StoryGodmother Newsletter #26 - An agent’s thoughts on submissions
Hello!
The time is flying, and to me it feels like we are galloping to the end of the year. Personally, I’m trying to wrap as much as I can before December as 2025 is going to be another busy year for me! Hope all your writing plans go well for the last few weeks of 2024.
RESOURCES
An Agent's Thoughts on Submissions
I thought I’d ask my wonderful agent, Julia Churchill at A M Heath Ltd, to share her thoughts about reading submissions. Hope you find it interesting. Here’s what she had to say:
I don’t really think of it as on me to determine what is good amongst the submissions. I think of it as the job of the work to find me, and interest me, and keep me. I’m looking for connection, and for the work to meet me, in whatever way that may appear. I admire good writing. That’s what I’m looking for. It doesn’t have to be perfect, often it’s a long way off, and if I had to break it down, I’d say I’m looking for concept, voice, character, story, jumping-off point/direction of travel, sense of place, something different/a freshness. In the best submissions these are all obvious in the first few pages, and I admire it. Any age-group, any genre, I admire the writers I take on enormously.
I hope you find this interesting and encouraging. Several things stood out to me. The idea of the work having to hold the attention of the reader. This is why those opening chapters are so crucial. Often, chapter 1 can be full of promise, but then chapter 2 can be weaker – filled with more introduction before the story really gets going or filled with backstory which slows the pace and takes us out of the present story. Have a good look at your chapter 2. How and why is this chapter going to keep your reader? What are you promising them?
Another thing which stood out to me is this word: Connection. It is so vitally important that an agent and publisher can really get behind the story they are championing. They have to do a lot of selling. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to sell something you’re not interested in, but it shows. You want to sell something that you believe in whole-heartedly. Often the reason an agent or publisher turns something down is not necessarily because it’s not good, but because it just didn’t chime with them. And that is absolutely fine. Not every story is for every person. As long as your writing craft itself is strong, and your ideas are good, there will be people out there who do connect with your work. You just have to find them.
It doesn’t have to be perfect. This is incredibly reassuring. Yes, the expected standard of submission amongst agents and editors is pretty high, as editorial support for new writers can be limited, BUT it doesn’t have to be perfect. This is lucky – because our writing is never going to be perfect. We are imperfect beings. We are messy. We miss the target sometimes. We are human. Just make the best effort, produce the best writing you can and be yourself.
Concept, voice, character, story, jumping-off point/direction of travel, sense of place, something different/a freshness: ALL OBVIOUS IN THE FIRST FEW PAGES. This is a hugely helpful checklist. Can you see brilliant examples of this in your first few pages? Have a good look – highlight places you think you’ve nailed it. If you’re finding gaps, fill them.
My thanks to Julia for sharing those thoughts. Once you hit the end of November, the industry does tend to slow down, so if you’re thinking of submitting, it might be worth waiting until 2025 when people can come to submission fresh. Good luck to everyone currently out on submission or preparing to send out in 2025! Sometimes you just have to keep going. And while you’re waiting, keep delving deeper into the craft, and keep writing new material – you will get the more you practise.
CHARACTER CORNER
With so much emphasis on character development in middle grade fiction, is it ok for a character to have a flat arc? The short answer: yes. Not every single character in a middle-grade book has to have a transformative journey, for better or worse. This is particularly the case with minor characters or even secondary characters. If everyone changes, there can be a lot of loose ends to tie up.
Sometimes the antagonist doesn’t have a positive, negative or growth arc, and they are exactly the same (in themselves) at the beginning as they are at the end. This may particularly be the case if the book is part of a series, and you intend the antagonist to return.
It is less common but occasionally, even the protagonist doesn’t change. This is quite rare and is most likely to be found in lower middle-grade humorous fiction, such as diary formatted books – we know when we pick up the next book in the series, they will be just the same, just as funny, and getting themselves into the usual scrapes.
If a book is part of a series, you may have certain characters having a flat arc in book one, but a more transformative arc in book two. You may bring different secondary characters to the fore in different books and focus on them. Sometimes there may be growth, sometimes there may not. There are no hard and fast rules, and it’s better to do what feels right for the individual book and individual character rather than imposing character change where it doesn’t genuinely fit.
