Submission Sunday Replay: Interview with Edan Lepucki

On submission, rejection, and other author concerns

Happy Sunday, writers! Before Submission Sunday lived on Substack, it was part of Writing Workshops Los Angeles, a private writing school “for the brave, enthusiastic, and talented” founded by author Edan Lepucki. I started teaching nonfiction for WWLA in 2010, joined Edan as co-director in 2014 after we hosted WWLA: The Conference at the Autry Museum, and took over as director in 2016 following the publication of Edan’s first novel California. (You might remember California from its appearance on The Colbert Report.) Edan published her second novel Woman No. 17 in 2018 and her third novel Time’s Mouth this week (commemorated by a very fun launch party)!

Earlier this year, Edan and I had a chat for this newsletter about submission, rejection, and other author concerns, and I thought it would be worth a replay amid all the other press around Time’s Mouth. (Check out this New York Times By the Book!)

If you’ve been considering a paid subscription to support Submission Sunday, today might be a good time! If you only want to read Edan’s interview, you can also sign up for a seven-day free trial.

It took two years to get my first story published . . . and then another two years to get my second story published. After that, I had more success, but never stopped hearing NO. Those rejections stung but they were also expected, badges of honor I collected.