How I got my book deal

Hello, is there anyone still out there!? Long time, no blog I know. I’ve been quiet because I’ve been sitting on the most exciting news for the past six months or so (yes really, and anyone who knows me will know that patience is not my forte). But finally, it’s out there, my little news piece went live in The Bookseller recently, telling the world that Quercus will be publishing my novel, THE RIVAL, later this year.

When I was on submission, I pored over blog posts like this one. I don’t know why, it’s not like they were magic 8 balls that would reveal what would happen to my novel (ahem, I may have also asked a magic 8 ball what the outcome would be…). But somehow it made me feel less alone in the tortuous hell of a process that is being on submission and waiting for news.

My agent sent my book out to a select group of editors on a Thursday last year. And so of course on the Friday I was hoping that all ten editors would have fallen in love with it overnight and phoned her at 7am offering millions of pounds for it. That didn’t happen. In fact, nothing happened on that Friday. There was No News.

The weekend was fun. But by Monday we had some ‘positive noises’, which actually mean nothing I don’t think, but were like little gulps of oxygen on which I could try to stay alive. I’m exaggerating here for effect of course, but at times I did feel like I was running out of air. I don't think anything can prepare you for it - it's like waiting for your A level results but about a million times more amplified.

Then on the Tuesday, we had our first ‘turn down’ (my agent doesn’t call them rejections, which is both euphemistic and considerate of her!). It wasn’t bad news though – only that two editors in the same publishing house had read the novel, and one had decided it was better suited to the other, who was still reading. I was OK with that turn down, because it was a really positive one. I think I might have had another rejection that day too, but I didn’t really mind because my agent was feeling very positive that the other editor at the first house was likely to offer.

Wednesday rolled around, which was also the Faber Academy reading day. You can read my previous post for more details on this, but it was quite surreal as I was basically pitching my book (and myself) to a load of agents, while knowing that I was already ‘taken’ as it were, and that the extract I was reading out loud was no longer even in the book (it hadn’t survived my agent’s edit).

After the readings, the editor who had rejected me in favour of her colleague came up and introduced herself, which was surreal (I had no idea she was going to be there!). It was a crazy day, full of excitement and nerves - reading your work aloud to a lot of literary professionals is as terrifying as it sounds - and I remember looking down at my phone at one point to see a notification from Twitter that someone new had followed me.

I’m not sure what it was about her name, but I had a weird feeling she might be important. I looked, and she was the PR director for Quercus. I knew Quercus was one of the publishers reading my book and I thought somehow that might be significant – if the PR director knew about me, presumably the editor there had mentioned me to her? It was all so overwhelming!

I’m not sure when, either that day or the next, my agent emailed me to tell me that the Quercus editor was very keen and was sharing it with her colleagues. Meanwhile, we had a similar update from the other editor at the first house. I was really hoping by the end of that week I’d have a concrete offer, and was beginning to dare to dream that I really might end up with a book deal.

Alas, the next few days brought silence, but then on the Tuesday my agent told me the Quercus editor (lovely Cassie Browne) was taking the book to her acquisitions meeting. This is the Big Meeting where editors have to convince all the other departments (like sales and marketing) that they should buy the book. It was a good sign, but it wasn't a foregone conclusion. I remember my agent saying that we should hear the outcome of the meeting later that day, but there was nothing. Suffice to say, I didn't sleep well that night.

Thankfully however, the next morning, my agent rang while I was walking home from the playground, my nearly-two-year-old in tow, to tell me that Cassie had made an offer - and that it was a pre-empt (which is an offer that expires within 24 hours and is a way of avoiding a book going to auction). It was a really exciting moment – one of those life-changing phone calls that you’ll never forget. I think my overwhelming emotion was relief – relief that I hadn’t been kidding myself all these years, that I was actually capable of writing something publishable. And not just something publishable but also something commercial, that readers would hopefully (touch wood!) want.

Later that day, I also had an offer from the other editor who was interested. It was like having my lottery numbers come up twice in a row. It was interesting to see how each editor had a different ‘vision’ for the way they would publish the book and after much deliberation (honestly, there was a huge amount of agony involved and backwards-and-forwards with my poor agent), I decided to accept Quercus’s offer.

Both editors who offered were amazing, and I would have been thrilled to have been published by either of them (that’s not lip service either) but for various reasons my heart was telling me Quercus were the right fit. Also, and this is stupid, I know (my agent would roll her eyes at me for admitting this swung me a bit, but it did), I have a picture in my dining room – a print I bought a while ago, and at the bottom it says Quercus & Co. I don’t think it bears any relation to Quercus the publisher but for some reason it felt auspicious, especially as I stare at it every day.

Anyway this post reads like a long not-so-humblebrag, I know. Don't worry - I am still pinching myself. I know how lucky I was - especially to hear back so quickly. I was only on submission for just under two weeks in the end, which is really short and merciful. I do count my blessings, especially as I’ve known of friends who've been on submission for weeks.

However, before everyone reading this hates me and thinks I had it far too easy, I'd like to add that this is the third book I’ve had on submission with my agent, so trust me when I say I’ve been through the agony of being repeatedly rejected! Third time lucky – there’s definitely something in it!

You can find out more about THE RIVAL on my website, and pre-order here if you want to make my day.