How We Got Here

A few years back, I wrote a book.

Some -- the four of you know who you are -- said, “I loved it! It made me cry! It made me laugh!” Others offered me a kind, “It was good.” I paid a publishing consultant $200 just to hear it was decent but WAY too long. And a published author (who didn't read it) told me to consider it an education and see if I could write another.

So I did.

The second book is certainly better-written and definitely a more publishable size (in other words, not a doorstop). With two books under my belt and several thousand hours devoted to the cause, I started thinking about making this writing-thing more than a hobby. I did research. Research told me to take a class.

So I did.

Research (and my instructor at the Loft Literary Center) told me to revise, revise, revise.

So I did.

Research told me to join a critique group.

So I did.

Research told me my first attempt at a query letter was crap and to start over.

So I did.

And now Research is telling me that potential agents and editors want to see if I can sell this book before they even decide to print it. Research is telling me that I must have an internet presence. Research is telling me that I need a blog and a Facebook page and a Twitter account. That I need to post and tweet.

Are you freakin' kidding me?

I have kids! I have a husband! I have a job, a house, laundry, dirty dishes, groceries to buy, meals to cook, carpools to drive, homework to help with. I spend all my free time trolling the internet for information about agents so I can write query letters that satisfy their specific submissionary needs!

And Research is telling me that I have to be worried about my social status and how many friends I have?! Good Lord, will we all never graduate from high school??

So here we are. I have a blog. I have a Facebook page. And I have to ask that you be my fan, my follower, my friend. Because someday someone might actually read my manuscript and say, “Hey, this is pretty good. But can she upload?”