Tuesday, January 18, 2011

There Is No "Aspiring" Here

I don't know what has gotten into me lately. I don't know if it has been the New Year, what with all the resolutions floating around out there, or the fact that I *officially* entered into adulthood (which I measure by leaving my 20's for that oh-so-grown-up world of my 30's), but recently I have been really productive. My career has seemed more important to me now more than ever. Don't get me wrong; it's a good space to inhabit, but it is new for me. I used to treat writing as something I enjoyed doing; I ranked it right next to watching B-rated horror flicks and eating burgers and fries.

Something has flipped in my head and now work is something I have to do (not as in a tedious chore, but if I don't write on I daily basis, then I begin to feel "off"). It's something I'm passionate about. Something I love.

Something I take seriously.

My change in attitude, I suspect, comes mainly from finishing my first novel. Even now, as I write this, it sits next to me, a tall stack of gleaming white pages neatly placed into a cardboard box. It's ready to send out, all decked out for the debutante ball.

But am I ready for the publishing circus? Sure, I'm used to sending short stories out. I'm used to the seemingly endless revolving door of magazine editors, journal editorial staff, rejection letters, notices of shortlisting...

The novel, though? It seems like entirely new territory. Like everything else in my life, I've made a plan:

1) I've made a list all the potentials: agents, publishers, even contests. Anything I can do to get my name and my novel out there.

2) I've ranked the publishers. I am using the strategy of contacting the top ones first. My idea is that if I can get a large press behind me, then that must be better than a smaller press. I know there are advantages to the small press, but I think a bigger press may be the way to go.

3) I've researched my contests. I'm looking for those with good reputations and small (if any) entry fees. Any win or nomination will help with publicity. And, of course, those cash prizes couldn't hurt.

4) I've polished (and polished and polished) my novel and my cover letter. Let's hope it's enough to get mine out of the slush pile and into an editor's hands. *fingers crossed*

5) I actually got this tip from the Horror Writer's Association (http://www.horror.org/writetips.htm): Be a professional in the field. That means acting like a writer. Not an aspiring writer. Not a writer/teacher or writer/mother or writer/anything else. Just a writer. I think this means how you present yourself to the world. I think it also means making yourself active in the field. I do plan to join some associations, attend some conferences, meet some people...all in the name of establishing myself as a horror writer.

And I am a horror writer. No aspiring here.

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