Hi guys. :-)
Okay, I have been bad again and skipped a few Wednesdays for blogging. I am actually going to have to change the day I blog to Friday from here on out. This is because of the day we have off from college. Thing is, trying to post mid-week is quite clearly proving to be too difficult.
On another note, as Electrostatic Fantasy is now complete I have at last pulled my socks up and cautiously peeked at the world of publishing.
One night, back when EF was still mid-writing, I had listened to an inspiring podcast on the Writing Excuses website and had decided to look into the publishing side of writing. This, I knew, wasn't entirely a good idea since there was no need to know about this side of writing until I had at least one complete manuscript (no agent would accept a work in progress, that's like buying only half a product from the store but for the full price). However, curiosity
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| Original picture courtesy of Chance Agrella |
Don't get me wrong, I have no criticism to flaunt. What I mean is that what I saw ran a small chill down my spine. It was confusing. It was daunting. It made me think that, basically, nothing could be done to breach this field. Swiftly, I closed my browser windows and went back to writing. I decided that my reaction was due to the incomplete nature of my novel. Of course this work wouldn't get in as it was, it was incomplete after all. So research into publishing would wait until the manuscript was finished at which point the whole subject would magically take on a whole new perspective.
The manuscript is now finished. And publishing hasn't taken on a new perspective.
Agreed I have been very rushed with college work and that has provided a nice, legitimate excuse for ignoring the "post-writing" activities of my noveling. However, now that I have no such excuse I decided it was time to face the music. But I hesitated, I put it off. And I realised I scared.
I'm scared about the prospect of attempting to publish because it's a world that is so different from anything I've experienced so far. Granted, from what I've read it sounds as if job hunting and querying publishers/agents are not entirely different. In both you have to make several, detailed and accurate applications, be able to deal with rejection, learn from and improve from feedback and maintain and optimistic and determined outlook. And I was able to survive job hunting and my perseverance rewarded me with my current position.
Honestly, this is really a matter of dealing with something which is completely new. Before I started job hunting, I found the idea equally scary. Now, I think nothing of it.
So now I will begin my first leg on the road of publishing. I can't truly tell you what I expect to find; man-eating sharks, horror game monsters, angry postmen? But I will tell you this, I shall blog my findings and grindings here for sure. :-)
So here's to a new leg...hoping no shark will bite it off too quickly.
