You're Not Behind, You're Just Mid-Squiggle

Every conference I go to, I end up giving some version of the same pep talk. And today, you get to be the recipient of said informal dissertation:

Publishing is not a straight line.

I know that probably doesn’t feel groundbreaking. But the timeline most writers have in their heads when they start out—write book, get agent, sell book, debut, repeat—is genuinely uncommon. It happens, of course.

But it’s pretty rare. Especially in today’s market.

Here’s what the road actually looks like for most people: you write a book. You query it. You get a lot of nos. You write another book. Query that one. More nos, or maybe a request that doesn’t go anywhere. You write a third book, possibly more, and that’s when you sign with an agent. And the book that got you the agent? Might not be the first one to go on submission. And it probably will not be the first one to sell.

It is rare for the first manuscript you write to be the one that gets you an agent. It’s also uncommon for the manuscript that got you an agent to also be the first one to sell to a publisher.

That’s just how publishing works.

What Nobody Tells You About the Portfolio

One of the most discouraging assumptions I see writers make is that querying a book and then moving on means that book is dead forever. That walking away from it now means you’re giving up on it completely.

No. Just…no. Seriously, tell your self-doubt that Vicky says to kick rocks.

Every manuscript you finish is a potential asset. When you sign with an agent, one of the first real conversations you’ll have is about your portfolio—what exists, what’s close to being finished, what the market looks like right now, and which project makes the most sense to lead with on submission. Sometimes it’s the book that caught their attention. Sometimes it isn’t. The market shifts faster than most writers realize, and your agent is your partner is navigating that piece.

Nothing you write is wasted.

The Ways Books Actually Sell

Once you have a book deal, your contract almost always includes an option clause—your publisher gets the first look at your next book. A lot of books sell through that clause, without your agent putting anything new on submission yet.

There’s also multi-book deals. If you sell a standalone and the deal is structured as two books, book two is often listed as “UNTITLED, to be mutually agreed upon.” Which means you and your agent sit down with the editor and figure out what that second book should be. If you’ve been writing consistently and have a few finished manuscripts, suddenly you have options on the table instead of scrambling to come up with them.

There are also projects sold on proposal—though that’s more common for established authors with a track record.

And then there’s the self-publishing pipeline, which is genuinely booming right now. Strong indie sales numbers are getting traditional publishers’ attention in a way they weren’t 5+ years ago.

My point is that there are more ways a book gets published than most writers know about when they’re starting out.

On the Manuscripts That Didn’t Make It (Yet)

I’ll be honest: when I first started writing, I thought my work was better than it was. I think most of us do. There’s a gap between what you can see in your head and what you can actually pull off on the page, and early on, the gap is wide. You close it by writing more, getting feedback that challenges you, and revising…a lot.

Sometimes a book doesn’t catch an agent’s eye because of the quality, but sometimes the problem is the current market. Sometimes it’s about finding the right agent match. But sometimes, it’s because the manuscript is underbaked. That’s okay.

Every draft teaches you something that the next one benefits from.

Own the Squiggle

Your path will look different from the person you admire, different from your writing group friend who seems to have it together, different from what you imagined two years ago.

That’s not a problem. It’s not a good thing or a bad thing. It just…is.

Your first manuscript might not sell. Your second might not either. That doesn’t mean those books are gone forever—that “no” really means “not now” or “not me.”

Keep writing. Every project you finish opens a door, and every draft teaches you something new.

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If you’re not sure what your next step should be—whether it’s revising, requerying, or starting something new—I’d love to help you figure it out. Book a coaching session, and let’s look at where you are together.