In this episode, novelist and writing instructor Eva Langston joins Alice to break open one of the most under-discussed truths in publishing: sometimes your book dies even after you’ve done everything “right.”
After years in the query trenches, eight manuscripts, and dozens of literary agent queries, Eva finally landed representation — the milestone so many writers dream of. But what happened next wasn’t the success story she expected. Her agented novel went out on submission and became what the industry quietly calls a rejected book. Then the next one died on submission, too.
Eva shares the emotional toll of spending years querying an agent, fighting through inbox silence, and learning the real book deal meaning after rejections from many publishers. She traces the shame spiral that followed — the week she couldn’t eat, couldn’t smile, and seriously wondered if she would ever see her work in print — and the surprising statistic that changed everything: only 5% of agented manuscripts get picked up by publishers.
What looks like failure from the outside was, for Eva, the beginning of a creative rebirth. She talks about the sculpture garden visit that sparked her next novel, how she wrote it in a burst of catharsis, and why she believes the books rejected by publishers often contain the seeds of better ones.
Eva and Alice also dive into the power of building a writing community — both offline and through an online writing community like Substack — and why being a “good literary citizen” is one of the most sustaining forces in the book writing community. From reaching out to debut authors, to creating her new podcast The Long Road to Publishing, to finding critique partners through workshops, Eva shows how connection can hold you steady when querying book agents threatens to break you.
This episode is a must-listen for anyone querying an agent, drafting a novel, navigating rejection, or searching for an honest look at what it means to query agents and publishers in today’s saturated market. It’s for every writer who has wondered if their dream is taking too long — and for anyone who needs the reminder that you haven’t failed if you’re still trying.
Resources & Links:
🌐 Listen to Eva’s podcast The Long Road to Publishing
📬 Subscribe to Eva’s Newsletter for Writers on Substack
💻 Connect with Eva at evalangston.com
🎧 Listen to This Mama Is Lit, where Eva is co-host
Chapters:
00:00 Why We Don’t Talk About Dead-On-Submission Books
02:00 Eva’s Earliest Rejection & Her Mother’s Brutal Honesty
06:30 Entering the Query Trenches—Writing Eight Novels
10:20 When Literary Agent Queries Go Nowhere
12:40 Querying a Book vs. Querying Your Worth
15:30 Landing an Agent After 90 Queries
18:00 The First Book Dies on Submission—And Then the Second
21:40 The 5% Statistic That Changed Everything
24:00 Publisher Silence, Rejection Emails, and Mental Health
27:05 Rebuilding Confidence Through a Writing Community
30:10 Substack, Online Writing Community, and Literary Citizenship
34:00 The Sculpture Garden Breakdown → Breakthrough
37:20 Writing a New Novel in Two Months
40:15 Exciting Developments (She Can’t Share Yet…)
41:40 Why She Started The Long Road to Publishing
46:10 AI Manuscripts, Inbox Saturation & Querying Book Agents Today
50:00 Champagne Rejections & How to Keep Going
52:30 How to Build Your Own Book Writing Community
57:00 Eva’s Parting Words: “You Haven’t Failed If You’re Still Trying.”