entries we receive).

ALL of the kid judges will then read and vote on the finalists from their specified category.

We have about 100 total kid judges ready to read your work, so this will be very exciting! Since we do have kid judges and don't want to overwhelm them, we will give them plenty of time to read and judge. Winners will be announced sometime in March, hopefully around the 14th.

Now that we got the basics down (I know, I know... those were more detailed that most "basics."), we will now get into the very very specific rules. Again... follow these rules! Please don't try to sneak an extra word or two in. You will be disqualified and the kids won't even get the chance to read your wonderful work. Know these rules. They are your friends (and mine). Follow them, please. I know some of them seem tedious, but please remember that this is a lot for one person to organize and know that these rules are in place to make life just slightly easier for me.

The Theme:

When I first had the idea for this contest, I wanted to have a specific theme every year. But then the more I thought about it, the more I want this contest to be completely about kids and what they love. So while there is no specific theme, you could also see the theme as "impress a kid."

Consider using one of your new StoryStorm ideas (if you aren't doing story storm, check out the details from Tara Lazar). And remember... Today is Hollie Wolverton's #FirstDraftFriday, so this could be a good time to get an idea down and then revise over the next three weeks.

The Rules:

1. Write a 200-word or less story for PB (approximately ages 3-8), MG (approximately ages 8-12), or YA readers (approximately ages 13-18). This might be a scene more than a complete story for the older readers, but try to have a sense of beginning, middle, and end. The story can be humorous, heartfelt, gut-wrenching, quirky, meta, lyrical, STEM, nonfiction, etc. Pretty much anything that YOU think kids will love.

2. Title does not count towards word count

3. Contest is open to all authors... agented, pre-agented, published, not published, veteran, or brand new. However, if there are any kid writers who want to enter, please let them know that I will be hosting a "Kids Write KidLit" Contest just for them in July.

4. Art notes ARE allowed for PB entries (because I love me a good joke landed with an art note). BUT, keep in mind that your work will be read by kid judges. I will train them on how to read an art note, but make sure your notes are understandable... also, art notes count towards your final word count, so make sure you do not go over!!! There is no need to indicate "art note." Simply put your art notes in brackets. e.g.: Everything ran smoothly, until... [machine explodes].

5. Come to my website between January 31st and February 2nd to post your story in the comments section of the Contest Page. Read the details below on how to format your entry. (While it's not required, you may want to subscribe to my blog in the box at the bottom of this page to make sure you don't miss the right page to enter on. I will email out a link when the Contest Page opens).

6. Only ONE entry per person.

7. You may post your entry to your own personal blog, but you must ALSO enter through a comment on my website following the guidelines below. But you may include a link to your post on your website if you like.

8. Submission Window will open Monday, January 31st, 2022 at 12:01 AM Mountain Time. Deadline for posting your entry is Wednesday, February 2, 2022 at 11:59 PM Mountain Time.

9. If you have any problems posting your story in the comments section, please fill out the contact form on my website and I will get back to you ASAP and help get your comment up. If for some reason you need me to post your entry for you, you can do so by filling out the contact form as well.

10. Make sure to uncheck the "join this site's community" when leaving your comment. Unfortunately, if you do not, you will get an email every time someone comments on the post. This is an issue with Wix websites that I am seriously hoping changes soon. If it doesn't, I will make sure to move to a different host before next year's event... If you miss this step and start getting lots of notifications, you can simply click "unsubscribe" on one of the emails. I will still have your email logged to contact you if you win.

11. Have fun reading other entries and even commenting on other's work while you wait to hear the results of the contest. It's a confidence boost to hear from other writers that they like your stuff.

12. Be patient while the kids read your work. I don't want this to be a burden on any of our kid judges, so we are giving them ample time to read and make their choices.

13. Winners will be announced around March 14th, depending on the judges. First place winners will choose from the list of prizes below. Second place will choose from the remaining prizes, and so on until all prizes are claimed. Book prizes are available to U.S. authors only for shipping reasons, but all other prizes are available to all. Prizes can be gifted if desired.

14. If you would like to include links to your social media when you post your story, feel free to do so. You never know who might stumble on your work here and what connections you might make!

15. FOLLOW THIS GUIDE WHEN POSTING YOUR ENTRY IN THE COMMENTS:

TITLE

By: (Your Name)

Genre: (PB, MG, or YA)

Paste your story here.