Having said that, middle-grade does have a more sophisticated readership, and there is usually some element of character change in secondary characters, even if it’s subtle, to help create a deep and satisfying read. So, if all of your secondary characters have a flat arc and are the same at the end as the beginning, it might be worth another look to make sure that’s the best for your book.
TEACHING
Last call for the final Story Godmother teaching sessions for 2024.
10 Character Hacks (2 weeks) - Thur 7th & 14th November
I’ve been asked to re-run this course, so here we go! This two-week course runs on Thursday 7th & 14th November and explores interesting and outside-the-box ways of nailing characterisation. £30 plus Eventbrite fee.
Fabulous Villains (3 weeks) - Weds 6th, 13th, 20th November
I’ve also had several requests to run my ‘Fabulous Villains’ three-session course. Antagonists are my speciality, so this is naturally one of my favourite courses! This course runs Wednesday 6th, 13th & 20th November. £39 plus Eventbrite fee.
There will also be some extra sessions announced next year, including my sell-out ‘Level Up’- a game-changing, three-week course about getting the most out of yourself as a writer; and my 6-week ‘Writing Middle Grade Books’ course. I will also be re-running the 'Emotional Connection course', so keep an eye open.
Is there anything special you'd love to see a course on? Drop me a line at sparkles@storygodmother.co.uk and I'll see if I can fit it into my 2025 teaching plan.
COMPETITIONS
FREE COACHING COMPETITION
For those of you who are new to this, as a thank you for subscribing to the newsletter and to help coaching become accessible to all, I offer a FREE 30-minute coaching session over Zoom (worth £30 – no strings attached) via a lucky draw every newsletter, for anyone who would like to take part.
For more on the coaching sessions, please see my Coaching page.
If you would like to enter, please email comps@storygodmother.co.uk with COACHING 3.11.24 in the subject line and you will be entered into the draw. All entries must be received by the Wednesday after the newsletter is sent out. So, in this case, please get your entries in by Wednesday 6th November 23:59BST.
I will contact the lucky winner directly, so if you haven’t heard anything, please assume you’ve not won this time, but please do try again next time! If you’ve already won a free coaching competition, please can you refrain from entering again this year to give other people a chance to win.
WRITING MAGAZINE CHILDREN'S BOOK PRIZE
Congratulations and good luck to everyone who entered! We’re all looking forward to reading your stories. We’re hoping to announce the winners January or February time and will be announcing longlists and shortlists as soon as we can. Watch this space!
BOOK NEWS
I am delighted to announce that 2025 will see the release of my first novel for adults:
THE PLAYERS: ACT 1 – ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE.
(Temporary Cover)
The Blurb
How far will you go to save what you truly love? It's 1715. A marginalised troupe of strolling players fight to save their theatre company which hangs by a thread. Unfortunately for them, a flamboyant ex-member (and the manager's ex-lover) is hunting them down with a spot of revenge on his mind.
THE PLAYERS is a fun and rebellious page-turning read, filled with comedy & tragedy, Shakespeare & swordfights, heart & hope.
I've rejigged my web presence to take my adult writing into account, and you can now find all the different strands of my creative work here: www.amysparkes.co.uk
READER NEWSLETTER
Going forward, to try and streamline my newsletters and tailor them to people’s requirements, I am setting up a separate one for people who are interested in my book news as readers and keep this newsletter purely for writers. I would be delighted if you’d like to follow my writing journey, hear details of events I'm speaking at, and competitions based around my books, etc. If you’d like to sign up, please do so here.
STORY GODMOTHER WRITING COMMUNITY
Do you use Facebook? Great – join the Story Godmother Writing Community on Facebook. It’s a free, private and friendly group, and I’m there to answer any questions you have. Come and join us! Story Godmother Writing Community
It’s a private group and a friendly bunch – a safe space for you to grow as a writer. And it’s absolutely free. If you request to join, please do make sure you answer the membership questions and agree to the group rules.
END NOTES
If you’ve found this newsletter helpful, please do spread the word to other writers you know – the more, the merrier!
Story Godmother x