We’ve all seen those men who fish off the end of the pier in those seaside places that have seen better days. You know, they just sit there, reading the paper perhaps, or talking to other fishermen, while their six rods do the work. Every so often, they get a bite and reel something in.

It’s a bit like that with submissions. Always have something out there. If it comes back, send it out again. One rejection is easier to stomach when you know you’ve got five more texts out there that might do something.

Proactively look for six opportunities when you’ve finished a piece and polished it up to the highest standard you can afford. Publishers hate multiple submissions – tough. They just have to put up with it just as we have to put up with weeks, months, even years of waiting. Agents hate multiple submissions. They may have a point. There is an argument that says get an agent first. However, sometimes an agent is willing to look at you because you have been published. So, why not try three publishers and three agents?

Do your research. Find where your work will really fit. Then, if it is rejected you are a little more likely to get some pointers as to why. That’s also a message to you that you’re not quite there yet. You’ll have moved on as a writer in the intervening time and you will now have some distance from your work. Revisit it. Send it out again. Some more opportunities will also have arisen in the meantime. A writing friend of mine calls her rejections “rewrites”.

Even as you wait, look out for other possibilities – a new agent here, a new publisher there, a competition which your text fits perfectly. Network, network, network to find those possibilities. You can do that easily these days from the comfort of your own home.

Keep the fishing tackle in good condition and up to date. Make sure every submission is presented to a high professional standard.

Get you fishing system up and running, then sit back, get on with the writing you love, and wait for the publisher fishies to bite.

Image by midnightcomm via Flickr