If you are a writer who is in search of an agent or publisher, you will completely understand this post. If you're a reader or someone who is a little less familiar with the process of how it all works, here's a little insight.
Let's start with the fairy tale. You know the one: the writer in some sort of desperate need taps away at their keyboard day and night surrounded by a sea of notes and character collages. Many tears later, the words The End appear on the page and the manuscript gets sent off to achieve a million dollar advance and a life of fame and fortune. Now, sure, we might hear a passing comment about how they queried a whole slew of publishers before they found their perfect match, but the fairy dust in the telling still sparkles on the accomplishment and softens the edges of that time before the fame arrived. There is a version of this fairy tale out there for every kind of endeavor a person could possibly hope to pursue. Sort of like a career related drama or rom-com. In reality, creative people hear the word NO with the same frequency as a three year old on a sugar rush who hasn't had a nap in a week and has somehow acquired a fork and the determination to stick it in an outlet. Sometimes that no is just the sound of mental crickets when the response time has elapsed. Sometimes you receive a form letter. Rarely, a more personal response arrives. There are also varying degrees of niceness in those letters. Some are worded as encouragingly as possible. Others, well, not so much. I usually write my submissions on post-it notes with a response time to expect, and then add them to a cork board section on the wall by my computer. In the past year I've had about twenty up there involving two projects that I am test driving in the traditional publishing realm before I commit to one or more of the self-publishing routes available these days. I'd like to see if either might open a door that could gain me a larger audience than I am able to attract on my own. I am currently down to two. One should answer sometime this week, and the other in March of 2022. I have no idea if either is secretly the golden ticket, although the odds are not in my favor. Now, don't get me wrong. The no's I've received have hurt. As a Gemini, I have two inner children. One of them sits in a blankie fort letting her tears soak into her stuffed unicorn wondering if she'll ever be worthy. The other breaks her toys while muttering all of the words she's not supposed to say and vowing revenge on the injustice of it all. They are welcome to their reactions but I am a fully functional grown woman whose parents raised her to be rational and - you know - adult in her reactions. I'm also a realist. I know how to manage my expectations. Those two post-it notes aren't just hopes and dreams that the writing fairy godmother will pay a visit, they are place holders in my calendar. They are buying me the time I need to make plans of my own. So, why does it sound like I'm ambivalent about hearing that nasty little two letter word that so many see as a dream killer? There are two reasons, really. One is that I know that nothing that is meant for me (good or bad) will miss me. The other is because I love what I do enough that I don't require anyone else to feel the same in order to keep loving it. Okay, there are three: I also know that I would not enjoy every last string associated with a contract. (If you are curious, ask me one day about a contract that I requested - multiple times - to be released from on a novella or the one I turned down on another book. See, there is publisher interest in my work. I'm not just some self-published hack with an overinflated sense of self worth. *grin*) NO is not the end of the world. In many ways it is actually the best answer the wrong agent/publisher can give. It keeps me from needing to create excitement in a publisher where there isn't any while simultaneously trying to create excitement in readers. NO helps me hone my skills and become a better writer. It also allows another book that I might LOVE reading find a home in the slot that might have been mine under different circumstances. I can happily live with all of those things while still pursuing my dreams. Does that mean I don't want to hear the beautiful sound of YES? Absolutely not. Everyone wants the fairy tale even with it's wicked witches and trolls lurking in the corners, don't they? Everyone wants a fairy godmother to make us beautiful in the eyes of the world. I'm just not relying solely on pixie dust and the hope of a book contract to get me wherever I'm meant to be. So, if you think your fairy godmother is kicked back on a beach somewhere ignoring your dreams, remember the dollar store sells wings, wands, and glitter. There is no rule saying you can't fire her and handle the job yourself.
1 Comment
Margaret
8/16/2021 12:51:39 pm
Regardless of the # of Post-It notes on your corkboard, the important thing to remember is perseverance. Keep at it regardless. And remember that you ARE a good writer and a GREAT mentor.
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