Every once in a while, I get to thinking about our blog's name, "The Paper Wait" and how very appropriate it is in this business we're in.
As a writer, it feels like I'm always waiting...
waiting to hear about the latest submissions my agent sent out, waiting to get the contract or the revised contract that will be on its way soon, waiting to hear my editor's feedback on my latest revision.
Yep, there's a lot of waiting in this job of writing. And I try to use the waiting time productively. I really do. But I admit it, I sometimes spend too much time wondering about the thing I'm waiting for. Instead of doing something else productive. Something else that could help to move my career and my writing forward.
So recently I made a list of things I really needed to do. And I got to work doing them instead of focussing on the waiting.
I started arranging school visits. And, as I excitedly await the publication of my second picture book, I went back to this post from right before my first picture book was about to come out. And I used that blog post to make a list of all the things I could start working on-- a whole lot earlier this time.
It felt good to get moving in productive ways. Also, once I got moving, other things got moving too.
I checked in with my editor and she wrote back that my latest revision is in great shape. Hooray!
And after I started arranging school visits, my son's teacher contacted me to arrange for a visit to his class and some older grades as well. Once I started working on it, it felt like the universe was helping me out. Yay!
So, there will always be waiting, but I am really going to try to focus on it less, and keep myself doing the things I need to do more.
(But I still am busy waiting for this month's awesome SCBWI Western Washington annual conference! Now that's a once-a-year treat worth waiting for!)
So how do you wait? Are you able to keep yourself productive? How?
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By: Brianna Caplan Sayres,
on 4/8/2013
Blog: The Paper Wait (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Blog: Utah Children's Writers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: WiFYR, Waiting, Miles form Ordinary: A Novel, SCBWI, The Chosed One, Add a tag
Blog: ACME AUTHORS LINK (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: writing, waiting, Add a tag
While I am waiting for word on a book out at publishers, I've done what most everyone advises - start another one.
I've started it. Barely.
I have about six chapters outlined, more or less, though when I write I find that I tend to add in different details or even ignore the outline as I go along.
Never gone is the specter of that "other" book, languishing on some slush pile or maybe sitting, forlorn, on some editor's desk. So I hope.
It's hard to forget something you've worked so hard on. Hard to get over it and go on to something else that easily, though I am trying.
So, what do you do when you are between books? Besides clean the fridge, eat or???
Blog: ACME AUTHORS LINK (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Two Wrongs, Morgan Mandel, Two Wrongs by Morgan Mandel, Revenge, waiting, Add a tag
The buds are getting larger and I can see a small bit of the flowers, as you can tell from the photo on the left. Still, I can't see the entire flowers. I can hardly wait to see what they'll look like.
How does this relate to writing?
A good book will keep the reader waiting and guessing what will happen next. A good author will not spill the beans too soon, but string the reader along to find out how the character(s) will get out of predicaments and hopefully live happy and fulfilled lives at the end of the book. In the case of a series, the author will need to take care to offer some sort of denouement at the end of each book, yet leave the reader curious about future books in the series.
What kind of waiting game is in your own book or someone else's that you like?
If you'd like to read Two Wrongs, a tale of vengeance and the healing power of love (yes, there is romance included) you can find it for 99 cents on Kindle, Nook, Smashwords, and other ereaders.
By: Gale Sypher Jacob,
on 2/16/2012
Blog: The Paper Wait (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Editor/Agent Comments, Waiting, The Writer's Life, Gale Sypher Jacob, Submitting, Picture Books, Add a tag
(Chapters I and II appeared on August 11th and September 28th of last year.)
LAST YEAR - PB truck story finally gets written and goes to a conference, PB truck story appeals to an editor and she takes it with her, PB truck story is revised twice (based on editorial suggestions) and resubmitted in November. Email from editor saying "looking forward to reading it over the long weekend." (Thanksgiving)
THIS YEAR - Email from editor on January 20th, "looking over it now . . . more thorough response soon."
Okay, so what explains nearly a month of silence?
I figure there are three possibilities:
1. My story is circulating among the editors.
2. It's sitting at the bottom of a pile, buried by more urgent business.
3. I didn't hit the mark with revisions and the editor is putting off writing a rejection letter.
QUANDARY - Do I email her now, or do I wait, wait, wait some more?
