Keep On Keeping On

I’m pitching this week. That means I’m putting together query letters and synopses and sending them out in the hopes that someone likes something I’ve written.

I love my current publisher and definitely want to continue publishing with them. The Wild Rose Press is a phenomenal publisher, and they are extremely supportive of their writers. I’ve loved working with them. But in these times, it’s safest to make sure your writing career is diverse enough to withstand any changes. That means expanding your career and constantly looking for additional opportunities. So while I have every intention of continuing to publish with The Wild Rose Press for as long as they’ll have me, I need to make sure I also look out for my future and diversify. Kind of like financial planning, but on a smaller scale.

So I’m pitching. Think of it as dating. Getting all dressed up, putting your best foot forward, and hoping someone will like you enough to take a chance on you for a second date. And maybe a third. And then maybe, if you’re really lucky, they’ll ask you to marry them. Eventually. I mean, who wants to get married after three dates? Hmm, plot bunny...

In the publishing world, that means I send out a query letter with a brief summary of what I’ve written, along with a synopsis that has a longer summary of what I’ve written. And then I wait. If I’m lucky, they respond—yes, sometimes you don’t even get a negative response, and you’re left to wonder if anyone saw your letter or if it got lost in the email ether. But that’s the game, and if you want to publish, you play. 

Like I said, if I’m lucky, I’ll get a response that asks for a few sample chapters. If I’m really lucky, I’ll get a response that asks for the entire manuscript. And if I’m lottery-winner lucky, I’ll get an offer of publication/representation. 

So, I submit and check my email obsessively, knowing that it will be at least a month, if not three, before I hear anything. And in the meantime, I keep writing. Because I have a wonderful publisher who likes my writing and I want to submit things to them. And I have a deadline for a book I’m self-publishing. And if I sit around doing nothing, not only will I go crazy, but I’m stalling my career.

Until next time!