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Wednesday, February 16, 2011

So, What Does An Author On Submission DO?

Truth be told, I'd never thought this far ahead.  When your goal is Get An Agent, that's as far as you think.

Know what I mean?  In a nebulous sort of way, you know there's way more beyond that.  It's just that there's really no point in thinking about it until you've actually arrived.  Become agented.

Then it hits you:  HOLYHULAHOOPSMYMANUSCRIPTISONTHEDESKOFEDITORS

And, yeah.  For the first week after going "live," it's pretty much an obsession point.  Obsessed, as in, checking blog stats for editor snoopage.  Obsessed, as in, staring at my WIP as if words will appear of their own accord--because I can't seem to concentrate.  Obsessed, as in, living for the next email ding.

Oh, yes.  Josh has his very own, Authoress-assigned email ding.  Thanks to the wisdom of Jodi Meadows, I turned off my universal Mac Mail ding, because it was turning me into a frenetic spazoid.

(Wait. I think I probably already WAS a frenetic spazoid.)

At any rate, my email is now silent, with two notable exceptions:  Family members get a sweet little chirp (hi, Mom!), and Josh gets the classic ding.

It works for me.  When I hear a ding, I KNOW it's Josh.  And I've stopped jumping out of my epidermis.

Of course, he's enjoying it a little too much.  Know what the subject line of my last email from Josh said?

"DING!"

At least he knows I love him, yes?

So now that I've calmed down, what is it, exactly, that I'm doing?

Why, I'm writing.  I'm as excited as ever about my WIP (the is-it-urban-fantasy-or-is-it-paranormal debate continues to rage inside my brain).  Admittedly, the going is a little slower.  I haven't done my 1000-words-a-day for a while.  But that has more to do with the fact that I am revising right now than it does my distractedness.  Deleting chunks of text doesn't lend itself to large word counts at the end of the day.  So for now, 500 new words make me happy.

So, yeah.  Life as usual.  The occasional "So-and-so is excited to read your manuscript!" from Josh is laid gently aside as I continue to focus on my work-at-hand.  I've already made the mental switch of life-goes-on-as-the-silent-waiting-begins.  And it's okay!

In fact, it's awesome.  I've been writing for years, and this time I'm writing while one of my finished works is out there making the rounds. 

So that's me, really.  And the new blog has me busy, too (check it out later today to read an awesome interview with Hélène Boudreau!).

Now, if winter would just go away forever, I'd be PERFECTLY content.

Okay.  Maybe just a little twitch once in a while.  Like when my email dings.

25 comments:

  1. Authoress, this is so exciting. I'm sure it's probably incredibly nervewracking on your end, but you have to know that those of us out in the blogosphere are rooting for you!

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  2. Thanks for the smile today! May a fantastic *ding* be in your future soon.

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  3. Good luck with that, Authoress. Can't wait for Josh to sell your book so we can, you know, find you who you really are... :)

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  4. *laughing hysterically*

    Am SO waiting for your memoir!

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  5. ...Know what the subject line of my last email from Josh said?

    "DING!"


    That is classic Josh. Should any of the editors suffer a momentary lapse and accidentally pass, he makes rejection fun, too!

    Welcome to it!

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  6. Funny!

    It took me a really long time to be able to concentrate on my wip with a book on sub, but the more you can immerse yourself in something new, the happier you'll be.

    And congratulations for making it this far!

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  7. After everything you do for aspiring writers on here, you deserve some great news and soon! And that "ding" you just heard was only my microwave going off. Sorry, just heating up my coffee again.

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  8. Congratulations, Authoress! We are all cheering for you at every one of these milestones. How excellent that your agent has a sense of humor, too. :) Best of luck to you!

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  9. ROFL -- that's what you get for telling him he has his own "ding".

    Congrats on being on sub. Here's hoping for a quick sale or auction leading to a noteworthy outcome.

    :-P

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  10. LOL! I just know that I'm going to be completely email obsessed when I go on sub, and I'm sure you're handling it better than I will, Authoress! :)

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  11. I feel like you might hit me if I say this but don't most agents CALL when they get an offer??? *ducks*

    :-)

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  12. I'm going to be on submission myself within a few weeks and you make me really excited for that time. But I understand the nerves that must go along with it; that will be something that I'll have to learn to work through. And an agent specific e-mail ding... hmmm... That's a great idea!

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  13. LOL Josh sounds wonderful :) I'm so excited for you, you so deserve it after everything you've done for everyone here. I hope you get good news VERY VERY SOON.

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  14. Holly Bodger, I HATE PHONES. You let me sit happily with my dinging emails for a while! ;P

    Girl Friday, he IS wonderful! And thank you. :)

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  15. You've made my morning. I can so relate to all of this.

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  16. OMG I'm so laughing my arse off right now. When you said that about how you spend so much of your life in that limbo called "Get An Agent"...oh wow that's so true. You don't look past that!! When my agent (still so cool to say, 6 days later) called me I was a lunatic, a babbling puddle of goo for two days. Then she asked me, "What publishers are you wanting to submit to?"

    ....Crickets.....

    I'd never ever ever looked that far. Thank God she's a rockstar in that arena. I'm not quite on submission yet, but judging by my level of email-stalking when my full was out with her, I can imagine I'll have a new facial twitch going on when it happens.

    Congrats!!! It's so odd being on this side of the door. Hope you get awesome results!!

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  17. I am new to your blog and enjoying it so far. Congrats on getting this far. Sounds like you have the stuff to make it all the way. Good writing :)
    ramblingsfromtheleft.wordpress.com

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  18. It sounds as nerve-wrecking as the querying stage... but exciting!

    Thanks for letting us share a part in your journey. It's nice to a get a feel for the inner brain workings following acceptance and the snag of an agent!

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  19. Okay, this cracks me up because I'm so there with you! Only I didn't know you could set up specialized dings. I need to investigate that!!

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  20. I love the "is it paranormal or urban fantasy" debate;) Still trying to figure that out! Good luck with your edits, Authoress.

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  21. Ding! lol.

    Best wishes Authoress.

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  22. Good, good, good luck! Here's to many positive dings in the near future!!
    =)

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  23. Aw, what a wonderful place to be. Love those positive dings!

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  24. Oh, no. You're right, I thought through to the get-an-agent part (mission finally accomplished), but I haven't even started to freak out about publishers yet (we're pre-submission). I'm going to try very hard to follow your lead and keep writing and finding ways not to stress!

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  25. (Well that explains the lack of replies from you, Authoress.)

    (Just kidding. I haven't emailed you in awhile.)

    I'm thinking I should put that DING on my email, too. Josh would love that!

    But mostly wanted to say that I'm glad to hear you are on submission, agent-sister!

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