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By: Kristi Holl,
on 8/15/2011
Blog: Writers First Aid (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: perseverance, waiting, work in progress, patience, Add a tag
For you, what is the hardest part of writing? Getting started? Making time? Finding ideas, or maybe dealing with rejection?
Perhaps the hardest part is the endless waiting that goes with this profession. You wait for word from a critique partner, then an editor or agent. When a book comes out, you wait for reviews and reader reaction and sales figures.
The question isn’t whether you will have to wait during the publishing process. You will. It’s a fact, no matter who you are. The question is how you will wait. Waiting involves more than entertaining yourself (with blogging, reading, watching movies, talking on the phone, or eating out) to make the time pass with less stress.
Ingredients of Waiting
If you want to survive in this thing we call the writing life, your waiting has to be different. While it’s a difficult skill to learn, you need to wait patiently, productively, and expectantly. Here’s what Webster’s has to say…so think about these traits in connection to your writing life.
Patiently: bearing pains, suffering, and trials without complaint; manifesting forbearance under provocation or strain; not hasty or impetuous; steadfast despite opposition, difficulty, or adversity.
Productively: having the quality or power of producing, especially in abundance; yielding results; continuing to be used in the formation of new words or constructions.
Expectantly: looking forward to something with a high degree of certainty; usually involves the idea of preparing or envisioning; much more than wishful thinking
Honest Self-Assessment
Is that how you wait to hear from an agent or editor? Are you uncomplaining (to yourself, your critique group, your family, your blog readers)? Are you steadfast, not making hasty decisions (like sending angry emails or posting nasty comments in discussion groups)? Do you show forbearance under the strain? Then you wait patiently.
Do you work on other projects while you wait? Do you continue to study and go to your critique group? Do you refuse to sit and not write until you hear the fate of your current manuscript? Do you focus on the current work-in-progress, giving it your undivided attention? Then you wait productively.
Do you have a clear vision of where you want to be as a writer five years from now? A year? A month? Do you work hard and work consistently on your craft, expecting to improve steadily over time? Even while you wait, are you preparing yourself physically and mentally to be the writer you’ve always wanted to be? Then you wait expectantly.
Be a Professional
Wannabe writers complain when editors and agents don’t respond within a week. Wannabe writers won’t write another word until they sell their current manuscript. Wannabe writers continually tell themselves and others that the odds are terrible and they’ll never sell anything.
Professional writers don’t like waiting either–nor do they always like the answer that comes. But they don’t waste the waiting time. They use it to write and grow and move ahead.
Waiting well is a skill you can acquire. You (and everyone in your environment) will be happier if you learn this skill. Don’t let waiting times–no matter how long they drag on–cause a setback in your writing.
If waiting well is a problem for you, don’t just read this post, agree mentally, and move on with you
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By: Kristi Holl,
on 6/24/2011
Blog: Writers First Aid (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Uncategorized, encouragement, perseverance, success, waiting, Add a tag
Okay, you prepared (Stage One). You explored your options (Stage Two). You got started (Stage Three). Now you’re ready for Stage Four of “The Five Stages of Success”, where you survive and thrive.
Start-Up Speeds
You might have had a very fast start. That would be the writer who published the first thing he submitted, or his first novel was a Newbery Honor Book. These overnight successes are at the extreme end of the bell curve.
The other extreme end of the “survival and growth” stage is where you find the most dedicated, determined writers. They sell articles about “how I made my first sale on my 239th submission” or they sell a book they’ve been working on diligently for twenty years.
Average Writers
Most of us fall somewhere in the middle. This stage is the most challenging, partly because it’s usually the longest. There is a lot to learn about the writing business, and improving one’s writing craft simply takes time. If you know that and truly understand it, you will enjoy this stage of your success so much more.
It shouldn’t be rushed through. Try to resist society’s “instant gratification” message when it comes to your writing. More and more, I’m receiving emails from new writers saying, “I haven’t had a response in two months from a publisher. I shouldn’t have to wait to be published!” And I think, Why not?
Writers for centuries have had to wait and practice and revise before being published. And thank goodness they did! Even writers like Jane Austen didn’t write early drafts that were very good. So don’t get in a rush. All you will accomplish by that attitude is getting material self-published that is way less than your best is going to be. Nearly everyone I hear from who did this regrets it later.
Growth is Fun
So where’s the success in this stage if it takes such a long time?
