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Hey, look at that--we're halfway through January already!
I am here to inform those of you whom I didn't tell personally already that my New Year's Resolution is to submit something. (The full resolution is actually, Submit Something, Goddammit, but I foresee it being a pain to type that every single time I bring it up.)
The manuscript under the gun right now is The Carrion Girl--yes, again, because it's the furthest along and closest to query-ready of the projects I have going. (There are three.) This time, at the nudging of one of my fellow members of AW (not directed at me, specifically, but I think it's a good idea), I made a date at which to get things done: March 1st. By March 1st, which is now a month and a half away, I will have at least half a dozen queries out to my top-choice literary agents and/or publishers.
The steps that preceed the query-writing are getting all the edits done, perfecting the query letter itself, and checking my top-choice list for various guidelines and addresses. I have a box of 100 9x11 manila envelopes for mailing the first however-many pages, I'm dreading but researching the synopsis-writing process, I have a fresh book of Forever stamps to put on SASEs for their replies--some of which may not be necessary, because most queries are submitted electronically these days. (Speaking of which, my next task should probably be to clean out my email inbox.)
Bottom line: I'm ready. Let's do this. You can write for years if you want to, but until you actually put something out there, the whole publication thing won't happen.
There's a weekly check-in thread at the Horror section of AW, which helps keep me on my toes--project weekly goals for all your projects, then follow up the next week to see how you did. It doesn't do your work for you, but it holds you accountable. And for someone like me, it helps.
On a different note, I've decided to participate in the 100 Books Challenge this year. The challenge, if you can't tell from the title alone, is to read 100 books in a year. I mentioned this to Mom, and she went, "Pfft--you can knock that out without even trying." But honestly, I have no idea how many books I do read in a year, and this'll be a fun way to keep track.
As of today, I have read Frank Beddor's The Looking Glass Wars, Jodi Piccoult's My Sister's Keeper, Thomas More's Utopia, and with any luck I'll finish K.A. Stewart's A Devil in the Details tonight. So that's 4 so far. And as I said, we're midway through January.
Wish me luck!
I am here to inform those of you whom I didn't tell personally already that my New Year's Resolution is to submit something. (The full resolution is actually, Submit Something, Goddammit, but I foresee it being a pain to type that every single time I bring it up.)
The manuscript under the gun right now is The Carrion Girl--yes, again, because it's the furthest along and closest to query-ready of the projects I have going. (There are three.) This time, at the nudging of one of my fellow members of AW (not directed at me, specifically, but I think it's a good idea), I made a date at which to get things done: March 1st. By March 1st, which is now a month and a half away, I will have at least half a dozen queries out to my top-choice literary agents and/or publishers.
The steps that preceed the query-writing are getting all the edits done, perfecting the query letter itself, and checking my top-choice list for various guidelines and addresses. I have a box of 100 9x11 manila envelopes for mailing the first however-many pages, I'm dreading but researching the synopsis-writing process, I have a fresh book of Forever stamps to put on SASEs for their replies--some of which may not be necessary, because most queries are submitted electronically these days. (Speaking of which, my next task should probably be to clean out my email inbox.)
Bottom line: I'm ready. Let's do this. You can write for years if you want to, but until you actually put something out there, the whole publication thing won't happen.
There's a weekly check-in thread at the Horror section of AW, which helps keep me on my toes--project weekly goals for all your projects, then follow up the next week to see how you did. It doesn't do your work for you, but it holds you accountable. And for someone like me, it helps.
On a different note, I've decided to participate in the 100 Books Challenge this year. The challenge, if you can't tell from the title alone, is to read 100 books in a year. I mentioned this to Mom, and she went, "Pfft--you can knock that out without even trying." But honestly, I have no idea how many books I do read in a year, and this'll be a fun way to keep track.
As of today, I have read Frank Beddor's The Looking Glass Wars, Jodi Piccoult's My Sister's Keeper, Thomas More's Utopia, and with any luck I'll finish K.A. Stewart's A Devil in the Details tonight. So that's 4 so far. And as I said, we're midway through January.
Wish me luck!
