Submissions on Show #6

December 2021 US picture book submission

Welcome to this month’s edition of Submissions on Show.

In case you’re new here, in this series I dive into all of my submissions since December 2019, and share:

• the titles (and often manuscripts) submitted

• the number of publishers submitted to

• (paraphrased) feedback from the publishers that responded

• the number of offers and rejections I received

• and a ‘silence rate’ % for each submission based upon the proportion of publishers that never responded.

Also, hello – and thank you – to everyone who’s followed me recently. On here, I mean, not in person.

(Terence, if you’re reading this over my shoulder – for the millionth time, GO AWAY!)

I’ve had quite a few new followers recently (if you’re one of those people, do feel free to also subscribe…), though I’m not sure why – particularly as I’ve been rubbish at posting content this last couple of months.

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I’m feeling a bit guilty about that, to be honest. I’ve promised so much, yet delivered so little, at least recently. I rather underestimated the time it would take me to write and post regularly on here.

I’d envisaged that I’d spend a few days a month writing lots of posts which I’d schedule, which would allow my Substack to ‘take care of itself’ and me to take care of writing for my actual job, but it hasn’t really worked out like that, for various reasons – including, but not limited to, moving house, being in a constant zombie-like state caused by my wonderful, wonderfully cute 17-month-old daughter’s penchant for beginning the day before 5am, and my penchant for procrastination (and YouTube golf).

However, I’m hoping and very much intending to get back on track with this Substack (I’ve said that before, haven’t I?!) – so, if you’re still subscribed, thank you, and sorry for the lack of content recently.

Excuses and apology over.

Let’s dive into Submission #6.

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December 2021 USA picture book submission

This submission came two years after the previous submission to publishers in America, and consisted of three texts. The first two also went to UK publishers in April 2021, whereas the third was a brand-new manuscript.

Love Is… – a poem from a collection I wrote which was submitted to publishers but never acquired, this has no narrative, no character development, no plot. It’s just a sentimental list, of sentimental rhymes! But there are lots of picture books that are just lists, so why not try to add another to the shop shelves, eh?

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Sophia’s Smile – a heartfelt, hopeful text about the impact and contagiousness of a single smile.

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Gramps and Grumps – my cat wrote inspired this manuscript. Anyone familiar with my cat always tells me that I should write a story about her (as if I hadn’t already thought of that?!). Thankfully, after writing this text, I can respond, ‘I have.’

Here’s a picture of grumpy-looking Hokey (who’s actually incredibly affectionate):

In the story (written from his grandson’s perspective), an understandably grumpy grandfather (Gramps) is grieving the loss of his wife, and struggling to adjust to his new reality without her. But when a stray cat (Grumps) wanders into his garden and returns each day, a friendship forms that eventually helps Gramps rediscover the joy in life – and himself.

I still like this text, although it’s possibly a bit ‘quiet’ and might benefit from an injection of a bit more humour. It’s also one I think I could probably develop into a longer text for a slightly older audience – once I get some proper sleep, and overcome my YouTube addiction, of course.

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Sallyanne submitted these texts to 7 publishers.

Of those 7 publishers:

• 5 sent rejections – all within 8 weeks of receiving the submission, which is actually fairly speedy.

• and 2 never responded – a 29% silence rate, the lowest (by a long way) of all the submissions I’ve covered so far

• meaning that no publishers offered.

Here’s some of the (paraphrased) feedback I received:

“Unfortunately, none are quite grabbing us tightly enough, so we’re going to have to pass.”

“It was lovely to review Simon’s work, but I’m afraid that none of these projects is the perfect fit for my list. I look forward to seeing where they land!”

“We appreciated Simon’s attention to the little things that connect us and help us form lasting friendships and relationships with each other. However, we felt these stories lacked a specific hook that they’d need to stand out in the market – they felt just a little too familiar, I’m afraid.”

“I’ve taken a look and am afraid these don’t seem right for my list. Best of luck!”

“Thanks for sending these texts, but they’re not quite right for my imprint.”

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So, a familiar feel to the feedback – my texts not quite having that all-important USP or hook, or blowing editors away. Which can be frustrating, as it’s vague-ish feedback – and we can all point to loads of books that are very familiar to (and don’t stand out from) one another. But, in the case of this submission, I think those comments are fair, given that all three of those texts could be deemed ‘quiet’.

And, on the plus side, developing engaging hooks is, at least, a skill that can be worked on – so perhaps not all hope is lost for those texts. I still have faith in them, and Love Is… actually went to acquisitions at a UK publisher about 18 months after it was originally submitted… after I posted it on Twitter, and an editor got in touch with Sallyanne to see if it was still available!

As it turned out, they weren’t able to acquire it, but I took that experience as vindication of my stubbornness in not giving up on texts that initially get rejected – and I suspect I’ll still be nagging my agent to send out these texts in 20 years’ time, providing I’m still her client…

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