Hello! It’s been 5 months since my last update, but I wanted to send this update when I could talk about querying, and that took longer than expected. And then I was invited to a pitch session with Jen Albert of ECW, a Canadian publisher I really enjoy. So I focused on that and put my newsletter on hold.
But the pitch session was Sunday, so now I’m back to writing you! And the pitch session went really well; she interrupted my plot summary because she didn’t want spoilers!
Of course, she wants my third book, which just came back from beta readers. My beta reader feedback was mostly great, but I still have so much polishing to do!
Which leaves me with a dilemma: do I keep querying my WW2 historical fiction, or prepare my sci-fi murder mystery since an editor is excited about it? To answer that question, I need to tell you about querying.
Because so many people want to be writers and few of them get published, agents gatekeep the writing world. So you query (ask) them if they’ll read your manuscript. And they answer, “No.”
Eventually, you find an agent inebriated enough to accidentally say, “Yes,” and you send them your manuscript. Then, it sits in their inbox until they decide that they’re going to tear apart an innocent writer’s dreams by mocking their bad manuscript to their friends. And if, by chance, they open yours and realise it’s so good they can’t make fun of it, then they agree to represent you.
Then the whole process starts again, except this time it’s the agent submitting to publishers.
Everyone loves this.
To cope with the soul-destroying nature of querying, I told myself that there’s a number of rejections I’m going to get before someone accepts it, and every rejection I get brings me 1 closer to it. So far, I’ve received 25 rejections. A milestone!
I really believe in my writing. I think if someone reads my book, they’ll want it. So, I think I need to focus on getting my third novel ready for this editor, and put my second book on the backburner for now. Because that way I can get my writing in front of someone.
Of course, it might not work. No book is for everyone. And even if she likes it, they might have a similar book they’re already publishing. But at least then I’ll have two very different books to query (and I’m more than halfway done my 4th book!)
And so ends your peek into the world of publishing, where even successful authors barely make hot-tub money, let alone rent in Ottawa. But I knew that going into this, and I love writing. I just want to write the best novels I can and hope I make the world a bit better because of it.
But enough about writing. What else is going on in my life?
Fall is here, though it ambled in late like a drunk. Which means rugby season is over. So this is the last rugby photo until next year! I know y’all will miss them so much.
Also, it was pride at the end of August, and I marched with my rugby club.
I’ve also been seeing some shows with my sister.
And finally, I did some hiking toward the end of October.
I’ve still been baking, but haven’t really been taking baking photos. I need to fix that. So expect baking photos next update!
And that’s my update for today! In two months, I should have a good update on how the polishing is going. So long as Christmas doesn’t burn me out too much, haha.
Until next time!
Payce