I know this is very specific, but please remember that I am coordinating this by myself with 100 kid judges. I will be creating groups of judges, sending out hundreds of emails with the stories for each group of judges, receiving their decisions, putting together the list of finalists based on their votes, and collecting the kids' final votes. So please, please, please help me out by following the above guidelines. Failure to do so will disqualify you.

Well... I think that covers everything. I admittedly have never done this before, so if I am missing something, don't hesitate to point it out. Comment below with any questions you might have so that others can read them and see the answers as well.

And now, for another exciting part! The prizes! I mean, being named a Kids's Choice winner is going to be a pretty cool prize in itself, because don't we all just want kids to love our work?? But some extra incentive is also fun, right? This list is a living and growing list, so check back on the day of the contest for the final list!

I first want to give a HUGE thank you to all of our prize donors. It really does mean the world to me that these people believe in this un-proven contest in its inaugural year. I will be forever grateful to everyone who keeps saying "yes" to me and my wild ideas, even when they are not yet proven. I love this community so much.

In no particular order, the prize options are:

Prize A: Ask Me Anything 20 Minute Phone Call with Agent Kaitlyn Sanchez

Kaitlyn Leann Sanchez is a mom, wife, high school math teacher, picture book author, co-creator and co-host of the Spring Fling Kidlit Contest, creator of the Kidlit Fall Writing Frenzy Contest, and a associate literary agent at Context Literary. In her free time, she loves to play soccer, binge-watch shows on Hulu and Prime, and, of course, read. Her favorites are historical fiction, short stories, dramas, fantasies, mysteries, and of course picture books! She especially loves it when her husband, daughter, and her all cozy up and read together.

Prize B: 30 Minute Ask Agent Session with Agent Jemiscoe Chambers-Black

Before Jemiscoe "Jem" Chambers-Black joined Andrea Brown Literary Agency in 2020, she was an assistant director for film and television. Her love for books prevailed, and she went back to school to study English Literature and creative writing in fiction and earned her MFA. She represents illustrators, picture book authors (by referral only), MG, YA, and adult authors. In picture books, she enjoys laugh-out-louds, tight rhyming, and heartfelt books that deal with family, friendships, and emotional literacy.

Prize C: 30 Minute Zoom chat with agent Emily Forney and Author Kailei Pew about the author-agent relationship

Emily Forney is a literary agent for BookEnds Literary, a digital media and rhetoric teacher, cultural critic, and a writer for what feels like an eternity. ​ She currently lives in Phoenix, Arizona at the mercy of two cats and a dream of owning a goat farm one day.

When she isn't reading submissions, working with her authors, or procrastinating her own writing, she's usually binge watching an unhealthy amount of television and stress baking when deadlines are near.

Prize D: Picture Book Critique from agent Joyce Sweeny

Joyce Sweeney is the author of fourteen novels for young adults and two chapbooks of poetry. Joyce worked as a writing teacher and coach for twenty-five years. During that time, she guided over sixty of her students to traditional publishing contracts, which earned them her ‘magic bean’ award. In 2020, Joyce got the opportunity to take mentoring to the next level and joined The Seymour Agency. She specializes in picture books and middle grade novels, both fiction and non-fiction.

Prize E: Query Critique from editor Taryn Albright

Prize F: Editor AMA Phone call with editor Taryn Albright

Taryn Albright is an editor at KiwiCo Press. In over a decade of editorial roles, she has worked with bestselling and award-winning authors on everything from board books to children’s nonfiction to YA fantasy to adult romance, and her favorite type of book changes based on the day. She lives and swims in the Bay Area.

Prize G: PB MS and Query Zoom Critique with author Brian Gehrlein

Brian Gehrlein is the creator of Picture Book Spotlight and #PBCritiqueFest, a member of SCBWI, and is represented by Jennifer Mattson of Andrea Brown Literary Agency. He wrote a book. It's called THE BOOK OF RULES.

Brian teaches high school English and lives in Liberty, Missouri with his wife, Katherine, sons Peter and Albee, and their two corgis!

Prize H: PB MS critique from author Tara Lazar

Tara loves children’s books. Her goal is to create books that children love. She writes picture books and middle grade novels.

