Thanks to NetGalley for a copy in exchange of an honest review.

This was very campy and, although there are a lot of interesting themes, it feels more of a dark comedy than a thriller. Also. The part about women's body? Unnecesary.

I have read and enjoyed a previous book from this author so I was hopeful this one would be another favourite. Unfortunately this one failed to hold my attention. Specifically the writing was weak (which was also a struggle in this author's previous work) but this time the story was not engrossing enough to overcome the prose.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

I really enjoyed this look into the darker side of book publishing. Seeing the story from the POV of both Henry, the famous agent who only cares about money, and Alex, the rejected author who would do anything to be taken seriously, really kept this book interesting for me. Alex was unhinged, and his "workshop" scenes were so well written. Sparing no gory detail. I could feel the desperation as Henry is grasping to maintain his position of power and control in the madness of his carefully built world falling apart around him.
There were some parts that took away from the realness of it, and took me out of the story a bit. I had more than one, "that would never happen. They would never do that. Why didn't they notice this.." moments. But, I do think the story as a whole was strong enough for me to push past those pauses.
There was suspense, tension, gore, and such an overall sense of madness right up to the end, and I would absolutely recommend giving this one a read!

Thank you, Netgalley & Clash Books, for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Super fun, psychological piece of metafiction about an author who will do anything to get published. Reminded me of Misery and the Killer Inside Me, with little hints of Stephen King’s On Writing. It’s fast-paced (I read it in 3 sittings) and I couldn’t stop turning pages. Works just as well as a psychological thriller as it does horror. And you can really feel the desperation that writers must have when their work isn’t getting the attention they feel it deserves. The business part of the art really rears its ugly head in this one. Lots to like in this one, especially if you’re a writer or deep enough in the writing community.

Seidlinger, known for his meta-fictional style, crafts a Kafkaesque tale about an unnamed author desperate for validation, who spirals into obsession after submitting a manuscript to a predatory small press.

The novel satirizes literary ambition, exploitation, and the psychological toll of artistic pursuit. Its claustrophobic prose and surreal twists mirror the protagonist’s unraveling mental state, making for an unsettling but compelling read. While the bleak tone may not appeal to everyone, Seidlinger’s sharp critique of publishing’s gatekeepers and the commodification of art resonates deeply.

A must-read for writers who’ve faced rejection—and a cautionary tale for those chasing validation at any cost.

As someone who is very interested in the publishing industry and also enjoys a good thriller, i adored this book! It has the lierary-ness you'd expect from a book about publishing while at the same time maintains a level of suspense that is necessary for a thriller. Definitely recommended!

Thank you to Netgalley and CLASH Books for the opportunity to read this ARC.

The cover is clever and immediately grabbed my attention. I stayed for the prose.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. On Submission is as harrowing as it is impossible to look away from. While the characters are unlikable, their flaws and the ugly truths peeled away one slice at a time gave them an honesty and humanity that I appreciated. As a reader, the suspense and impending feeling of an inevitably violent conclusion were thrilling and inescapable.

I’ll be recommending this!

This did not work for me. The characters were extremely hard to read. Unlikable in almost every way, which I understand may be the point, but failed in my personal opinion. Of course, tastes vary. Several character decisions did not make sense. I kept saying "Wait, what? Why?" to myself. The concept and setup was intriguing, and I thought it had effective commentary on the publishing industry, particularly the relationship between author and agent, but the message was not placed in a satisfying story. More to come on TikTok.

DNF at 27% , and that’s being generous.
I really tried. Truly. But On Submission reads like a parody of itself—bloated, tedious, and so painfully overwritten that making it even a quarter of the way through felt like wading through literary sludge.

Henry Richmond Pendel, the supposed hotshot agent at the heart of the story, is neither compelling nor believable. His inner monologue is a loop of empty arrogance, and any chance at depth is buried beneath cringe-inducing prose. Then there’s Alexander Moyer, the book's killer, both literally and narratively. Meant to be terrifying and unhinged, he instead comes across as a laughably try-hard caricature.

The premise promised a dark, satirical scream into the void of publishing. What it delivers is a headache. A pretentious, joyless slog that confuses heavy-handed cynicism for commentary. If there’s any intended wit or suspense here, it’s buried under the weight of overwrought style and cardboard characters.

Every page felt like a chore, and finishing even 27% cost me more brain cells than I care to admit. I can usually find something redeeming in a book, but this one? It made me want to unsubscribe from fiction altogether.

Thank you to Net Galley and Michael J. Seidlinger for an ARC of the upcoming release, “On Submission”.

An aspiring author, Alex decides to take his career into his own hands after getting rejected by a top publishing agent he so desperately wants to be represented by. So much so, that when his letter doesn’t get the response he is looking for, he snaps.

He snaps in such a way that he doesn’t go directly after the agent himself but instead goes after the authors he represents. It all becomes a sort of twisted revenge horror game for Alex. He will do whatever it takes to be noticed even if it means going down for murder.

“I will become infamous, both in name and the body of work accumulated over so many kills.”

This is my first Seidlinger read and it did not disappoint. It’s twisty and a little gory with a side of unhinged.

On Submission is such a great and short horror read for those who love horror! It could be a bit too much for those who haven’t read much horror. I loved it! The changing POVs gave great insight into the characters, and the gore was more than enough to push the story forward.

