Ask a Publisher: Why Do Submissions Sometimes Close?

From searching for the right agent or publisher to preparing your query to their specifications, the publishing process requires a tremendous amount of patience for every writer. Even once you have everything ready to submit and you’re confident in who you’ve chosen to hopefully review your submission, there can still be yet another hurdle to overcome: a closed submissions status. As dismaying as it may be to see, the truth is that a closed submissions status can actually be a good thing for aspiring writers.

It’s typically a positive sign if a publisher closes their submissions periodically because that may indicate that they’re working to provide careful consideration to the submissions they’ve already received. At Josha, that’s exactly what our closed status means: we’re working closely with all our current and prospective authors to provide readers with the books that inspire, encourage, and empower them in the ways they’ve come to expect from us.

From the moment we receive a new query in our inbox, a months-long process begins to unfold. First, our acquisitions editor and our editor-in-chief review the basic summary of the query and assess whether or not the potential submission matches the vision of the company. This may mean that we’re assessing the author’s purpose in writing the book, or even something as simple as the genre. If we decide we are interested in reading a portion of the manuscript, we will request a sample of fifty pages from the author.

Once we’ve received those fifty pages, our acquisitions editor will read it and provide the editor-in-chief with a report, which details her thoughts regarding whether or not she wants to request a full manuscript from the author, and why. It may take up to sixty days for both editors to review—and discuss—this sample.

Then, if the editors agree they want to read the full manuscript, they will request that from the author. Again the acquisitions editor will read the full manuscript, taking notes along the way to eventually provide to the editor-in-chief; these notes will summarize multiple aspects of the manuscript, including foreseen editorial needs and how the manuscript connects to the vision of the company. After the editor-in-chief has read the manuscript and reviewed the acquisitions editor’s notes, the editor-in-chief will review these notes and a determination will be made about whether or not to an extend an offer, and if so, what that offer will look like.

If an offer is extended by the publisher and accepted by the author, the production timeline for the manuscript may vary, but can range from several months to a couple of years. This is due to many factors from working with artists for cover design to the publisher’s editorial process, as well as the pace at which the author is able to review and approve or reject suggested changes to the manuscript.

In order to give each author due consideration—and each book we produce our full attention as needed—we may need to temporarily stop receiving new manuscriptsso aspiring authors aren’t waiting on us to respond to a query we are unable to consider.

While you wait for your selected publisher(s) to reopen their submissions, remember that you can always continue working on another project, or start a new one. You don’t have to wait for one manuscript to work its way through the query process to start writing again. In fact, you can always try another genre or style of writing, too, in the meantime, which may ultimately help enhance your query letter when you are able to submit it. For example, if you’ve written a memoir about an experience with the justice system, you could write and submit an article about a portion of your experience to journals or magazines relevant to your story; if your article is published, make sure to add that to your query letter prior to submission.

Of course, we know that waiting can be difficult, so we’d like to ask you to imagine you’re in the position of a publisher’s already-accepted writer. Like any business, many publishers have limited staffing and creative resources, which means their employees can only dedicate so much time to any given project. And if you are one of the publisher’s contracted writers, knowing that your production team is giving as much of their attention as possible to your book would likely help you know you made the right decision to sign with that company.

Likewise, imagine that you’ve submitted your initial sample to a publisher and they’ve asked for your full manuscript to review. As frustrating as it can be to wait to hear back, it can also be reassuring to know that they have a limited number of manuscripts they’ll allow on their desk at any time, that way they can give each manuscript their full attention and due consideration when it’s that manuscript’s turn.

As difficult as it can be to wait for submissions to reopen, rest assured that your preferred publisher will—if you one day submit and maybe even contract with them—eventually give the same careful consideration and production attention to your manuscript as the manuscripts already on their desks.

---

Josha Publishing, LLC is a woman-founded, woman-owned, and woman-run company that is passionate about books, stories, and the power of words to change lives. Learn more about us here and remember to sign up for our newsletter to find out about new content, new books, and submissions update.

Ask a Publisher:
Why do submissions sometimes close?

Tweet