Liminal Spaces

Are you a writer hoping to be published one day? Some people write with no intention of publishing, or with only family and close friends as their intended audience, though I suspect they are few in number. Most writers complete their manuscript and hope to succeed at the next step: publication. With so few books published, relative to the number of submissions received by traditional publishers, it’s understandable to see writers celebrating their successes on social media. Securing a publishing contract is a big deal. 

In contrast, we rarely hear about the books that don’t get published. And yet, for most of us writing with the aim of publication, it will be a long, winding and bumpy ride, with no guarantees of arriving at our destination. 

In Lit Hub last March, Danielle Lazarin spoke openly about her publication efforts, informing us that her manuscript has had twenty-two rejections to date. Lazarin has accepted that her novel may never get published though friends and family tell her not to think like this. She explains that her belief doesn’t come from a place of self-deprecation but of realism. 

Allison Tait, in her Instagram video on March 22 reminded unpublished writers that first books (and often second and third) were unlikely to get published. Yet, knowing how hard it is to secure a contract should not affect our writing. If publication is our goal, we must write as if we will succeed. We must write the best book we can, every time. 

Back in September 2020, Charlotte Wood, in her role as Agony Aunt of The First Time podcast, said if a writer has a manuscript they can’t get published then they need to write a better book. In fairness to Wood, she also admitted that bad books do get published and determining what is good vs bad is very subjective, though she maintained that, “a really good book will almost certainly find a publisher eventually”.

Writing a really good book is a huge undertaking. It may involve several complete re-writes, multiple revisions and maybe months or, more typically, years of the writer’s life. And when the writer finally finishes, when at long last she has a complete manuscript to send to agents or publishers or competitions, the time lag from submitting to waiting for a response can feel interminable – and that’s if she gets a response at all. Some publishers only respond to a submission if they want the book, which can mean endless time hovering in a liminal space, waiting to hear the outcome of all that work.

Over the next six months, I’ll be posting a series of interviews with writers who have at least one complete manuscript for which they have received recognition. I will explore how writers feel when they put their living, breathing novels out to publishers only to have them sit untouched in that “liminal space” (a term borrowed from Lazarin) between submitting and securing a contract.

My first featured writer will be Lisa Kenway, who will appear on my next blog. Lisa was brave enough to write about her publishing journey on her own blog back in March. Lisa will kick us off here with more insights into her attempts at getting published. The interviews will explore what drives the featured writers to seek publication, what avenues they have pursued, and strategies for keeping going in the face of rejection. I hope you enjoy reading them.