Rejection!
I hope that every year on December 6 that I DO NOT remember this as the date of my first rejection letter. Looking for an agent to represent my story as been quite the journey. Can I just say part-time job?? There are two things that I wanted to express/vent before I move on.
1. Finding an agent is like APPLYING FOR JOBS. First you have to search out a good agent. This is like sifting through the classified, craigslist, and other online job postings. Not every agent is the real deal. That's right... there are people out there that want to take advantage of ignorant first time writers like myself. The big clue is that they should not charge ANYTHING until after the book is published.
My game plan has been to find the authors that have written books most like my own, and then search out who their agents are. That's where the job analogy comes back in. After you finally find the job that you want to apply for, you have to tweak your resume and your portfolio to fit their criteria. Well, submission requirements from agent to agent differ greatly. It is a comfort to me to read that successful writers like Meg Cabot and Stephanie Meyer had a string of rejection letters before being discovered.
To date, I have sent two queries out via email, and am working on my third submission. Woot!
2. I am so tired from working on a book proposal for hours, and if this isn't coherent you know why. The second thing I wanted to address is how I am balancing this endeavor with motherhood. I still have three children and a husband. They didn't disappear just because I have the wild obsession with becoming a published author. The truth is, they inspire me. I get so many ideas based on our family interests and crazy moments. I definitely didn't get any inspiration from chasing my one-year-old all over the library today, or from watching from a distance as my four-year-old opened the emergency door to set off the fire alarm (we voluntarily left the library before story time... it just wasn't going to happen). I have had kids sick with the stomach flu the last week and a half, and I am still teaching my preschool coop, and balancing my church obligations. Writing is my passion, but my family comes first.
I have to be able to shut my laptop when my kids need my attention, which happens most of the day. I beg my older kids for an hour during my baby's naptime, but I can't afford to let my book come before my family. Yes, I need my time to myself, but "bridle your passions" right? I honestly feel like I can be super productive in my writing with the short increments of time that I am allotted. I have been blessed to be able to sit down and write page after page. Maybe because I have time to mull ideas as I fold laundry, cook dinner, wash dishes. It's tough. I complain. But, I make it work.
1. Finding an agent is like APPLYING FOR JOBS. First you have to search out a good agent. This is like sifting through the classified, craigslist, and other online job postings. Not every agent is the real deal. That's right... there are people out there that want to take advantage of ignorant first time writers like myself. The big clue is that they should not charge ANYTHING until after the book is published.
My game plan has been to find the authors that have written books most like my own, and then search out who their agents are. That's where the job analogy comes back in. After you finally find the job that you want to apply for, you have to tweak your resume and your portfolio to fit their criteria. Well, submission requirements from agent to agent differ greatly. It is a comfort to me to read that successful writers like Meg Cabot and Stephanie Meyer had a string of rejection letters before being discovered.
To date, I have sent two queries out via email, and am working on my third submission. Woot!
2. I am so tired from working on a book proposal for hours, and if this isn't coherent you know why. The second thing I wanted to address is how I am balancing this endeavor with motherhood. I still have three children and a husband. They didn't disappear just because I have the wild obsession with becoming a published author. The truth is, they inspire me. I get so many ideas based on our family interests and crazy moments. I definitely didn't get any inspiration from chasing my one-year-old all over the library today, or from watching from a distance as my four-year-old opened the emergency door to set off the fire alarm (we voluntarily left the library before story time... it just wasn't going to happen). I have had kids sick with the stomach flu the last week and a half, and I am still teaching my preschool coop, and balancing my church obligations. Writing is my passion, but my family comes first.
I have to be able to shut my laptop when my kids need my attention, which happens most of the day. I beg my older kids for an hour during my baby's naptime, but I can't afford to let my book come before my family. Yes, I need my time to myself, but "bridle your passions" right? I honestly feel like I can be super productive in my writing with the short increments of time that I am allotted. I have been blessed to be able to sit down and write page after page. Maybe because I have time to mull ideas as I fold laundry, cook dinner, wash dishes. It's tough. I complain. But, I make it work.
Yay for a rejection! I know that isn't usually the response but seriously it means two things one that you are working to get published. And it is work, I may not do it, but I have learned about it. I was told by one of my teachers that the odds in life is that you will only get one in every ten jobs, so you stand a lot of rejection to find that one publisher that is right, so the more rejection means the closer you are getting to finding the right one. The other thing it means is that someone else read your work, or at least skimmed it. That is awesome! I understand family coming first, and I'm sure you move mountains every week balancing everything that you do. Keep with it, you can do it! I'll be first in line to buy your book when it does hit the shelves :D
ReplyDeleteThanks Kayla! That means a lot!!
ReplyDelete