Hodderscape Open Submissions: Update
By Anne Perry
Posted on October 27, 2015 in Books, News with tags Open Submissions
It’s nearly the end of October! But we’re not quite done reading yet… Below the jump, you’ll find a status update to let you know how we’re doing with our open submissions.
We’ve read more than three quarters of the submissions now, and have gotten in touch with many of you already, but unfortunately we have not yet managed to read and respond to everyone. We won’t be able to reach our goal of having let everyone know the status of their submission by the end of October, but never fear! We’re working night and day to ensure that we read and consider everything carefully and are making every effort to let you know as quickly as possible.
As we have mentioned before, we received nearly 1,500 submissions, most of which are about 15,000 words long. That means we’ll have read nearly twenty-two million words by the time we’re finished going through all the submissions. As a comparison: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is 198,227 words long. So we’re reading the equivalent of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 113 times in a row. It’s taking us a little while!
Please do not email us asking about the status of your submission or when you’ll hear from us. The more time we have to spend answering these emails the longer it will take us to get through all of the submissions.
Thanks again for the update and your team’s tireless work on this. I’m sure the vast majority of us fully understand that the volume of submissions has been overwhelming. That doesn’t mean I’m not starting to twitch uncontrollably though… 🙂
Thumbs up to the amazing team at Hodderscape for reading everything, it’s an amazing commitment. Thank you for the update!
Thank you for the update! Really appreciate the progress markers. But 3/4 of the way, yay! 😀
What is that, 40xLOTR? 🙂
I call that a labor of love. Incredible. Thank you, Hodderscape team.
Thank you for the update. I certainly appreciate both the opportunity to submit my novel, and the honest and forthright updates on your progress. It is refreshing.
Thank you so much for keeping us updated on the progress and a huge thank you for the hard work put into reading everything we’ve sent you.
I’d also like to say thank you to the Hodderscape team for taking the time to read all our words, and for being so open about the process. Please have a virtual glass of fizz on me (or a real one if you like my book!)…
I too want to extend my thanks to The Hodderscape Team for their tireless efforts in this. It is genuinely a huge task.It would appear that my submission is also in the the final quarter to be reviewed, and I’m like a coiled spring right now.
Let me just say that my appreciation surpasses that of the rest of those in the comments section, and I also believe that the Hoddersape Team are amongst the most professional, beautiful, stylish, deep, intelligent and charitable people in the world…. Flattery and boot licking will get you everywhere, or so I’ve been told. That favour won’t curry itself you know.
Thanks for the update. I think we all appreciate the opportunity.
Keep up the good work!
This is exactly what I was looking for, thanks. The sheer amount of work it must be to do this is staggering to think about. I wonder how many times the team questioned their sanity in doing open submissions!
Good luck with the remainder. I hope everyone on the team gets a breather and a beer when it’s finally done.
Not to worry:
22 million words will be little more than a light afternoon’s reading for the (nearly) 4 billion of us who’ll evolve into super intelligent panda people in the the year 0PC… I’ll expect your call once this has come to pass.
KR
JG
Thanks for the update! Looks like you will all have a lot of TV viewing and cinema to catch up on when you surface!
Thank you for the updates, they are most appreciated. It is more usual to be left wondering so nice one, Hodderscape 🙂
Brilliant update and thanks for putting in all the time. I’m actually enjoying the wait, which is nuts!
Thanks for all your hard work, Anne and Hodderscape! The update is very much appreciated; I hope your brains aren’t crushed under the weight of that simply staggering number of words!
Thank you for your tireless work on getting through all of these submissions! That’s a whole lot of reading. 🙂
The updates are so helpful, thank you. I hope you have lots of cups of tea and slices of cake to help you through the process.
Just wondering if others are still waiting?
The short answer is yes – we’re finishing our first reads of all the submissions, and have not yet fed back on those we haven’t read yet (or those which we’ll be reading a second time).
Thank you for the Update. I very much appreciate being kept informed like this. It makes the waiting easier for me.
Thank you for the update! It is much appreciated!
Thanks for the update!
So if we’re still waiting it’s either grounds for cautious optimism or we submitted near the end. I’m in the latter camp, but I’ll go with the optimism option anyway. 🙂
Thanks again for the updates.
Whew! Thanks for the update. Glad I thought to check back here to see if anything new had made it into the comments.
Thanks for the update!
Yes, this is so helpful. People keep asking me ‘have you heard’ and I can say ‘no, but they’ve said that…’
Hi there, I hope you’re all well. I just wondered if you think you’ll make it through the remaining submissions before Christmas (or if we should keep crossable things crossed a bit longer)? Thanks so much for this opportunity – and Happy Christmas!
We’re making every effort to do so!
Any updates on the update for my Christmas wish? You know what, scratch that! If I’m using my wish I’m going for ask for a publishing deal and the whole shebang! 🙂
Would love a new update 🙂
We’ll post one this week.
That’s great news. So much speculation is going on in the minds of those of us who still haven’t heard. I know I’m not alone, swinging to and fro on my pendulum, from despair to optimism.
Definitely not alone, Kerry. Originally my goal was just to submit something so that I’d *submitted* something instead of sitting on my book forever, and that was the win. But not having heard back yet has thrown me for a loop!
Anne, thanks for being willing to post another update; it will be much appreciated! And thanks to all the Hodderscape team for your hard work and patience!
Yeah, I think especially as the Christmas break is upon most people now, we turn back to writing, querying, and wondering what happened to the queries we submitted. Glad to hear that it isn’t the time for giving up yet.
For anyone else who (like me!) completely missed it until now, this update happened: http://www.hodderscape.co.uk/open-submissions-december-update/
Hello Anne and Co.
Just a line to wish you all a good rest over this festive time – it’s hard for us scribblers to understand how hard all this must be…. our little creations piling up to 1,500 of which you have to read some AGAIN!…
We’re all very grateful for your time and effort and I hope you get a good deal of rest, as well as a few party invites…
Dear Anne & The Tireless Team,
As I brace myself to buckle down and start editing the first draft of the Work In Progress I submitted, I wondered whether you had any guidance for those who may have already finished their Work In Progress and have survived this far?
Right now I’ve still some polishing with a wire brush on my work to do, but I’d be glad to know if you would (or would NOT) want to be informed that the Work In Progress has been completed.
Sincerely yours.
Hi, Michael,
No, you don’t need to email an update to us. Thank you for checking!
best,
The Hscape team
Thanks!
Thanks for all the work you guys are doing. 1500 submissions is a massive amount to get through. Anne, you said you’d post an update the week of Dec 14th. I guess you’ve been just too busy to do so, but I do worry I might have missed it. It’s hard being on tenterhooks here, so a little word would help!!
Hello Hugh,
I missed it too, but Ashley (above) posted this link – http://www.hodderscape.co.uk/open-submissions-december-update/
Anne Perry has just said that they’ll post another update next week – all of this just shows how much work this has been.
Thanks, Michael!