I believe there are dozens and dozens of mini-successes spread throughout this stage. They include things like:
- finishing your first book
- attending a conference
- making a new writing friend
- small sales and large sales–celebrate each one!
- being asked to speak to kids or librarians
- the years your income taxes reflect “black” instead of “red”
- good reviews
- book signings (whether you sell many books or not)
- autographing books for your friends and family
- and so many more!
During this “surviving and growing” stage it’s easy to get fixated on all the things you can’t do yet. Don’t forget to notice–and celebrate–that you ARE making it! You are growing. You are getting there, step by step.
One Regret
If I could do one thing over in my writin
By: Bruce Black,
on 10/31/2010
Blog: wordswimmer (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: patience, waiting, Add a tag
Waiting for the next wave isn’t just waiting.You sit in the water poised, active, watchful.You’re set to start swimming as soon as the wave comes in.You sit there frustrated or upset about not swimming yet, not catching a wave, or maybe you're a bit impatient.But that’s what waiting for a wave is all about: learning to cultivate patience.To write, you need to develop the ability to sit and watch
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By: Shelli,
on 10/13/2010
Blog: Faeriality (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Writing, publishing industry, Random, waiting, Add a tag
It seems in this business we are constantly waiting for something:
waiting to finish
waiting for beta reader
waiting for feedback
waiting for agent
waiting for editors
waiting for emails
waiting for computer to be fixed
waiting for conferences
Sometimes the "waiting" gets to me. To where I just want to scream.
Here are all the things I do while waiting....
organize closets
go through kids old clothes and pack up small ones
clean
complain
surf (the internet though I guess surfing on the coast of CA would be nice too)
Talk on the phone
Make new "friends" on Facebook
Blog
Tweet
organize closets...again
read...read...read
work on next book
catch up on TV
play with kids
check email
check other email
decide to cook a homemade meal
burn homemade meal
order meal
make picture albums (or at least 1/2 of one)
curse industry for being so dang slow
write another book
line edit past books
read old rejection letters
burn old rejection letters
Come up with 10 reasons why I still need to wait
organize closets
"research new book" - which really means surf Internet (hey - it adds 1 more thing to my list.)
mail out prizes that were won a month ago
catch up on Bookanistas posts
organize kitchen drawers
catch up on laundry
obsess over Publishers Marketplace
obsess over statcounter
and then.....
wait some more.
What do you do while you are waiting for something to happen?
By: donna,
on 12/3/2007
Blog: Donna Farrell (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Posted on 12/3/2007
Blog: Picture Bookies Showcase (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Posted on 12/3/2007
Blog: Picture Bookies Showcase (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Anette Heiberg, waiting, Add a tag
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By: Chris Barton,
on 12/20/2007
Blog: Bartography (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Project_J.R., Cybils, Socialit, Waiting, The_Day-Glo_Brothers, Add a tag
The shortlist of Cybils nonfiction picture book finalists, which I'll help judge.
Official word that publication of The Day-Glo Brothers is 12 months away, at which point I'll start working in earnest on a full-fledged author website. (My wife, by the way, has been justifiably raving about this one.)
An editor's verdict on J.R.
The posting of the complete schedule at the Texas Library Association conference.
After the holidays, when I'll try to convince some of my local author friends to let me tag along on their school visits.
The right time to pick the brains of the librarians at the elementary school just down the street.
The right time to try my hand at writing a "Cadenza" for Horn Book.
The right time to pitch a children's nonfiction panel for the 2008 Texas Book Festival.
The right time...
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By: Jennifer Thermes,
on 2/15/2008
Blog: Art, Words, Life (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: publishing, writing, waiting, Add a tag
Yep... kind of what publishing feels like some days, too....
Here's an excellent post about writing and waiting over at Kristi Holl's blog that helps put it in perspective. I might have to wallpaper my studio with this...
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By: Debbie Ridpath Ohi,
on 2/15/2008
Blog: Inkygirl: Daily Diversions For Writers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: acceptance, letter, mail, mailbox, waiting, writer, writing, Diversions: comics, Add a tag
By: Chris Barton,
on 11/30/2008
Blog: Bartography (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Waiting, Add a tag
Editorial feedback on the fully sketched revision of S.V.T. that Tom Lichtenheld and I have been collaborating on for the past month and a half, which included an entire day spent together here and here.
