Best Time of the Year to Submit Manuscripts?

[JayceeEA]

When do agents consider as the best time of the year to submit manuscripts? I am guessing September, but I'm not sure. Would appreciate answers. And I also want to know why. Thank you.

[Emily J]

Good question!

I'm not sure the best time but I do know the worst time. December. Not only are people stressed from the holidays and more likely to be away from the office, but as I hear it agents are flooded with hastily written novels from November's NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) so much so that I have heard December referred to as the National Novel Rejection Month. I participate in NaNoWriMo each year (and enjoy it immensely) but understand that (1) anything written in a month will need serious reworking and editing because you can write a first draft in a month but you can't possibly finish a novel in a month (there's a difference) (2) drafting a query and a synopsis and researching agents SHOULD take longer than a month.

So if you submit a query in December chances are agents will already be bombarded with a deluge of queries and more likely (in my opinion) to send back a form rejection.

Also, no one wants a form rejection for Christmas.

[JayceeEA]

Lol @ "No one wants a form rejection for Christmas." I totally agree with you, Emily. Thank you so much for your response.

[Down the well]

I tend to think this is a lot of bunk. The only thing that matters is how well written your story is and whether or not your query makes an agent put down their caramel macchiato long enough to take a second look. Just my opinion, but I don't think it matters the time of year.

Okay, maybe I do kind of believe in the NaNoWriMo phenomenon. A little. But otherwise just write your butt off.

[wilderness]

I think the best time is February/March. The holidays are over, the agents have had a chance to catch up on queries but things aren't that busy in the publishing biz. In the fall, I think things are really busy because there are a lot of holiday releases (just like in retail, holidays are big in publishing, from my understanding). A lot of folks are on vacation in August so they'll be flooded when they get back in September.

But I don't really suggest you wait 6 months -- query in batches and you can get some valuable feedback.

[polymath]

There are four main publishing seasons preceding calendar seasons. Wintertime releases come out ahead of the late fall and Christmas, New Year's gift giving holiday shopping season, If it's not on U.S. shelves by Black Friday it's probably not going to make it that year. Springtime releases lead the vernal equinox and fall on about Groundhog Day leading into the spring shopping season. Summertime late spring releases for advance summer vacation shoppers. Fall releases along with back to school shopping.

It takes about two years from submission to acceptance to editing to packaging to publishing to printing production to distribution to shelf stock. A timely submission might lead any one of the shopping seasons peaks. An untimely submission would fall in the middle of a calendar season, invariably causing a critical path logjam. Lead times are a best practice for promotional and logistical purposes. All bets are off for timely, time sensitive material. It's theoretically possible to jump a worthy title to the head of the pipeline and get it through in six months or less.

Business fiscal years typically follow the calendar year. Desks are cleared before the late year holidays. New slates open by the spring season. Deep wintertime is the hungry season. Late fall is the busier season.

[Down the well]

Business fiscal years typically follow the calendar year. Desks are cleared before the late year holidays. New slates open by the spring season. Deep wintertime is the hungry season. Late fall is the busier season.

By this, people might infer that the best time to submit is after the holidays, but that would only hold true if people are submitting straight to publishers. If you are submitting to an agent I think it's more random than that. There can be months of revisions involved in the time between when an agent takes on a client and when the ms is ready for submission to publishers. Or it could be as little as two weeks from the time someone lands an agent to when the ms goes out on submission. It's just a crazy thing to try and time in my opinion. Too many variables.

[polymath]

Reducing the variables as much as humanly possible by writing a whopping good novel is a best practice. But human nature is human nature. Summertime vacations, fall productivity, wintertime doldrums, and renewed springtime vigor affect writers, agents, editors, publishers, printers, distributors, booksellers, buyers, and readers equally alike. I can decide for myself what's the best time to submit for my sake. All I can do otherwise is share some basic trends for fellow poets to build upon and decide for themselves their logistics and strategies.

[Down the well]

All I can do otherwise is share some basic trends for fellow poets to build upon and decide for themselves their logistics and strategies.

And I'm glad you did. It's possible that people who are new to writing don't know that there are seasons in publishing. I know I was oblivious to it when I first started submitting.

[Nathan Bransford]

Here are my thoughts: http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2008/12 ... query.html

[JayceeEA]

Here are my thoughts: http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2008/12 ... query.html

Thanks Nathan. I am currently perusing the link you sent.