Good morning, Readers!
Well, today is the day I officially start the quest to get Skylark published. I started out excited, and then have graduated to nervous. Now I know that once the manuscript is sent off, it'll be another three months before I hear from the publisher. So now I'm slightly annoyed.
It'll be three months of chewing my nails for an answer I might never get. If they don't want to publish you, you'll know at the end of the twelve weeks by the decided absence of a reply. As a person who is submitting, that sucks giant hairy balls, but I totally get it. They're a huge publisher and they get piles of submissions daily. They simply can't afford the time to write back everyone to break the bad news.
In any case, I have opened up my Submission Grinder to keep track of my submissions.
Oh... oops! I've already submitted to this publisher... really? I have zero memory of that. I'm fairly certain that I had only submitted it to one publisher thus far. Huh. Umm.... Welp, now I have to go research.
Aaaaaaaaand, I'm back.
Yup, looks like I had already submitted. Huh. Oh well, onto the next on the list, I guess.
Oh, and I was so excited. Le sigh.
So the question now is, direct submission or agent query? An agent can get my manuscript in with publishers I can't get in myself... assuming they like me enough to take me on as a client...
Hmmm.... I have decided to send this to an agent.
Annnnnnd off it goes. This agent seems like a particularly good fit for Skylark. Let's hope a miracle happens and I become agented. That would be weird, wouldn't it?
I mean, I had long ago given up the hope of having someone represent my interests in the publishing world. After all, no one gets as excited about your books as you. Still, I'm bloody useless and horribly disorganised (seriously, though. Just ask the Amazing Flatmate) and some help would be greatly appreciated. Plus, you know, there's all that awesomeness of being able to get into markets I couldn't otherwise.
The only thing is I couldn't find any information on when I might expect to hear from them. I'm going to assume that the standard three months is in effect, and then start the process all over again if I don't hear from them by the middle of February.
Sounds about right, right?
In other news, Human is moving along. I finished my daily 2000 words yesterday, and we're getting towards the confrontation scene. The book is almost done. It'll be the shortest novel I've written, I think. And it will require a tonne of editing afterwards; mostly to fix the snooze-fest that is the beginning of the book. I think it's boring, anyway.
I've been giving some thought to this. Do I self-publish this one, or shop it out? I'm leaning heavily towards the self-publishing option. I have a precise idea how I would like the cover to look and that, if I'm honest, is the leading factor in why I am leaning towards self-publishing this one.
Since that's the case, I'm thinking that I will try to get this one out for next year's Hallowe'en release. I hope. I'm cutting it a little too close, but there's not much I can do about that.
Dear Beta Readers, I'm so sorry!
Ahem.
In life news, my Welsh lessons are going well. As it turns out, going to sleep with them playing has made something stick. I started on the weekly practice sessions after my lesson yesterday, and did surprisingly well, all things considered.
That also might have something to do with the fact that I have repeated the first six lessons a tonne of times. However, I'm moving on to lesson seven today, so the weekly practices will be invaluable for me to ensure I don't forget what I've already learnt.
Also, not for the first time, I would like to sing the praises of the folks behind saysomethingin.com/welsh. They have done a seriously wonderful thing with this online lesson plan. One day I shall donate a large sum to them so they can expand (I'm also looking to learn Occitan, because I'm weird that way). I really should be learning French.
Le sigh.
Close enough.
Alright, because of my querying activities this morning, this post is a little late, and I'm late getting to my lessons and writing. I really ought to go. Before I do, here's a thought for the day:
Well, today is the day I officially start the quest to get Skylark published. I started out excited, and then have graduated to nervous. Now I know that once the manuscript is sent off, it'll be another three months before I hear from the publisher. So now I'm slightly annoyed.
It'll be three months of chewing my nails for an answer I might never get. If they don't want to publish you, you'll know at the end of the twelve weeks by the decided absence of a reply. As a person who is submitting, that sucks giant hairy balls, but I totally get it. They're a huge publisher and they get piles of submissions daily. They simply can't afford the time to write back everyone to break the bad news.
In any case, I have opened up my Submission Grinder to keep track of my submissions.
Oh... oops! I've already submitted to this publisher... really? I have zero memory of that. I'm fairly certain that I had only submitted it to one publisher thus far. Huh. Umm.... Welp, now I have to go research.
Aaaaaaaaand, I'm back.
Yup, looks like I had already submitted. Huh. Oh well, onto the next on the list, I guess.
Oh, and I was so excited. Le sigh.
So the question now is, direct submission or agent query? An agent can get my manuscript in with publishers I can't get in myself... assuming they like me enough to take me on as a client...
Hmmm.... I have decided to send this to an agent.
Annnnnnd off it goes. This agent seems like a particularly good fit for Skylark. Let's hope a miracle happens and I become agented. That would be weird, wouldn't it?
I mean, I had long ago given up the hope of having someone represent my interests in the publishing world. After all, no one gets as excited about your books as you. Still, I'm bloody useless and horribly disorganised (seriously, though. Just ask the Amazing Flatmate) and some help would be greatly appreciated. Plus, you know, there's all that awesomeness of being able to get into markets I couldn't otherwise.
The only thing is I couldn't find any information on when I might expect to hear from them. I'm going to assume that the standard three months is in effect, and then start the process all over again if I don't hear from them by the middle of February.
Sounds about right, right?
In other news, Human is moving along. I finished my daily 2000 words yesterday, and we're getting towards the confrontation scene. The book is almost done. It'll be the shortest novel I've written, I think. And it will require a tonne of editing afterwards; mostly to fix the snooze-fest that is the beginning of the book. I think it's boring, anyway.
I've been giving some thought to this. Do I self-publish this one, or shop it out? I'm leaning heavily towards the self-publishing option. I have a precise idea how I would like the cover to look and that, if I'm honest, is the leading factor in why I am leaning towards self-publishing this one.
Since that's the case, I'm thinking that I will try to get this one out for next year's Hallowe'en release. I hope. I'm cutting it a little too close, but there's not much I can do about that.
Dear Beta Readers, I'm so sorry!
Ahem.
In life news, my Welsh lessons are going well. As it turns out, going to sleep with them playing has made something stick. I started on the weekly practice sessions after my lesson yesterday, and did surprisingly well, all things considered.
That also might have something to do with the fact that I have repeated the first six lessons a tonne of times. However, I'm moving on to lesson seven today, so the weekly practices will be invaluable for me to ensure I don't forget what I've already learnt.
Also, not for the first time, I would like to sing the praises of the folks behind saysomethingin.com/welsh. They have done a seriously wonderful thing with this online lesson plan. One day I shall donate a large sum to them so they can expand (I'm also looking to learn Occitan, because I'm weird that way). I really should be learning French.
Le sigh.
Close enough.
Alright, because of my querying activities this morning, this post is a little late, and I'm late getting to my lessons and writing. I really ought to go. Before I do, here's a thought for the day:
Image courtesy of Fight For Happy on Facebook. Click for link.
Ciao!
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