Book Four Out the Door

I’ve been keeping my nose to the grindstone with my writing and a few weeks ago I finally typed “The End” in book four. And I’m not going to lie, it took far too long to get this book written. I was still working when I started writing it, so it was super slow going at first, trying to squeeze in writing weeknights after work (can you say brain dead?) or on weekends. Not only did my pre-retirement life have limited hours for actually sitting down and writing, sometimes the creative juices refused to flow within those precious hours. I figured it was because I was so consumed with my job. I thought retirement would find me banging out words like popcorn in hot grease. Exploding thoughts going onto paper. Bing. Bang. Boom. I was wrong.

I finally hit my stride the last couple of months and was able to sit down and write without feeling like the entire process was torture. For so long it seemed those damn characters of mine wouldn’t behave. They wouldn’t tell me what they were thinking or what they were going to do, so I really had to push to keep them in line.

But it still felt good to type “The End”, even if it’s really just the beginning of the publishing process. First I had to complete edits. If anyone tells you they actually enjoy editing their own work, I want to meet them. No…I want to be them. Because for me, it’s pure agony. 

But, I got through it. With the first round of edits complete, it was time for the alpha readers - the people who are reading the book in its roughest form. Those brave souls who look for major plot holes, find my stupid errors (like calling a character a name that doesn’t belong to them - a name that doesn’t belong to anyone in the book), and help me get the book in decent enough shape for a round of beta readers.

It’s hard to explain how it feels to share your writing with readers for the first time, but it’s probably akin to going out in public without any pants on. Not that I have done that. Well actually, I almost did that once in high school when I was hurrying to get out of the locker room to go to softball practice. I had my t-shirt, socks, spikes, and softball glove and was heading into the hallway when luckily a friend stopped me and pointed out I wasn’t wearing any pants/shorts. (I’ll be forever grateful for that one. Thanks, Lea!) So I almost know what it would feel like going pantless in public and I think sharing a new piece of your work leaves you feeling equally exposed.

Because you aren’t just sharing your work, you’re sharing a part of your soul. You’ve been alone with your characters for months (actually years in this case); you’ve created the story, woven plots, written and rewritten scenes. You’ve worked hard and what you’ve constructed is like your very own baby. You’re protective. You want to guard it to some degree…because nobody wants someone to tell them their baby is ugly. But it needs to be done. If my book baby is ugly, I need to know.

While I’m waiting for the rounds of readers to complete their work, I’m working on my query submission package. That means writing a compelling query letter, creating a solid synopsis and researching which agents to query. It’s about as much fun as a root canal, but it needs to be done.

Once all the feedback from my readers has been returned, another round of edits begin to incorporate that precious feedback. Once all edits are complete, and the submission package is polished and ready to roll, it’s into the query trenches I go. Those trenches are pretty much pure hell. I mean, you’re putting yourself out there knowing you’ll likely get rejections. Writers going the traditional publishing route need to mentally prepare themselves for lots of folks telling them their baby is ugly. The key is continuing the journey and trying to find the perfect agent who thinks your baby is beautiful. Or at least pretty enough to take a stab at representing you.

So, that’s where I’m at. Ready to throw some salt over my shoulder, light some candles and rub my lucky rabbit’s foot. I’ll keep you all posted on the progress. Hopefully in the not too distant future, I can share some positive publishing news. Fingers crossed.

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