From Slushpile to Publication Deal| Laure Van Rensburg
This week’s newsletter takeover is from 2022 debut author, Laure Van Rensburg. Laure will be hosting a member’s event with us on 10 March as part of Getting Published Month, where she’ll be showing you that the ‚Äòslushpile to publication‚Äô pipeline does happen ‚Äì and it could happen to you.¬†
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From Slushpile to Publication Deal
When I decided to take writing seriously and make a real go at it, I had no clue how people got published apart from the romanticised version they show you in Hollywood films Рwhich, let’s face it, is wildly inaccurate. I knew you needed an agent to get a deal with a larger traditional publisher, so I did what most people in search of knowledge do these days and googled “how do you get a literary agent”. One of the results lead me to an advert for a Guardian Masterclass run by — I didn’t know this at the time — an upcoming agent. If I had to learn what to do (and not to do), then why not get it straight for the horse’s (agent’s) mouth? The workshop was a real eye-opener, and by the end, I realised I had a long, long way to go for a) my novel to be submission-ready, and b) to write a compelling blurb and synopsis. 
After that initial rush of information, I became addicted to ‘path to publication’ stories. I would consume any I could find, listening to what I felt were the elected few who made it. However, a lot of them took unusual paths — “my MA tutor gave my MS to an editor friend of theirs”; “I did a reading at an agent evening”; or, “I won a writing competition and was offered representation” — because exceptions often make for more interesting stories. I didn’t complete a MA or win a writing competition Р so I would have to gain representation the old-fashioned way.
Fast-forward to six years later – hundreds of thousands of words written, rewritten and, edited, several writing workshops completed, short stories published, and a failed novel later – and that same agent who ran the first workshop I went to is now my agent, and she has sold my debut psychological suspense in 16 territories, including the UK.
 ‘Nobody But Us’ is about a couple on their first weekend away. It should be a perfect romantic trip for two, except he’s not who he says he is. But then again, neither is she. It will be published in the UK on 14 April. And it all started with the slushpile. 
For my first event as a soon-to-be published author, I wanted to share my path to publication to show that you can get an agent – and, subsequently, a publishing deal Рby going through the dreaded slushpile. Even though the odds are stacked against you (agents signing 3-4 authors a year while receiving thousands of submissions at the same time) it does happen. Someone has to be one of the 3-4 authors; it happened to me, so it can happen to other aspiring writers. It can happen to you. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not easy. My top tip is to do your research and be as prepared as possible to stack the odds you can control on your side. And resilience -, you need buckets of it. During my session on 10th March I’m planning to share everything I’ve learned along the way and answer as many questions as possible (because if you are anything like me, you will have a lot of questions!)
About Laure
Laure Van Rensburg is a French writer living in the UK and an Ink Academy alumna. Her stories have appeared in online magazines and anthologies such as Litro Magazine, Storgy Magazine, The Real Jazz Baby (2020 Best Anthology, Saboteur Awards 2020), and FIVE:2:ONE. She has also placed in competitions including 2018 & 2019 Bath Short Story Award.
Website: www.laurevanrensburg.com
Twitter: @Laure0901 
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