After six years working on the same novel (and a couple others mixed in there, just so I can fill up any nagging spare minutes), I am finally starting to work on the "professional/public" persona, the one that all the agents and publishers want to know about, the one that shows that I am, indeed, capable of stringing together grammatically correct compound-complex sentences and still retain readability. (How am I doing so far?)
This is also how they determine if you have "media presence." Can I attract an audience? Can I keep it? Would I be personable enough to send out on public book signings without cracking under pressure, or making the publisher/agency look like blooming idiots for having given me a contract?
All of this remains to be seen, of course. In the meantime, for your reading pleasure, here are my own personal "brain droppings," with my apologies to George Carlin (may he rest in peace). But you're going to have to wait for the first installment. Just setting this thing up has made me woozy. I have to go lie down now.
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If Kate Gosselin can..you, a much more insane, articulate person surely can!! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteoops...I mean sane....obviously I can't write! OR PROOF!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your blog. How exciting. I'm sure it's going to be great. You did fine so far.
ReplyDeleteJennifer, I think it's great that you now have the time to fulfill this goal. I have no doubt you will have the presence and create a great piece of literary perfection :-)
ReplyDeleteSo, since it has taken you 16 years, I shouldn't feel to bad that I've had a book in waiting for four years. Of course mine is a children's book..but hey...that's my life at the moment. After years of "stories out of my imagination"...Anthony finally convinced me to pen one of them. I had so much fun! Now, I just need an illustrator and some money to get published of course!
So keep your head down, the candle lit and get back to work ;-)
Dom, just get your story right, and don't worry about the money. A reputable publisher will never ask you for money. The publisher also wants to control the illustration, so submitting with illustrations is the kiss of death. Do the research on proper format and layout of a picture book and be sure your text is "illustratable" before all else. The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators website (www.SCBWI.org) is a fantastic website that provides all sorts of great info for beginning writers. Do your homework, and you might be that one newbie who doesn't look like a newbie and actually gets a publisher to take you seriously!
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