Several Impostor-ish items on request through Interlibrary Loan. Would-be lenders, please feel generous...
A completed design for my full-fledged web site. What I've seen so far looks so good that I can't wait to show off the rest.
My first hardcover copy of The Day-Glo Brothers.
Time to work on an editor's requested revision of P.O. -- a manuscript once referred to by another editor as "the bomb." (Too bad she's left the business.)
Editorial judgment on my two newest manuscripts, J.R. and Bell.
An update to a previously announced contract.
The right time to announce the update to that previously announced contract...
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By: Mike,
on 2/4/2009
Blog: Sugar Frosted Goodness (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Tattoo, punk, Mike Cressy, preppy, SFG: Love, waiting, Add a tag
Is or isn't it true the opposites attract? What would a Preppy and a Punker have in common except their love for one another?
By: Chris Barton,
on 4/19/2009
Blog: Bartography (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Waiting, Add a tag
I’m always waiting on something, but at least — for the most part — I’m waiting on different stuff than I was last time. Including:
A few text corrections in the otherwise amazing-looking galleys for Shark Vs. Train.
My next meeting to discuss the new title and the graphic approach that my editor and I will be using for my upcoming YA nonfiction book with Dial Books for Young Readers.
Reactions to the review copies of The Day-Glo Brothers now making their way out into the world.
Word from an editor on the (fingers crossed) next step for my well-received revision of my manuscript P.O.
Submissions of a couple of biography manuscripts, just as soon as the right editors are identified.
Feedback from my agent on a third biography manuscript.
Bolt-from-the-blue inspiration for a new picture book manuscript I’m working on. Failing that, actual work on the thing. By me, I suppose.
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By: Caroline Starr Rose,
on 10/27/2009
Blog: Caroline by line (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: good news, agents, waiting, Add a tag
I've gotten several agent letters that open with warm words. What I've never experienced before was one that kept them up the whole way through!
Dear Caroline,
I read MAY B this weekend, and I love it. The language is beautiful, it's page-turning, and there are so many wonderfully emotional moments. I'd love to talk with you about it sometime this week. Would Wednesday or Thursday work? Let me know.
I will keep all of you posted. Natalie, I have to thank you again for your amazing insight and direction. This new ending is so much stronger than what I had before.
One step closer...
This post is part of Steady Mom's 30 Minute Blog Challenge.
Blog: Joe Silly Sottile's Blog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: kids, Poetry Friday, books, funny, reading, poetry, poems, waiting, fesitval, Add a tag
I was going nuts waiting because there was a chance they wouldn't come, and I would have no new book. So to curb my insanity I took out a yellow legal pad and a pencil, and I started to write about my ordeal of waiting. I purposely made it long because I remember a long poem in FREE TO BE YOU AND ME about "Housework" that was delightfully long and boring, just like housework. And I used the "and" numerous times. Some writers might even say "a lot."
My books did come, and I sold 40 of them at the book festival the next day. Here's the poem...
A Box of Books
~ Joe Sottile
A box of books will arrive today.
The air is cold and crisp.
The skies are sunny and clear.
But it’s below 50 degrees.
I rake and rake because…
A box of books will arrive today
and I must keep busy-busy so that
I don’t spend every second dwelling
on the contents of that box
that the UPS truck will bring.
A box of books will arrive today
with a feeling of Christmas tucked inside
and gifts galore from floor to ceiling,
but this box contains the same present
again and again, 25 in all.
A box of books will arrive today
and I can’t wait to rip open the box
and run my fingers over each one.
I just hope the truck isn’t late
and day doesn’t turn into night.
A box of books will arrive today
if I am patient and steadfast.
And then I'll be ready for the book festival
at the local community college
with 48 illustrators and authors.
A box of books will arrive today,
and there will be more than 400 books to browse
at the College Center, including mine,
if only it arrives on time.
I am patiently waiting, patiently waiting.
A box of books will arrive today,
which will be my golden key
to the Rochester Children’s Book Festival
and all of the amazing hands-on events.
I want my picture with Clifford's Big Red Dog.
A box of books will arrive today.
It is getting kind of late.
The kid inside of me is worried.
The sun Is sinking into the horizon.
Where is that Big Brown Truck?
A box of books will arrive today,
but I am in the bathroom getting stomach medicine
instead of creating stacks of colorful leaves.
