Tag: courage

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Taking the Leap!

Stick figure standing on What We Are cliff wondering if he should take the Leap of Faith to get to What We Want To Be cliff.

I’ve been so busy this spring doing a major overhaul on my middle grade sci-fi novel. I changed the point of view from 1st to 3rd, fleshed out the characters, fixed overall plot structure, and made the ending so much better. I’ve been getting feedback as well, and doing lots of revision based on that. And I’m SO excited about how this manuscript is shaping up!

My kids have been going nuts wanting to finish reading it. I read the first part to them when I was drafting it during NaNoWriMo, and then stopped because I wanted to wait until it was done. But I’m not sure “done” is a thing in the writing world. It can always be better! Then, a couple days ago my youngest confessed he’d snuck one of the pages out of my office garbage bin and read it on the sly! So, I guess he’s getting desperate! LOL

Anyway, I just sent off queries for it to a few agents. As scary as it is, it’s finally time to see if I can drum up any interest in the publishing world for this project. I know this can take years and 100s of queries, and may never happen, but it for sure won’t if I don’t try! All I can do is keep moving forward, challenging myself, and taking those leaps of faith.

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1st Submissions to a Publisher!

Just had to pop on here and say I did it! After receiving feedback from my awesome new mentor, Stephanie Bearce, I polished up my two middle-grade non-fiction book proposals. Then, even though it was scary pushing the send button, I sent them off to a publisher just a few minutes ago!

The publishing industry is really slow, and I know it could be 5 or 6 months before I hear if they are interested, and I know it is very unlikely to get a publishing deal on your very first submission (most authors collect rejections like they’re going out of style–they’re badges of honor, really, for putting themselves out there), but still I can’t help feel a slightly disturbing, but delicious bubble of hope in my gut.

And something else…pride, I guess. I’m really proud of these books, and I hope someday I get to share them with more readers than just my kids.