Time for me to dust myself off and get back on the horse. What am I talking about? Why submitting, of course.
I started by submitting two flash pieces yesterday. I’m also reworking one short story and finishing up another one with the goal of having them submission-ready by the end of the month.
And then there’s that elephant in the room. My completed historical romance. There’s a voice in the back of my head that grows louder and more insistent every day to start querying. I’ve queried before – much too early – but this time it’s different (doesn’t everyone say that?). I’ve revised the story since the last round of queries. Had my critique partners look it over and I’m in the midst of revising again. I can see the difference in the writing in my story. Everything inside me is just screaming to send it off into the world. Now.
Author Jody Hedlund wrote a post earlier this week about the three stages of querying: the naïve beginner, the rejected optimist, and the seasoned realist. I’m definitely somewhere in these last two stages, and my next batch of queries will tell me if my work is ready. I already know I’m querying a tough time period, so it will come down to my writing and the fates.
Writer Sarah Fine also had a set of interesting posts on the querying process this week (Should You Send That Query? What We Can Learn From The Marshmallow Test & Step Away From The Marshmallow. And The SEND Button.). She relates how a psychology experiment measuring one’s ability to delay gratification ties into the querying process. Fascinating stuff!
So querying will happen. Very soon. And if nothing pans out, the process will galvanize me into tacking my next project with renewed fervor. In theory…
6 comments:
Spring is a good time to try new things, especially for writers. There's so much hope and positive cheer in the air. :) Good luck with your submissions and querying!!!
Good for you! I sent a lot of queries in the last year WAY before I should have, and now I worry that I'll be gun shy once my work is actually ready to go out into the world.
But it sounds like you know where you are, and I think you are ready! Go for it!
Your writing is so strong so I support you all the way!
Sounds like you're in a frenzy of submission. I got a short story off yesterday and many more to go.
Denise<3
A link to a new romance writers group just begun.
Join the new Romantic Friday Writers Group.
Sounds like the perfect time to submit to me! Hope it goes well. Don't let the process get you down (hard not to, I know.) I've still got gobs of old rejections and was rejected by my current agent at least once. :)
Woot, that's the spirit!
Best of luck with the querying/submissions :)
Hugs,
Rach
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