Fast-paced, gory thriller. It's a great concept and I'm sure many people will love this but it didn't quite work for me. Alex and Pendel having different POVs in their chapters was a little disorienting, and I didn't care for the "murder/torture as story editing" bit. Also nitpicky but why didn't Marina recognize Alex/say anything when she walked in on him and Pendel together? She'd just gone on a date with him the night before.

If Yellowface was a slasher then On Submission is it. I loved Yellowface and I am a huge fan of slashers yet something didn’t gel with me. I wasn’t hooked whilst reading and it took quite a while to get through.

The book does get gory and the first murder description came as a shock in comparison to the chapters before it. I’m not complaining though. Alexander’s chapters kept my interest a lot more than Pendels but I do think the book could benefit from trigger warnings. Some chapters border on extreme horror.

There were a lot of characters to get my head around with various roles involved in creating a book (publisher, editor etc). I found it difficult to remember who was who.

Overall 3 stars. I think this would appeal to many people but it just wasn’t for me.

It's an slasher thriller novel that revolves around publishing industry. It's blood soaked, weird and unhinged at lot of the times. If you like thriller with lot of slasher/ murder elements in it, I think you would like this book. It's a solid three ⭐ read for me.
Intriguing: 1
Unsettling: 1
Scariness: 1

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

Absolutely unhinged. I wanted more horror however really interesting and I was still quite hooked. I like more twists and turns than this book offered but it was actually quite funny at times but some parts did feel quite forced.

However still recommend to thriller lovers as it’s not like other common thrillers.

Concept is fab, but the execution (pardon the pun) wasn’t for me. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc, though.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I perhaps expected something a little bit more extreme horror than what this book offered when I read the blurb on NetGalley. There were certainly lashings of extreme horror within it, but not enough to plant it firmly in the genre.

I think that I didn’t connect with this book because I simply didn’t feel much for the story. It was a sordid look into the publishing industry, sure, and it was certainly interesting. The characters were awful people, which made sense, but I just found that there wasn’t that much to connect with for me.

I did enjoy parts of this book, and there were some interesting elements to the story, but unfortunately it wasn’t as much for me as I would hope. It certainly reeked of the desperation that the author was trying to put across for the main character, and it was written well, but it didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

For such a small number of pages I was pleasantly surprised by how well this had me hooked. My previous experience of short horror books hasn’t been great but the author managed to build a whole convincing world in the space of a few pages!

This story definitely had not only the horror element (if you’re not a fan of gore, look away now!) but also the shock factor. Although the story isn’t as twisty as I usually like (apart from one twist in the middle that made me gasp a bit), I still wanted to keep on reading to figure out just how crazy the ending could be.

Overall great, quick horror read!

Okay. So. On Submission by Michael J. Seidlinger is completely unhinged in the best possible way. Imagine the publishing world as a horror movie—bloody, chaotic, weirdly funny—and then crank it up to eleven. That’s this book.

It follows Alexander Moyer, a struggling author who just wants an agent to believe in him. Relatable, right? But then he gets a super generic rejection from a fancy agent named Henry Pendel, and instead of moving on like a normal person… he snaps. Fully. Starts stalking. Obsessing. And then goes full murder mystery mode. I’m talking actual crime.

And the wild part? The publishing industry reacts not with panic or horror but with dollar signs. Moyer’s target, J.D. Church, was a bestselling author with a shady reputation, and once he’s gone, everyone scrambles to cash in on his posthumous work. It’s dark. It’s ridiculous. It’s kinda genius.

I don’t really live in the publishing world, but I peek in from time to time. And reading this felt like I’d stumbled into a party I wasn’t invited to, where everyone’s pretending everything’s fine while the house is on fire. Honestly? Loved every second.

Seidlinger’s writing is sharp, fast, and just the right amount of chaotic. There are no heartwarming moments, no “follow your dreams” speeches. Just a whole lot of ambition, ego, blood, and biting commentary on how messy and heartless the industry can be.

It’s short. It’s wild. It’s weird. And I couldn’t stop reading. If you like books that feel a little unhinged and a lot smart, this one’s for you.

To write is to create, to read is to submit to someone's idea. This book is a meta commentary on the publishing industry, specifically the relationship between author and agent. The main characters are Pendel, the agent, and Alex, the author. Pendel is a greedy person who is cutthroat when it comes to authors; all he cares about is the money. Alex is an author who is willing to do anything to become successful. There are both evils in the industry, and through the book, we see they treat others as pieces in their life but not as a person. Alex is a unique antagonist in the story, of how manipulative he is to others. He always talks so badly about other ideas, writing, and making them weak, but at the same time, he plagiarizes other people's stories. He is, though, kinda a genius as you see this story progress. Gore-wise wise there is some, I think, though some readers might genuinely be bothered by one of them. The horror aspect to me is more of the unsettling, disturbing side, which is my cup of tea, and I would recommend who do you like those unsettling stories. It's not slow when it comes to what you get from the first chapter, and it does it well. I would say at some point it straight goes to madness and chaos, and it is written amazingly through that descent. Overall, a unique horror story that makes you think.

Thank you, Netgally and Clash, for an ARC copy.