Full disclosure: I am in the publishing industry, so I knew what to expect from this process. But part of that knowledge was how unforgiving the process tends to be – which arguably wasn’t very helpful. At every stage I submitted my book under a pseudonym because I didn’t want to be treated differently from other submissions. And that worked, because it often felt brutal.
I loved literature at school. It was the only thing I was ever any good at. So, having studied literature and film, I then got a place on a publishing graduate scheme. This was very intimidating both as a commercial business and a literary culture. If you’re nervous about admitting to being