New Years Resolution

I am a procrastinator by nature. I know it's not a good thing, but I really am. I will procrastinate just about anything – making dinner, going to the gym, grocery shopping and even, writing. Yes, I said it writing. But the worst one is sending out the query letters.

How can I possibly expect to ever get published if I don't do my due diligence? It's a tough question, but certainly fair and I've been asking it myself.

This is what I've come up with:

1. I'm afraid to succeed:

I realize that this is counterintuitive, but it's true. Success will change everything. I will not longer be a wanna be. I will have accomplished my dream and then what will I have? Okay, I know that this is not logical. When I think it through I see the flaws in my theory, but I still can't help but be afraid.

2.I'm afraid of rejection:

Now this has to be one you can all sink your teeth into – the fear of being told you suck. Everybody hates being told they're not good enough, or that they're not wanted. And let's face it I will get more rejection than success. So in looking at my second fear my first seems even more irrational.

3.I'm afraid I won't be able to do it again:

So let's say I get published and it's a success and everybody loves my book, (it could happen,) then what if I can't do it again. I don't want to be a one hit wonder.

When I look at my list I just want to yell at myself. My reasons are ridiculous. Ridiculous! I need to just get over myself and send the damn letters. I mean really, I wrote a whole book. I edited a whole book. I gave the book to my friends and family to read, then edited again. Then I gave out to more friends and edited again. I had a professor read it and give me notes, then edited it again. She told me it was “ready to shop around.” I wrote and polished a query letter. I did the research to find agents to query. And yet I still haven't sent out the letters.

So, my New Years Resolution is to get over myself indulgent fears and stop procrastinating.

Book Expo Writers Conference

I recently returned from the Book Expo America Writers Conference in New York. It was my first writer's conference and I must say well worth the time and money. I learned more in an eight hour day than I have in a year of searching the web.

Everyone there was looking for the "secret" to getting published. I wish I could say that I went, I listened, and I now have the secret. Nope!

What I did leave with was a true understanding that there is no secret. It is all about hard work.

Hard work is key. Write the best book you can. I know we have all heard this, and we all say that we have but have we really?

I left the conference knowing that I could do better. I'm not saying I needed to go home and start over, but that I wasn't done editing. After listen to eight different agents say the same thing, I got it. My manuscript needed to be a bit shorter for the target market I was aiming for - middle-grade fiction.

So, I am cutting some fluff, tightening up some chapters and then I will send it out the agents I spoke with at the conference. I know it is going to improve my chances of getting a request.