Dreaming of a book deal? A debut author breaks down the process

The latest edition of Writer’s Insight features Celia Silvani, author of the striking debut novel Baby Teeth.

For the latest edition of Writer’s Insight, I spoke with Celia Silvani—author of the brilliant debut novel Baby Teeth. Celia is an author, freelance writer and communications director based in London. Outside of work, she’s a parent (expecting another child this spring), reality TV fanatic and lover of toasties.

In this interview we discussed how she found her agent, navigated the publishing process, and how she balances a full-time career while being both an author and a mother.

Claire is expecting a baby. It's her dream but not everyone is as supportive as she'd like. Isolated and vulnerable, she is drawn into an online group for 'natural motherhood' and is warmly embraced by the sisterhood.

As Claire withdraws further into their world and with her due date fast approaching, she is unsettled by the group's conformity and the total shunning of medical intervention. But blind loyalty can be catastrophic - and her silence could be fatal…

You can purchase your copy of Baby Teeth here.

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You have recently published your first novel Baby Teeth, can you tell us a little about the premise?

Baby Teeth is a book about a desperately lonely woman drawn into an online community of people who are passionate about freebirthing (a legal antenatal decision to have no medical intervention during pregnancy and birth). In my main character’s case, her desire for empowerment and autonomy gives way to obsession and danger.

It’s a novel about belonging, trust, misinformation and the lengths we go to feel in control of our bodies and lives.

If you'd like to understand more about my research and writing process, I wrote about it in the Guardian/ Observer Magazine here.

You found an agent to help get your book published, could you explain about the process that you went through to do this?

My journey was marked by extreme luck. I wrote the first draft of my book during lockdown and was very proud of it. In hindsight, I can’t believe I thought it was ready to be shared with the publishing world.

I bought a copy of The Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook (TWAAY) and spent a lot of time researching the right agent for Baby Teeth. I sent out 10 emails and received two rejections, four requests for the full manuscript and four no-responses. My agent, Hannah Schofield at LBA, replied to my query within 30 minutes, and she offered me representation within a week.

I feel extremely fortunate. I had no creative writing qualifications, my draft needed a very editorially-minded agent and a year of work refining the manuscript, and I was generally just very naive. Hannah has been the fiercest champion of my work and I'm just so glad I found her!

My number one tip is to really research your agent. Borrow a copy of TWAAY from your local library, read The Bookseller to understand who is getting deals for debut authors, check acknowledgements of your favourite books and see who they're represented by... and then distil all that research into your query. Be really precise about why you want to work with that specific person and why you think they'd like your work.

Can you share any lessons you learned during the editing and publishing process?

There are so many things I wish I’d known! The first, and most important, is about finding a community. I wish I’d thought about doing a course and connecting with other writers. I’ve found this whole process very lonely. Writing is intrinsically a solitary pursuit, and I already work from home (I’m employed part time as a senior comms consultant), so I find myself often craving adult company. It’s also quite an opaque industry, so having people who understand the very specific agony of being on submission to editors, or the waiting stage once you’ve submitted line edits is so beneficial.

Another thing is that there’s a lot to be said for doing your own research: networking, connecting and supporting other authors and members of the writing community. This is something I just didn’t realise was a good thing to do. I didn’t leave it too late, but I have regrets about not doing things like joining my local independent bookshop’s community sooner, creating an author Instagram and speaking with the fantastic Bookstagram community (who are such champions of debut talent), and so on.

I am always happy to answer any questions about writing, querying or the publication journey if you’d like to DM me - @celiasilvaniauthor on Instagram.

Do you have a specific writing routine, or do you fit it in around other commitments (either working, social or parenting etc)?

At the time of writing this, I’m 35 weeks pregnant with baby two (I have a two-year-old), part-time employed and my weeks tend to go like this. Monday: a pure parenting day with my toddler. Tuesday to Thursday: employment. Friday: my dedicated writing day, where I try my hardest to pick up where I left off the previous week. Saturday and Sunday: I try and find scraps of time to write, but find it almost impossible to suddenly turn my brain from ‘mum’ to ‘creative writer’.

It’s a juggle and not one I’m doing particularly well.

You’ve described writing as a lonely process and the feeling of letting others down, how do you manage that isolation?

I constantly feel like I’m underperforming in all aspects of my life. I’m not saying this to be self-effacing, or for sympathy, but trying to manage my various identities of parent, partner, friend/ family member, employee and then author is difficult, and the thing that constantly gets dropped is the author role. I remind myself that I will never get this time with my wonderful son back, that it is a gift to have someone who so visibly thrives off our time together, that I yearned to be a mum (my journey to parenthood was very fraught). But I still feel so disappointed in myself when I think how it’s taken me well over a year to write just 50,000 words of book two.

When it comes to managing the isolation, I'm so pleased to be part of a wonderful, uplifting community of debut writers. I’ve also got a fantastic friendship with several authors who truly keep me buoyant on difficult days (honourable mentions here to Silvia Saunders, author of Homesick, Emma van Straaten, author of This Immaculate Body and Chris Bridges, author of Sick To Death). And, on a practical level, I simply would not be able to write book two without the emotional, financial and creative support of my husband. He is my number one proof reader.

How do you balance motherhood as well as the demands of being a freelance writer and now a published author?

If anyone reading this has worked out how to balance it all, please, please tell me your secret!

If you could go back and give yourself advice at the start of this journey, what would it be?

I’d tell myself to stop comparing, to leave absolutely no space for that in my brain, because this is just my journey. Instead, always make time to celebrate the successes. I still have to pinch myself when I see Baby Teeth in shops. I can't believe my book, a tiny piece of my heart, exists for other people to read. It means so much to me that people see it's dedicated to my mum. My mum has a terminal illness, and there were many times where I thought she might not ever see that dedication.

On a less emotional note, I'd also sign up to local writing groups and investigate formal courses. I've heard brilliant things about Curtis Brown Creative and the London Library Emerging Writers programme.

Lastly, I’d remind myself that the creative journey isn’t linear, and it's OK to take your time.

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If you enjoyed reading this interview, don’t forget that you can purchase your copy of Baby Teeth right here!