Some of her books include:

Absurd Words (Sourcebooks eXplore)

Bloop (Harper Collins, 2021)

How To Trap A Leprechaun (Harper Collins, January 2020)

The Upper Case (Disney*Hyperion/Little, Brown, October 2019)

In November 2009, Tara created PiBoIdMo (Picture Book Idea Month) as the picture book writer’s answer to NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). In 2017, PiBoIdMo’s name was changed to Storystorm and it’s now held on her blog every January…with nearly 2,000 participants from around the world.

Prize I: 30 min. Zoom critique or AMA with author Kailei Pew

Kailei Pew is a wife, mother, and children's book author represented by the amazing Emily Forney of Bookends Literary. Kailei's debut Middle Grade Book, KID MADE will be coming to you from Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan Spring 2024.

She also has two unannounced picture books slated for 2023 and 2024 releases.

Prize J: PB MS critique from author Leila Boukarim

Leila Boukarim was born in Lebanon, raised in several countries, and now resides in Berlin, Germany. She spends her time writing stories that inspire empathy and encourage meaningful discussions between children and caregivers. She has published several picture books with Marshall Cavendish, Penguin Random House SEA, and Chronicle Books (2024).

Prize K: Query Critique from author Jocelyn Rish

JocelynRish is a writer and filmmaker who never imagined her cheeky sense of humor would lead to a book about animal butts. BATTLE OF THE BUTTS is out now, and BATTLE OF THE BRAINS is coming 11/8/22. When she’s not researching unusual animal facts, she tutors kids to help them discover the magic of reading. Jocelyn has won numerous awards for her short stories, screenplays, short films, and novels and lives in South Carolina with her delightful dogs. You can find her at www.jocelynrish.com

Prize L: PB MS Critique from author Emma Pearl

Emma Pearl's debut picture book MENDING THE MOON will be published by Page Street Kids in 2022, with the sequel SAVING THE SUN out the following year. Emma was a PB mentor for the WriteMentor summer program 2021, a middle grade mentee in 2020, and had a YA novel longlisted for WMCNA 2020.

Prize M: A Non-Rhyming PB critique from author Lauren H. Kerstein

Lauren's debut: ROSIE THE DRAGON AND CHARLIE MAKE WAVES (Illustrated by Nate Wragg/Two Lions) splashed onto bookshelves in June 2019. The companion volume, ROSIE THE DRAGON AND CHARLIE SAY GOOD NIGHT (Illustrated by Nate Wragg/Two Lions), snuggled into shelves September 1, 2020. HOME FOR A WHILE (Illustrated by Natalia Moore/Magination Press) moved into shelves on February 2, 2021.

Lauren loves stretching her creative brain with StoryStorm, ReFoReMo, 12x12, NaPiBoWriWee, #FireButtChallenges, and conferences. Lauren is a judge with Rate Your Story, and runs her own critique business. She is one of the founders of #ReVISIONweek, which takes place in September each year. She is also a member of Picture Book Buzz, Seen in '19, 20/20 Vision PB's, and 2020 Book Look, 2021 Picture Book Scribblers, and 2021BookBlast.

Prize N: 15 Min AMA Phone Call with author Valerie Bolling

Valerie Bolling has been an educator for almost 30 years, and her debut picture book, LET’S DANCE!, was published in March 2020 and won SCBWI’s Crystal Kite Award in 2021. Valerie has two books scheduled for release in 2022 (TOGETHER WE RIDE and RIDE, ROLL, RUN:TIME FOR FUN), five more slated for 2023 (TOGETHER WE SWIM, NEIGHBORHOOD JAM, and ZOYA GLITTERS!, a Scholastic early reader series), and one for 2024. Valerie and her husband live in Stamford and enjoy traveling, hiking, reading, going to the theater, and dancing. linktr.ee/ValerieBolling

Prize O: A copy of Bugs for Breakfast: How Eating Insects Could Help Save the Planet (Chicago Review Press, 2021) from author Mary Boone

MaryBoone has ridden an elephant, hung out backstage with a boy band, and baked dozens of cricket cookies – all in the interest of research for her books and magazine articles. She’s written more than 60 nonfiction books for young readers. Her most recent book is Bugs for Breakfast: How Eating Insects Could Help Save the Planet (Chicago Review Press, 2021). Mary lives in Tacoma, Washington.

