It’s been quite some time since I posted and a lot has been happening.
October: As noted in my last post, I submitted to Pitch Wars, and what an experience and whirlwind of emotions. I didn’t know how I would feel about it, but what I gained from the experience still surpassed my expectations. I made new friends, joined in on the daily Instagram/Twitter games, and opened up about my writing a lot more.
I have also been struggling with whether I want to traditionally publish or self-publish. So I sent out about twenty queries. I had a couple of thoughts about the rejections I received, but nothing solidified since they were all form rejections. One of my personal struggles was my opening chapter. Beta readers hadn’t specifically called it out, but it scratched at the back of my mind that it could be better.
November: I wasn’t chosen for Pitch Wars and that’s okay. It’s just another step in the right direction. More importantly, it’s NaNoWriMo and I decided to partake. My first book was a Nano project so let’s make the second book the same. I wrote 50,276 words in November and I am proud of the progress on this story. Again, I joined in on some Nano fun on Twitter and embraced the process.
December: Hello Pitmad! I didn’t join in September because I wasn’t ready. December was different. Because of Pitch Wars, I had a completed synopsis, query letter, and manuscript. I took the day off of work, prepared my pitches, jumped into Twitter meeting new people, retweeting, and feeling positive. Low and behold a small publishing house liked my tweet. So I followed the rules and sent in a submission.
Now it’s the end of December and I have finished the first draft of book two. Currently, I’m planning a three to four book series and I realize that if I traditionally publish this sequel, that I wrote about the characters I love so much, may never see the light of day. Thinking about the author I want to become, the creativity I want to showcase, and the characters I want people to fall in love with, I am closer to a decision on whether to traditionally publish or self-publish. I do have a few queries out and I will wait for those to come back to solidify my decision.
This has been a wild journey to publishing a manuscript I am so passionate about and I will work my tail off to make this happen.