Submission Process--Kurt Chambers

I'm just starting a new round of submissions for my children's fantasy novel, Truth Teller. My middle grade novel has done the rounds before, but this time I have much more experience under my belt. I feel much more confident than I did before. When I look back at my previous submissions I cringe. I started submitting Truth Teller a long time ago when, in all honesty, I just wasn't ready to submit this novel. My query letter was funny...lol...though I didn't realise it at the time. My synopsis was...well...pathetic. It was everything it shouldn't have been. That's not to mention the manuscript itself. It was good, but not good enough to submit, let alone be published. I'm sure this is something that every up and coming author has experienced. You spend a fair chunk of your life writing a novel. You give it everything you have, creating something that will hopefully give millions of people hours of pleasure. Then you struggle as your wonderful creation is torn to pieces by your critics, and reborn many times into something to be proud of. In all your excitement, you send your baby out to the eagerly awaiting public only to face a barrage of rejection for all your efforts. It's a real shame. I wish I could turn the clock back. I submitted my manuscript to all the top agents and publishers before I was ready. It was a simple mistake, but a costly one. If I could do it all again I would have waited. Why? Because if I had waited until now before I submitted, I would still have a massive list of top publishers who I could send my story to now that it is ready to submit. Hindsight is a wonderful thing...lol... So, here is my advice to any up and coming author who is considering submitting their manuscript for the first time. I won't say don't do it, that would just be silly. Everything we do as authors is all part of the learning curve. It's just something that we all have to do in order to grow as writers. But I will say, don't be too hasty. You may not be blessed with hindsight like more experienced authors, but you can still learn from other people's mistakes.