First Submission Sent
At the 2016 DragonCon Writer’s Workshop, Jim Minz, an editor at Baen, said his press was looking for more epic fantasy. Imagine my joy knowing I had such a novel in the hands of beta readers. After revising the manuscript per the reader responses and completing another full beginning-to-end revision, I looked up Baen’s submission page.
I agonized for a few more days about what to put in a cover letter, whether my synopsis is too long, should I complete another revision first, maybe I should go back to teaching and forget the whole thing… Breathe!
I gritted my teeth and uploaded my manuscript. The worst thing that will happen is they reject it with a form letter. (Yes, there are different kinds of rejections, or so I’ve been told.) I have nothing to lose and something to gain. Even if that gain is simple experience, it will make the next time easier to bear.
And there will be a next time! Insert trumpet call.
To sum up, I’ve sent in Tarbin’s True Heir to Baen Publishing. I will let you know what happened in six months! Hopefully…
Meanwhile, I’ve organized the next year of writing. Per my business plan, I will complete two books and half of a third. That will put three series on the books. That partial third is part two of Tarbin’s True Heir.
This year I will tackle a screenplay: the first season of the web series my brother and I want to create. The story involves angels and demons and a child with an other worldly father. I am beyond a novice at this kind of art. We’ll see what I come up with.
To round out the spaces in the middle, nine short stories will be imagined and constructed. One to be sent to Writers of the Future and another to Sword and Sorceress. I will have to seek out homes for the rest. I can’t wait until Duotrope is full of my submissions making their way in the world.
Another part of my business plan is a blog a week. Every Sunday I will post a new blog. This is my promise to my readers. Between writing and Girl Scouts and life in general, I always have some adventure to share with you. Now I have to dedicate myself to the routine practice.
So, here’s to 2016!
I am currently reading The Dark Lady by Mike Resnick. I purchased this book as part of a Humble Bundle deal. Sadly, much of that bundle was not comprised of books I enjoyed. Resnick’s book, however, made the buy well worth it. The novel is written from the perspective of a non-human art expert who ends up working for a wealthy alien-phobe. The rich human is obsessed with collecting artworks featuring a mysterious woman who keeps popping up on works created by non-artists across millennium. I can’t wait to find out who this woman is. The suspense keeps me reading when I really should be writing. Let me know what you think!
Read More Books!
Nice to see you’ve got a plan for the year.
If you don’t mind me asking, how do you come up with the amount of projects to tackle? Estimation is always something I like to improve.
Of course, I don’t mind you asking. I put down one chapter a week in my current book project until it is complete. Then a chapter per week in the next and so on. Because I work in full outlines, that estimate was easy. On top of that I think I can tackle one blog a week and one additional, smaller project a month. I’m confident I’ll be able to complete this work load based on my progress in 2015. It’s amazing how motivating submitting your first novel is.