Session 3 takeaway: A Seat at the Table — mentoring, agents, publishers, patience, and finding your place

Session 3 takeaway: Spring Publishing Day 2026 - Irish Writers Centre : Irish Writers Centre

Spring Publishing Day 2026 ended with a generous, honest, and encouraging conversation about what happens between writing a book and helping it find its way into the world.

✨ What stood out most for me:

This session did not romanticise publishing, but it did make it feel possible.

There was a lot of realism about timing, genre, submissions, money, mentoring, and the slow pace of publishing.

But there was also warmth, humour, and a very strong sense that writers do belong in these spaces.

One of the most encouraging lines of the session was:

🍀 ‘We need our storytellers, and why not all of you?’

🌱 Mentoring can be powerful, but timing matters

One of the strongest points in the session was that a mentor can be incredibly valuable, but not always at the very beginning of your process.

A writer sometimes needs to do some of the lonely, private work first: finding the shape of the story, hearing the voice more clearly, and getting past the earliest uncertainty.

A mentor too early can mean being told things you already know deep down.

A mentor at the right time can help you:

🔹 see structural problems more clearly

🔹 talk through what the work is really trying to do

🔹 build confidence in your instincts

🔹 prepare emotionally for future editorial conversations

Takeaway:

🍀 Don’t rush to hand over your work too soon. Do the early discovery work first, then bring in the fresh eyes when you are ready to hear them.

🤝 The right mentoring relationship needs trust

Sarah Moore Fitzgerald spoke beautifully about what makes mentoring work.

The relationship needs:

🔹 trust

🔹 honesty

🔹 respect

🔹 belief in the writer

🔹 belief in the mentor’s opinion

The mentor should not be dismissive or cruel. The writer should not feel they must defend every sentence. The room has to be safe enough for honesty, but honest enough to actually help.

What really stayed with me was the idea that surprising feedback is often the most valuable feedback.

If someone says something you secretly already knew, that is useful.

But if feedback genuinely surprises you, or even makes you feel defensive, there may be something important there to untangle.

Takeaway:

🍀 Feeling a bit defensive is not always a bad sign. Sometimes it means you have found the exact knot that needs attention.

📖 Before submitting, find readers you trust

Before sending work out into the wider publishing world, it helps to have trusted readers first.

Not everyone needs to see a manuscript at its earliest stage, but a few thoughtful readers can help a writer strengthen the work before it goes into more formal gatekeeping spaces.

As Sarah Moore Fitzgerald put it in spirit, a writer may need to show the work to a ‘teddy bear’ before showing it to the sharks.

Takeaway:

🍀 Pre-submission reading matters. Find people you trust to give you honest, useful feedback before you begin sending work out widely.

✉️ Query letters and submission materials matter a lot

Nicola Barr spoke very clearly about the importance of the query letter.

A strong letter is not about being wild or gimmicky. It is about showing:

🔹 clarity

🔹 personality

🔹 awareness of the current market

🔹 knowledge of where your book might sit

🔹 evidence that you are a serious reader

It was also clear that doing your homework matters.

Researching agents, publishers, mentors, and journals is basic but essential work.

Simple things signal seriousness:

🔹 knowing who you are writing to

🔹 understanding their list

🔹 being courteous and concise

🔹 not sending work blindly

Takeaway:

🍀 A good submission is not only about the manuscript. The letter, the research, and the professionalism around it all matter too.

🗂️ Genre can feel reductive, but it still matters

This was one of the most interesting tensions in the session.

Genre categories can feel limiting, reductive, or even frustrating.

And yet, from a publishing point of view, they matter.

Agents and publishers need to know where a book might sit in a bookshop, how it could be pitched, who might read it, and how it could be positioned in the market.

That does not mean flattening the book into a neat little box.

But it does mean a writer should have some sense of questions like:

🔹 on which shelf would this sit in a bookshop?

🔹 who is it for?

🔹 what kind of reading experience is it offering?

🔹 what current books is it genuinely in conversation with?

Takeaway:

🍀 You do not need to reduce your book to a label, but you do need to understand how it might be introduced to the world.

⏳ Publishing is slow — and writers need to know that

Another useful part of the session was the honesty about timelines.

Even after a manuscript is acquired, publication may still be at least a year away.

That time is needed for:

🔹 edits

🔹 proofs

🔹 endorsements

🔹 review coverage

🔹 media outreach

🔹 bookseller and influencer promotion

This kind of practical reality is easy for writers to underestimate.

It also means that while one book is moving through the system, the writer often needs to begin thinking about the next project.

One brilliant line from Sarah Moore Fitzgerald was the idea that a writer should try to have:

✨ ‘one in, one on, one out’

In other words:

🔹 one project out in the world

🔹 one on the desk

🔹 one beginning to form in the mind

Takeaway:

🍀 Publishing moves slowly. Keep writing anyway. The healthiest creative life does not depend emotionally on a single project.

💼 Most writers need structure, work, and realistic expectations

This part was refreshingly honest.

The session pushed back against the fantasy of the full-time writer drifting about in endless creative freedom.

Instead, there was a realistic suggestion that many writers benefit from:

🔹 structure

🔹 routine

🔹 meaningful paid work

🔹 a life outside the page

🔹 work that aligns, where possible, with their creative self

Publishing can open opportunities, yes.

But most writers still need jobs, discipline, and ways of protecting their creative energy.

Takeaway:

🍀 A day job is not a sign that you are failing as a writer. For many people, it is part of what makes the writing life possible.

🔍 Research the people you approach

This came up again and again.

If you are seeking a mentor, agent, or publisher, do the research.

Look at:

🔹 their clients

🔹 their books

🔹 their genre interests

🔹 what they say they are looking for

🔹 whether your work genuinely fits

It was also noted that professionals are already overloaded with reading, so respectful and informed approaches matter.

Takeaway:

🍀 Don’t send work blindly. Research is part of the writing life too.

💛 A ‘no’ is not always a judgement on the work

This was one of the most reassuring parts of the session.

A rejection may mean:

🔹 not right for that list

🔹 not right for that editor

🔹 not right for that moment

🔹 not right for that market position

It does not always mean the work is bad.

Nicola Barr made this point especially well: some brilliant books do not sell immediately, and some writers hear ‘no’ many times before they hear ‘yes’.

Takeaway:

🍀 A ‘no’ may mean ‘not for me’, not ‘not worth reading’. That is an important distinction for writers to remember.

🌍 There was real optimism about books, readers, and storytelling

The session ended on a hopeful note.

There was talk of readers finding books for themselves, of booksellers championing what they love, of social media helping smaller voices gain attention, and of literature still feeling alive, needed, and exciting.

And perhaps most importantly, there was a strong reminder that human beings need stories.

We need language.

We need connection.

We need people willing to make meaning on the page.

Final takeaway:

🍀 Writers need realism, but they also need courage. Do the work, research well, build momentum, accept that publishing is slow, and keep going. The world needs storytellers.

#IrishWritersCentre #SpringPublishingDay #WritingCommunity

#EditingCommunity #PublishingJourney #CreativeWriting #WritersLife

#IrishWriting #SkoolWriters #MentoringForWriters #DebutAuthorJourney

🗳️ What feels hardest to you right now in the journey towards publication?

🔹 Knowing when a piece is ready

🔹 Finding the right mentor / agent / publisher

🔹 Writing a strong query or submission letter

🔹 Staying confident through rejection and waiting

🔹Something else? Tell us in the comments

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