What is that I hear rumbling up the driveway?
To the window I run! To window I run!
A box of books has arrived today!
“Hurrah!”
“Hurrah!”
“Hurrah!”
“Thank God! Thank God!"
I will get my books.
I will hug this man.
I will thank him for his speedy delivery.
Now I have a new book for my readers!
A new book! A new book! Hurrah!
By: Caroline Starr Rose,
on 1/15/2010
Blog: Caroline by line (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: submission, waiting, agent, Add a tag
My manusript went on submission the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. As Agent Michelle sent MAY B. off on this first round, she told me to expect to hear back from editors anywhere from three weeks to three months. Sounded good to me! While submitting on my own, I 've had manuscripts out as long as fifteen months.
Still, she reminded me, everything in publishing takes longer than you would expect. Even though I've marked every Tuesday on my calendar from December through March, hoping responses come within that time frame, there's every chance they won't.
Thanksgiving through New Year's is always a slow time.
Getting back into routine after the holidays can take some time.
Is there ever a time in publishing when there isn't something to slow things down?
I told Michelle going in that I'd like to see the rejections that come her way. I've gotten two rejections so far, both prefaced by an upbeat comment from Michelle.
As for the others, I'm still waiting. waiting. waiting.
Anyone else waiting on a manuscript on submission? For those of you who have a contract, how long was your wait?
By: Caroline Starr Rose,
on 1/18/2010
Blog: Caroline by line (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: waiting, Add a tag
It's time for a new look around here! This little guy sits near the gardens at the castle in Spiez, Switzerland.
He's not writing or reading, but waiting? For sure. I'm not going to think too deeply about what he's waiting for (was his turning to stone publishing related?). Still, I like his expression. He's content to sit a while.
In a few days, I should have my headshots back from the lovely Crystal Sanderson, my son's former pre-K teacher, and photographer extraordinare. I'm feeling more author-ish as each day passes.
Here's to a fresh start and good news soon...
By: Kristi Holl,
on 2/17/2010
Blog: Writers First Aid (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: healing, psychology of writing, recovery, rejections, renewal, self-care, solitude, strategy, thinking, waiting, writing anxiety, writing honest, depression, dreams, emotional balance, encouragement, focusing, health, perseverance, rejection, support, writing challenges, writing schedule, Add a tag
Rejection is part of the writing life. Writers have always struggled not to take rejection personally. Unless you’re super human, it deals a blow to one’s self-esteem.
“To be a writer is to be rejected. I’m not kidding,” says Rachel Ballon, Ph.D., author of The Writer’s Portable Therapist. “Those writers who stop writing the first time they’re rejected can’t call themselves writers because rejection is part and parcel of the writing game. It isn’t what happens to you IF you’re rejected, it’s what you do or don’t do WHEN you’re rejected.”
You Can Recover
I get concerned when my writer friends and students get so beaten down by a rejection. (And with our struggling economy lately, rejections are happening more frequently.) Rejections do hurt, and the disappointment can be huge. All the “don’t take it personally” lectures don’t help much then. You need more, especially in the initial stages when the rejection is new and raw.
“Expect rejection and disappointments with the knowledge that you’ll recover from them,” says Ballon. “Be just as prepared for rejection as you’re prepared for an earthquake in California or a hurricane in Florida.”
Plan Ahead
I never thought of that before: prepare for rejection. It makes sense though!
Most of my family members live in Florida now, and when a tropical storm is building to hurricane status, they go into motion like a well oiled machine. Buy batteries and food staples. Nail plywood over windows. Make sure generator works. Stock up on drinkable water. They don’t just sit back and hope the hurricane veers off and misses them. They know that the likelihood of being hit by a hurricane is low, but definitely possible. Being prepared has saved their lives and property more than once. And their plans for recovery and clean-up go into effect as soon as the storm passes.
The likelihood of writers being rejected is about 100%–much worse odds than destruction from an earthquake or hurricane. But how many of us have a plan for recovering from that particular professional “disaster”? Not many, I’m guessing. But we should have. We know it’s coming from time to time. And I wonder if we wouldn’t respond better if we planned for it.
Strategy
How do you plan for the day-perhaps after months of hopeful waiting or interested nibbles-when your story or novel or proposal is rejected? How can you prepare for it? Well, what makes you feel better when you’ve been rejected by someone in your personal life?
