When is the Best Time to Submit Manuscripts?

By: Carla Trueheart 

In the literary world, timing is everything. Most writers know the importance of book release dates, but how about sending out book proposals? Over the many years it took me to get published, I detailed the agents and publishing houses I sent to, and most importantly, kept a record of dates and times. What I found, in looking back over these lists, is that there are definitely good times of the year to submit manuscripts, and bad times of the year to submit. While literary agencies and publishing companies are indeed open year-round in most cases, response times and even follow-up emails are highly dependent on the seasons. To help aid you in submission times, here is a list of the seasons with an explanation of possible reasons agencies and publishers either respond quickly or leave you hanging. 

Summer

Summertime is the best time for fun in the sun, but the worst time for submitting manuscripts. It’s vacation time for many, and I’ve found that I rarely received responses to query letters during the summer. If I did get a response, it was normally not until the fall. It’s also quite likely you will run into notes on the agency webpage stating that so-and-so is away right now, and is therefore not accepting any queries. While it’s not out of the question to submit during the summer, be aware of vacation dates, agency attendance, and response times.

Autumn

This time of year is not normally a problem as far as response time. Most agents seem to be tucking in for the winter season and not vacationing or attending conventions. Overall, I would consider the autumn the best time of year to submit manuscripts. In fact, when I finally did receive a publishing contract, it was after I had submitted a book proposal in the fall. While this is obviously not an exact science and is dependent on where your agency is located, there are some definite pluses to submitting manuscripts in the fall. It’s also a good reading time, so an agent might be more willing to look over your manuscript or partial.

Winter

This can go either way. There are a few things to consider: the holidays and NANO (National Novel Writing Month). After November, a lot of writers involved in NANO are submitting proposals. You don’t want to get lost in the flurry of queries. And the holidays, of course, are busy for most agents—they are people too—so it’s comparable to the summer in that respect. The winter is high reading time, however, so in my experience, it can go either way.

Spring

Agents are usually pretty quick to respond in the spring, but conventions do start up around this time. As such, you may see a higher than average amount of agents not accepting manuscripts until a certain date, or they may list dates they are out of the office. This is also true of publishing houses who will be attending conventions and seminars. On the plus side, you might consider attending one of these conventions, as they are great ways to approach an agent and tell them about your work, face to face. Still, the spring is a good time to submit overall.

In sum, the summer and winter are probably the worst times to submit, while the spring and fall are the best. Again, this is not an exact science, just what research and my own personal experience has determined through the years. So what do you do in the meantime? You can submit a query and take your chances, or you can continue to work on your manuscript revisions and final edits. You can also continue to research agencies and publishers so when the right agent is available at the right time, you will have the best shot at receiving a publishing contract.

 Good luck with your queries, and please let us know if you have any questions at all!