# Submitting a novel for publication **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/submitting-a-novel-for-publication/1026140 **Category:** Cafe Society **Tags:** books-writing-myths **Created:** [December 29, 2025, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/submitting-a-novel-for-publication/1026140 "2025-12-29T13:16:25Z") **Posts on this page:** 1 **Showing post:** 8
### Author: ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale) #### Post date: [December 29, 2025, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/submitting-a-novel-for-publication/1026140/8 "2025-12-29T15:16:15Z")
I recently posted a thread about my son having gotten a couple of books accepted for publication. > [@My kid’s (SF/Fantasy) novel has a publication date!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kid-s-sf-fantasy-novel-has-a-publication-date/1024902/20): > > Talking to my kid, a bit of it seems to be - maybe not really “luck”, but the serendipity of meeting up with the right person at the right time. Kinda like dating. He pursued agent after agent, with no success, and then somehow hooked up with someone who saw promise in his writing. Then they sent it off to publishers with no real success, until it crossed the desk of an editor who apparently is a military historian and perceived the Congress of Vienna connection. But it kinda makes me think,… From my perspective, it seemed a long, drawn out process. He has long been involved in SF and gaming type conventions. I believe some of those conventions have “writers’” elements, and he participated in writers’ groups - where I presume people shared info/strategies. He got an agent - which seemed a kind of convoluted process. I think he got names of agents from his writers’ groups and conventions. It was just a hit/miss process of contacting agents whose client list seemed to suggest they might be interested in his sort of writing. In the end, it just seemed to have involved a great element of luck - having the correct manuscript/proposal cross the desk of the right agent at the right time. I had discussed with him self publishing, publishing on-line, etc, and he did not wish to pursue those for various reasons. So getting an agent was a HUGE first hurdle. Then it was a long process of the agent submitting it to publishers. Again, I think it was just good fortune that the agent submitted it to the correct publisher where it was seen by the correct editor at the correct time. So he had a couple of years of just ongoing disappointment, until out of the blue two publishers were interested. He ended up with a 2-book deal with a major publisher (Titan) and a 5 figure advance. Publication is planned for next July. We’ll see how it sells. But it really seemed like a matter of just beating his head against a locked door. Then when he got an agent, it opened a crack. And when he got a publisher interested, the door was flung open. I’m not aware of any shortcuts. I think it may have appealed to the publisher that he envisioned a several book series set in his particular universe. Another thing (which my son disliked) - agents and publishers often asked about his on-line presence. In his opinion, maintaining that kind of a presence was essentially a separate job - and a job he didn’t care for. But as you approach agents, it might help to be able to point to whatever else you’ve done - whether you have a blog/website, presented at conventions, whatever. Good luck! --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/submitting-a-novel-for-publication/1026140)._