Today is one of those days, when you find yourself sitting on a side of a door.....
...and find that there's light in there, it's nearly welcoming....it's just calling out to you...
"come see what's inside, beyond....come, and see" it says to me...
It all lead up to standing outside of it, and through an absolute miracle, someone got the light turned on for you....inviting you to....in this case...submit "Dead in a Ditch" to a publisher.
Yesterday, while doing yoga in the spare office on my lunch break, I missed a call on my cell, which lead to a voicemail, which informed me that a publisher might be interested in my book, and to submit a manuscript for review.
It's a "wow" moment when you get news like this....
me being me, I got teary eyed and might of said something like
"oh my, oh my, oh myyyyyyyyyyyy" until I dialed Rachel, my Editor's phone number and gave her the good news.
Through this endeavor of the wonderful world of writing and publishing, I've done a lot a research, and research shows that only 3 out of 10,000 manuscripts submitted ever get published. I think we can all agree that those are not good odds.
So while having an invitation to submit a manuscript isn't the same as finding Ed McMahon standing on your doorstep with a big cardboard check, it is however about as rare.
...and so....I begin to prepare my manuscript to meet the professional submission guidelines of this particular publisher...
I think to myself once again....
"is it good enough?"
"Am I?"
Cross your fingers, toes, whatever you got...please...
And if they don't like my book, I'll tell myself that Stephenie Meyer got rejected a ton of times before anyone picked her up.....people pass on manuscripts all the time....rejection is about the name of the game. If they don't like my book, I'll just swallow my pride and STILL set out to publish it myself as planned. And then, should I have any luck with that....I'll say I did it, and I did it on my own. There's honor in that as well I believe.
Wish me luck!
I'm going to try to have it in the mail to the publisher by Monday.
Nail bitingly yours,
~Heather Lynn~
Heather, you silly girl, you are way better than good enough, I know your book is amazing and I can't wait to sink into it. I'm so proud of you. Good things are coming your way, I can feel it.
ReplyDeleteYou are silly...you are the best. Heck, if you wrote about all our conversations & your life. They would be best sellers. People would be laughing at how comical and colorful your life and friends are. I don't know anyone that I can sit and talk to more than you and not get tired of listening, laughing & crying. I miss you!
ReplyDeleteDon't judge a book by its reader.
ReplyDeleteYou're a talented writer and I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say that you're going to go far, regardless of where these books take you.
Linda - Hey, THANK YOU! I didn't even know these comments were here! :) So I sincerly apologize for the late response! I can't wait for you to sink into it either, the absolute BEST thing I've found in writing this book, is to hear the reactions others had to it, to hear what moved them, or what they liked, or which character they thought was most enjoyable...so be forewarned, I'll be for sure asking what you thought when you've finished! Thanks for coming by the blog, I really appreciate your support thought all of this.
ReplyDelete~Heather Lynn~
Computer girl - Miss you and our long talks too! You're correct about one thing, there sure are some colorful characters in my life, that inspire so many things, including my writing about them!
ReplyDeleteWait til you read book #2, I'll be interested to see if you remember the parts I ran past you!
Thanks for coming to the new blog, comments are always, always, always appreciated.
*hugs*
~Heather Lynn~
I will, for sure, let you know what I think. I would love to write a book but I just don't have enough story in me. My creativity runs more along the lines of needlepoint and cookie decoration. So...This is exciting for me because we are friends and you stuck your neck out and even if you do only sell ONE book, you've made your mark. But don't sell yourself short, babe. If you only sell one book, it's because the other 7 billion people on the planet are incredibly uninformed regarding your awesomeness. I know you're going to just keep on amazing people!
DeleteLinda Lou - that's so kind of you to say! As I'm typing this comment to you I'm suffering a massive migraine, and even through all the pain in my head, you still brought a smile to my face! thanks for that!
DeleteI hope sticking my neck out will be a good experience not just for me, but for all the people I love as well!
*hugs*
~Heather Lynn~
Blackehorse - I thought for sure you were going to say "can't judge a author by their cover"....since you designed my very first cover idea! :) Which my mom still LOVES by the way!
ReplyDeleteand you're right I'm going to go far, cuz you and me and Heidi are all going to go to Italy together! You're going to be the one going places Mr! and I'll be lucky if I get to tag along for the ride!
~Heather Lynn~