Prize P: A signed copy of My Sister, Daisy from author Adria Karlsson

Adria Karlsson currently spends her time writing and parenting, but she has a history of teaching people, training cats and dogs, and tutoring dyslexic kids. She spent most of her childhood wondering how people knew what they wanted to be when they grew up and why it was so hard to get her materials organized. She has spent most of her adult life the same way. She has been pleased to discover that being an author means getting to ask lots of questions, find lots of the answers, and share the answers by turning them into interesting stories. Her first book, My Sister, Daisy, illustrated by Linus Curci, was inspired by questions she and her family had and the answers they figured out.

Prize Q: First Chapter Critique from author Lorraine Hawley

Prize R: $25 Amazon Gift Card from author Lorraine Hawley

LorraineHawley is the author of Curious World of Dandy-lion, a middle-grade fantasy. She lives in Arizona and writes stories about tweens, teens, adults, and fantastical worlds. While she has attempted to write non-magical stories, her characters have refused to stay reality grounded, leaping off the pages to fly.

Prize S: Winner's Choice of Picture Book by author Pamela Mones

PamelaMones has been drawn to writing as a child and pursued her passion by becoming a journalist and newspaper editor for more than a decade. Now retired, she currently writes adult fiction, and picture books. She lives in Florida, surrounded by aquamarine waters, stunning beaches, and an abundance of beautiful birds, manatees, dolphins, and turtles.

Prize T: A copy of Hop To It: Poems to Get You Moving (Pomelo, 2020) by author Sarah Meade

Prize U: Winner's choice of Book with custom drawing on the edges by author Michelle Mohrweis.

Michelle Mohrweis is a middle school Robotics and Engineering teacher. She writes MG contemporary books about STEM Girls, as well as MG fantasy. She is an avid reader and a moderator at the annual Tucson Festival of Books. Michelle lives in Arizona with her husband and two dogs. When not writing, she can be found chasing her dogs around the house with remote control robots and launching paper rockets down the middle of her street.

Prize V: Query Critique from YA Author and 2021 BookEnds Publishing Fellow Elba Luz

Elba Luz is a Puerto Rican author and lover of stories, whether they be in the form of anime, manga, video games, and of course, books. She writes YA contemporary books about chaotic bi characters. If you ask her sister, she’d tell you Elba stole her personality from every character in Schitt's Creek. When she’s not replaying Final Fantasy for the millionth time or searching for the perfect empanadilla, she’s adding ideas to her never-ending WIP list.

Prize W: Non-Rhyming PB Critique from Author Shannon Stocker

Shannon Stocker is a writer, singer/songwriter, and fierce advocate for those who are differently-abled and/or chronically ill. She is the author of upcoming picture books LISTEN: HOW EVELYN GLENNIE, A DEAF GIRL, CHANGED PERCUSSION (coming from Dial/Penguin UK in April, 2022), WARRIOR (Sleeping Bear Press, 2023), and her 2019 debut CAN U SAVE THE DAY (Sleeping Bear Press). She’s a frequent contributor to the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. The proud word nerd lives in Louisville, KY, with her husband, two children (including one cancer warrior and one with ADHD), and stash of hidden dark chocolate. Shannon currently serves as SCBWI social co-director for Louisville and is a 12x12 ninja.

Cool facts: Shannon survived medical school, a coma, and once performed two songs, including one original, as part of an opening act for Blake Shelton. She’s also proud to announce that LISTEN was recently selected by the JLG as a book club pick. Shannon is represented by Allison Remcheck of Stimola Literary Studio.

Prize X: Query Critique from YA Author Melissa See

Melissa See is a disabled author of young adult contemporary romances. Her debut book, YOU, ME, AND OUR HEARTSTRINGS releases from Scholastic this July. Melissa currently lives in the New York countryside where she’s pursuing her education to work in children’s publishing. When not writing, she can be found reading, baking cookies, or curled up with her cat, most likely watching anime or 90 Day Fiancé. Her work has previously appeared in Anime Impact: The Movies & Shows that Changed the World of Japanese Animation.

She is represented by Emily Forney at BookEnds Literary Agency.

Prize Y: Query Critique form Author Emi Pinto

Emi is a Canadian writer and recent Doctorate of Education graduate. She loves to write middle grade and young adult fantasy about families, food, and witchy mischief, and weaves her mixed Indian and French-Canadian heritage into her stories. When she isn’t reading or writing, you can find her taking long walks in the Ontario NCC forest trails with her husband, looking for fairy doors. Find her on Twitter

@EmiDPinto

Prize Z: PB MS Critique from Author Kailei Pew

Prize AA: NF MG First 5 Pages Critique from Author Kailei Pew

Kailei Pew is a wife, mother, and children's book author represented by the amazing Emily Forney of Bookends Literary. Kailei's debut Middle Grade Book, KID MADE will be coming to you from Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan Spring 2024.

