Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Putting it in writing

I also think the quiet out here helps me write
So one of the reasons I've been AWOL lately (aside from the move, the pack, the unpack, the house sale, the other house sale, vacation, and craft show season), was writing.

A few years ago - 2015, to be exact - I got an agent for a novel I'd written.  She submitted the book over the course of a year, but it never found a home.  Agent and I parted company, and I spent a fair amount of time muttering about people who didn't appreciate a story I'd spent years of my life working on, and then I moved on.  Sort of.

Fast forward to October, when I decided that I should, once and for all, see if the thing was worth publishing.  I opened the document and started reading.  And immediately started rewriting.  Things that seemed fine then were glaring now.  I'm not sure if it's because I've been listening to a crap ton of writing podcasts lately, which are really inspiring, but I started having all these ideas about how to fix things that I hadn't thought needed fixing.

I cut 15,000 words from the manuscript without losing a scene or a character, and actually added to it.  I convinced Mario to read it.  He didn't want to, because, "What if it's awful? I can't tell you."  I told him that while I didn't know how good it was, I knew it wasn't awful, and if it made him feel better, then he could only say good things, even if that meant my spelling and punctuation were good.  Thankfully, he had more positive things to say than that.

I decided that I would save the book as it was, and start working on my query and synopsis, which to me are the hardest parts.  I can write long form, but to boil the entire plot down to 3 paragraphs?  That's hard.

Cue December, when I ran across this weird hashtag on Twitter - #pitmad.  Basically, it's a challenge to pitch your book in 280 characters, including the #pitmad tag and whatever tags apply to your form of book - #h (historical) #r (romance), etc.  I looked it up, and apparently it happens as few times a year.  I thought to myself, "I'll do it in March.  I'll be ready by then," and went on about my business.

Fifteen minutes later, I was back at my tablet, dictating a 280 character pitch, and hitting publish.  Because what could it hurt?

By the end of the day, I had likes from 3 agents, which meant that within the next few days, I had to actually complete my query and synopsis and send it off to 3 real agents, not just the vague agent-y idea in my head.

And guess what?  I did it.  Best way to get me to do something I don't think I can do?  Give me no time to think about it.

One of the agents got back to me and requested the full manuscript, which I sent off the next day, after doing one more frantic read-through for typos, wonky spacing, etc.

And now we wait.

But since I now have a decent query and synopsis, I won't just wait.  By the midpoint of January, I want to send out 5 more queries.  Because I can.

And because this is the year that I will finally do this.  If it doesn't get agented, or if it does, but doesn't find a publisher, I'll do it myself.  I've looked into self-publishing, and if I can figure out how to write a book, I can certainly figure out the mechanics of publishing it.

And so it goes.  Onward, people, onward.

11 comments:

Nancy K said...

Happy New Year! Good luck with the novel.

annie said...

A guy I know self-published through Amazon. Dob't know what it entails but it's an idea.

Vicki said...

Good luck! Hopefully 2019 will be the year.

Kyle said...

Exciting! Kenneth King self-published his autobiographical novel All Grown Up Now on Amazon.

L said...

"Best way to get me to do something I don't think I can do? Give me no time to think about it."

There is so much power in this statement! Good luck!

Carolyn (Diary of a Sewing Fanatic) said...

2019 - the year your book gets published!!! Happy New Year!

Kay said...

So proud of you! I can't wait to read your novel!

Watching the events unfold on the floor of Congress yesterday, it became clear to me that it's not simply the Year of the Woman, it's the year women realized that they could stop worrying if they were good enough and just go out and accomplish their dreams. I just know you will publish this year.

Cindy said...

Happy New Year, Karen. Best of luck with your novel.

Sarah C said...

Ooooh...how exciting! I hope it gets picked up and published!! Here's to great things in 2019!

golden star said...

Congratulations and Happy New Year!

badmomgoodmom said...

Good for you! I’m rooting for you