I have to be honest here and say that it’s been a LONG time since I’ve submitted anything to an agent or an editor. I love the process of writing and creating romance and seem to get caught up in that enough that the submission process got pushed to the end of the priority list.
However, you simply cannot become a published author and many any money writing romance if you don’t submit your manuscripts!
Now that I have a revision process to adhere to, it’s time to start submitting again and I realized last night as I wrapped up the revisions for one romantic suspense manuscript, that I’m a bit fearful.
Submission Means Subjecting Yourself to…
- Criticism
- Rejection!
- Reality
- More revisions
- Negotiations (this is a good thing because it means someone is interested in your book but it’s also a stressful thing.)
- Networking
- Queries and synopsis writing!
I’ve never been a dive right into the pool kind of person. I’ll walk all the way around to the stairs in the shallow end and take my sweet time getting wet. Inch by inch. However, sometimes if you want something to happen you do have to dive right in. Set your fear aside and make it happen. There’s a lot to learn and a lot to enjoy about pushing past your fears.
In order to make the process easier, for me and for you, I’m going to work on creating a downloadable submission tracking system. Querytracker.net has a good system but it isn’t right for me. I want something on paper, that I can look at that keeps me organized and accountable. I want something that is systematized and automatic.
When a process is made simple and automatic, the fear is easier to push past. It becomes a habit rather than a stressful event.
So I’m going to get to work over the next two weeks to create a submission checklist and tracking system to make available over on the main website www.makealivingwritingromance.com.
In the meantime, please share your submission process. How do you get past the fear? How do you make it an automatic and easy process?