She also has two unannounced picture books slated for 2023 and 2024 releases.

Prize BB-FF: $10 Gift Card to BookShop.Org (5 available)

Bookshop is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores.

Whooo! That is a lot of really awesome prizes! And remember, I'll be adding to the list as more donations come in, so make sure to check the final list on January 31st when the submission window opens. Once again, a HUGE thank you to all of our prize donors. I'm so very grateful to each of you.

Well, friends, I think that is officially the longest blog post I have ever written in my life. I am so very grateful to each and every one of your for considering this writing contest. I hope you all decide to enter and am looking forward to reading each submission. The kids are SO excited to judge and I'm excited to see what they choose. I will not influence them at all, their parents/guardians will not influence them at all. They are truly making the calls. I can't wait to see where this takes us!

Comment below if you have any questions, or just want to WOO HOO and let's do this thing!

The Submission Experience Part 3: Revise and Resubmit

Hello, friends! And Happy New Year! I hope you had a wonderful break. I spent most of my break playing hard with my children, eating way too much chocolate, and revising KID MADE. Which is the perfect fit for today's blog post!

If you are new around here, you might not have caught Part 1 and Part 2 of my Submission Experience Series. Basically, I am on a mission to make the submission experience more transparent. Because really, no one knows what it all involves, and even when you are "on sub," it feels like a black hole of nothingness in some ways. So I'm hopeful that this series will shine a light on the entire process and help you learn just what it means to go on submission.

If you missed Part 1: Going on Sub or Part 2: Second Reads, make sure to check them out first and then come back to this post, because I will assume that you know the things I covered in those first posts within this post. And this one might be confusing if you haven't read those.

So, here we go with Part 3: Revise and Resubmit

So you've gone on sub. You've gotten some rejections, some ghosts, and then... a chance in SECOND READS! Woo hoo! That means you must be moments away from an offer, right?? RIGHT? Well... no.

There are still a few more steps. Today, we are talking about the chance of a revise and resubmit (often called an R&R in the publishing world).

Not everyone will see this step. Some books go straight from second reads on to acquisitions (We will talk in depth about acquisitions in next week's Part-4 post).

Others will get rejected after second reads (we talked about that in part 2).

But some will receive the R&R.

What exactly is an R&R? Well, it's pretty much exactly what it sounds like. An editor will ask you to revise your book and resubmit once the revisions are done. These revisions might be really in depth, or they might be more minor. Some ask for a complete overhaul of the book, and others ask for some clarification on one specific part. It really just depends on what an editor sees in the manuscript.

Now here's the thing about R&Rs... you might think that an R&R means that the team is really enthusiastic about you book and it's practically a sure thing that you will get the book deal once you make these changes. But... it's not. Let's take a look at the numbers from my poll of authors who have been on submission...

Of 102 total respondents, 56 have received an R&R. Of those, only 12 (just over 21%) received an offer after resubmitting...

Ooof. That, quite frankly, is a little rough. Because let me tell you, an R&R can really be a TON of work.

Let me share my experience... because I was one of those lucky 12 who did receive an offer after an R&R.

Back in January 2021, my rock-star agent got an email from Holly West, a senior editor at F&F Macmillan. She loved my idea for KID MADE but wanted to know if Emily could hop on a call to talk about her vision for the book. Emily took the call and then immediately called me. Holly wanted me to take my 40-page Picture Book about 15 kid inventors and make it into a 300 page Middle Grade book about 30-40 kid inventors. She had this really cool vision and she told me that her team was also fully on board and that if I could send them some sample pages plus a full outline of the same idea but for middle grade, that they would love to consider it for acquisitions.

Well, I actually LOVED the idea (keep reading below for my thoughts on how SUPER important it is for you to only do the R&R IF it resonates with you). I got really excited about the chance to write a middle grade book because it would let me really dive in deep to each of the stories of the inventors in my book.

I wrote the sample pages and prepared a full outline detailing what I would do for a middle grade version of my book. My agent helped me revise and polish and we sent it back off to Holly.