- A hot bath and a good novel?
- A phone call to your best friend?
- A candy bar or Starbucks coffee?
- Hanging out with people who do love you?
- Going for a hard sweaty run or bike ride?
- Journaling?
- Curling up with a “feel good” movie or chick flick?
Chances are, those same things will help you through a manuscript rejection. They can be the solace for your bruised soul.
Plan Ahead-Work Your Plan
I think I’m going to make a list on a card called “Rejection Recovery Strategies” and tack it to my bulletin board. And the next time a book or prop
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By: Robin Constantine,
on 5/20/2010
Blog: The Paper Wait (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Last month I wrote about my frustration with revisions – the process I love to hate. Hate because I’m impatient. Love because the scenes that came out of my last round of rewrites are some of the strongest in the manuscript. Even though there were times I wanted to pull my hair out, there was something comforting hanging out with characters I knew so well I could order their drinks for them before they arrived for our lunch date. I had a purpose.
Now I feel as though I sprinted through a final leg of a race and crossed the finish line only to find there’s nothing there. Just me, bent over and panting, sweat dripping down my face and wondering, okay, now what?
It’s not for lack of ideas. I have several, but here’s where my impatience starts to bare its jagged teeth. I don’t want to start a new WIP. I want to be 100 pages into a WIP. Like, yesterday.
The in-between bothers me more than any other part of my process because this is the time when my fears and doubts come out and form a virtual conga line around my desk. Can I really pull this off again? What if I get 30 pages in and find out I’m wasting my time? What if someone writes a better book in the meantime with a similar plot? Besides, none of your characters have fangs, wings, or fur, so how marketable do you think this will be? On and on and on.
I know this too shall pass. I’ll trick myself long enough to get some real work done and lo and behold I’ll have 100 pages, something to work with, new characters who will become old friends. Until then, I’ll just have to deal. I’ll go to movies, read books, work my muscles to fatigue at the gym, hang out with writer buddies and talk about things we writers talk about, and try not to be too upset that Casey James got voted off of Idol last night. Hopefully, while I’m doing all of that, my subconscious will be cooking up a meaningful plot, so when I get my butt back in my chair, the blankness doesn’t swallow me whole.
So how do you spend your in-between time? Or are you lucky enough to have no idea what I’m talking about?
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By: Ann Bryson,
on 6/30/2010
Blog: Ann Bryson (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: waiting, Add a tag
So what do I do in the meantime?
It’s easy to let stress take over and chomp at the bit for some action, but that is fruitless. And it makes me cranky. I can make lists—this I’m good at—lots of lists detailing things that need to happen, things we need to know, things I need to buy at the grocery store. But sometimes the lists get too long and start to seem overwhelming, especially when there are more things “to do” and not many crossed off.
The best thing to do is to enjoy the waiting time. Pay attention to the beautiful little moments that are happening all around. Like the goosebumps that stand your hairs up while you’re in line for the diving board, and the hot pavement under your bare dripping feet, and the clouds that are racing across the blue-blue sky. And breathe. Don’t forget to breathe.
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I read and review books. I post my reviews on my blog, at Amazon and at Goodreads. I guest blog about my books on others' blogs. And I maintain three pages on Facebook: one about multiple sclerosis, the subject of my recent book; one for writers and quilters who like to hear daily tips, and one for a recent local authors and artists group that I've begun.
I don't wait for a publisher response - I submit things like poems, occasionally, but my books are self-published through CreateSpace and Kindle.
I taught for thirty years, and now that I'm retired, I can write all the things I wanted to have time to write. I'm writing them for people who want to read them, not for publishers or agents to like or not like. Once they are written, I publish them and start the next one. After writing six in a row, between June and October, I've spent the last several months trying to self-market them. It takes a lot of time and online self-advertising, through social media like Facebook and Twitter. I don't sell a lot, but after eight months, I'm finally coming up out of the red ink and into the black.
I'll be talking Wednesday night at our local library, and will be able to sell a few more there. I'm meeting a lot of people here in town that I didn't have time or energy to meet while I was teaching out of town.
I loved teaching, and miss my colleagues and students. But I love writing and meeting people this way, too.
http://terrysthoughtsandthreads.blogspot.com
You're very busy! Yes I am busy with other things too... but interesting to hear what others are doing...
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