Hello! Come chill with me as I casually bare my soul

It's a little quiet around here. Let me introduce myself.

Does every Substack author start their first post by typing a witty sentence, cringing with mortification, and hitting that delete button like their life depends on it?! God I hope so…

I’m just going to dive right in and introduce myself instead. Hi, I’m Jen. I’m a befreckled redhead from Ireland who has worked as a journalist for national newspapers for a little over 17 years now. Hence the wrinkles. Around seven weeks ago, I left my job as a political correspondent with The Irish Times to move over to The Sunday Times, where I work now as their political editor.

I was totally chill during that career change and acted completely rationally at all times. Ahem. If anyone wants an unhinged post on making a big career move, hit me up. But that’s not why I’m here today. Last year, after 15 years of trying to get a novel published, my mystery novel sold to my dream publisher, Penguin.

Throughout those years, and throughout the many failures which I am here to fully own, I noticed something. I realised that even though there are AMAZING blogs and Substacks and online resources for writers… it wasn’t enough. My appetite for information was insatiable. I wanted to know every single thing there was to know about querying agents, about the etiquette of that process, about waiting times, about the chances of getting a publishing deal. I really struggled at times with rejection. Straight up, I also struggled with jealousy. Sometimes I let the jealousy make me bitter, which I probably shouldn’t admit to, but hey, when life gives you lemons that’s how they taste ;-)

All of this to say, I found myself constantly asking: is this normal? How do I overcome this? Or: how many agents should I query? How should I respond to this agent’s question? How long does the process last when you go out on submission to publishers? How will I survive all of these edits? Oh yeah, and: are pantsters REALLY better than plotters?

My novel will be published, all going to plan, in early 2026. I have a lot I’d like to share, and would love if you’d join me along the way. I will write a bit about my own rocky road to publication, how I learned how to query agents, how I found an agent I adore, what really happens when you go on submission, what happens when a book goes to auction (not a gavel in sight), and what happens after the book deal (spoiler: plenty of silent moments). I’ll share my book title and cover reveal, and a diary of the lead-up to publication day. But my first post will be on rejection, and I’ll put it up here this weekend. It’s a huge part of the process for most of us, and it’s harder than we are sometimes willing to admit. When I learned how to see rejections for what they really were — signposts — everything changed. So do come back for that.

Along the way I’ll also post what I’m reading, watching, listening to, drinking and if there is any interest at all, gossip from the world of media and politics. Thanks for reading this missive, and I can’t wait to get stuck in with you and hear from you. Jen XXX