And she loved it! Her team still loved it too and we headed off to acquisitions (remember, details on that coming in Part 4), and ultimately received an offer.

So... I clearly had a great experience with my R&R. And I lucked out, because since it was Nonfiction, it could be bought on proposal and then I finished the book after receiving the offer. But as we saw above, only about 20% of writers receive an actual offer after completing the R&R... so how should you decide if you want to do it or not? Because it's clearly not a guarantee...

First, and I believe most importantly, only do the R&R if it resonates with you. Don't make major changes to your book just in the hopes that you will get an offer if you don't agree with them and know that they will make your book stronger. At the end of the day, this is your book, and you have to love it and believe in it. Go with your gut. Write the book that you want to write. Editors are amazing and make books WAY better. Promise. But they all have different life experiences that will contribute to their vision, and if it doesn't match up with yours, that is okay. Not every editor has to be the perfect match.

Second, make sure that they have someone else who is also interested in the changes. Has the book been to second reads? Does the rest of the team agree that if you make these changes they would be interested? Because as we read in Part 2, one editor loving the book alone unfortunately is not enough to get you the book deal.

Third, don't hesitate to ask for a phone call with the editor. They are super happy to clarify their vision and make sure you understand the revisions they are looking for. This can also help you know just how passionate they are about the project and get a feel for if they are truly interested in taking it on to acquisitions.

Fourth, talk openly with your agent. Do they feel like the editor is passionate about this project? Do they think the suggested revisions will make the book stronger? Would they read through your changes and let you know if they think it's ready to resubmit?

Mainly, just make sure that the revision is something you agree with, something that will make your book stronger, and that the editor AND a team are passionate about the project. I can't guarantee that doing these things will result in even making it to acquisitions or ultimately in an offer... unfortunately there are STILL more pieces that go in to this. But I can tell you that these things will help you know if you want to try the R&R.

(WHOO-- are you still with me? I know this is a lot).

If you don't want to do the R&R for whatever reason, your agent will let the editor know and you will move on to the next round of submission. But let's say you decide to take the R&R. What next? Well, you spend weeks and more likely months making the changes. You might hear back from other editors while you are making the changes. Your agent might let them know that you are working on a revision if it's appropriate. Some agents will pull other outstanding submissions while you work on the revision depending on if you for sure want this new version to be THE version on sub. Others will continue with the submission rounds that we talked about in Part 1 because the revisions you are making might just be a good option/new direction while the original submission is still also viable. It really comes down to what you and your agent decide is best for you and your book.

Finally, you'll finish the revision. You'll send it back to the editor and it's kind of like you went back to step one all over again. They will read the new version of the book. If they love it, they will share it with their team, if not, you'll get a rejection. If they do share with the team (second reads), then you have a chance of going on to acquisitions from there.

I mentioned it in a previous post, but it's important to remember that some editors communicate with agents about where your book is at ("I'm going to share this with my team." or "My team also loved this and we're prepping for acquisitions"), but some editors don't and you suddenly find out that you've been to second reads or acquisitions when you get the rejection or the offer. It all just depends. Weird, I know.

So after you finish that R&R, it's back into the waiting game. Which makes this post (and the other two) feel like a bummer of an ending... but that's publishing for you. You cross a milestone and wait some more. haha.

Next week I'll be talking all about acquisitions, so make sure you tune in then to read about next steps!

If you've had an R&R from an editor (or even from an Agent, because it happens in that stage too), let me know in the comments below how it went for you and any additional advice you might have.

So there you have it... all the nitty gritty on the Revise and Resubmit. Before I sign off, I wanted to share some of the anonymous comments from my survey respondents about their experiences with R&Rs:

"I had several R&Rs for picture books that did not sell, in addition to the one that did sell. It’s such a brutal process sometimes."

"My first book sold b/c an art director took interested in it at a conference, and then gave it to the editor. They had some revisions for me before offering."

Thank you all for reading! I wish you all the best on the submission journey and look forward to Part 4 about acquisitions and Part 5 about offers. Make sure you're subscribed to my blog so you don't miss those last two pieces of this process!

About Kailei Pew

Kailei Pew is a wife, mother, and children's book author represented by the amazing Emily Forney of Bookends Literary. Kailei's debut Middle Grade Book, KID MADE will be coming to you from Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan Summer 2023