So I wrote a book, the title is Dissident. There’s so much to tell you. I don’t
even know where to start. How about publishing. I had no idea what I was really getting myself into when I opened that word doc nearly two years ago.
To get a book in print, it’s best to go through an agent. At
least for your first book. Querying agent after agent to see who is willing to
represent it. This agent will find a publisher who will buy it and turn it into
something amazing that people will buy.
And you can guess what happens when you’re an invisible
first time author trying to get attention in a sea of others just like you. An
endless parade of rejection letters. Or worse, just being ignored. I read
somewhere that you should expect to be rejected (or ignored) 100 times before
you find someone willing to take you seriously.
Not sure how true that is. But it was scare me away from the
profession for a long time. Talk about a colossal waste of time.
But I also read that those who make it in the industry aren’t
necessarily the ones with talent. This profession is all about survival of the
most persistent. Or in my case, relentless.
So at this date, I think I’m about a third of the way to my
goal of querying 100 different agencies. After about the first ten it became a
game of cut and paste. Each agent wants something just a bit different, but
really it’s all the same. The same questions asked in a different order. Cut.
Paste. Send. Next email.
Except for the guy who asked me what other ideas I had.
Which made me laugh. Because he doesn’t realize that I have well organized outlines
for about 10 more books on my computer waiting for my attention, and about 100
loose threads that are waiting in the corners of my mind for their turn to be
woven into something that makes sense. And beyond that there’s a slush pile of random
story elements that could be something. Someday. So we’ll just put the lid back
on that can of worms and move on.
Survival of the persistent I tell you. Someone has to tell
all these stories. Make sense out of
these pieces. I guess it's going to have to be me.
I’ll keep you posted.
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