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| Thanks Alex |
July 5 Question: What is one valuable lesson you’ve learned since you started writing?
The I-Word is not too big, only ten letters long. Yet it carries one of the biggest, scariest emotions writers deal with every day. Here are three questions that cause my insecure quotient to rise.
Is this book ready to submit?
The first question is huge. You have only your own intuitions to follow until you offer it up for readers and feedback. And you must do that. Others will see the positives and the negatives. They’ll call attention to things you missed while tending to the big picture. They may open up new threads that escaped your notice. And they’ll help you answer that first question.
Who should I submit to?
Today the choices are many: sub to an agent, sub to a small press or do it yourself. Each of these choices takes you down a different road, and before you start, you have no idea what that road will be like. It’s only after you look back that you either regret or cheer your decision.
How should I submit it?
Time was that you queried, then waited. When the rejection came, you repeated that process. Today there are all kinds of ways to sub your manuscript. And . . .drum roll here. . .the Twitter Pitch Party is one of the most recent successes in the sub process.
Hi Toi. Great post. I like all your questions and it's scary make that decision but On the flip side, it's a great learning opportunity too. I hope you have a lovely week 🙂
I was going to participate, but I've been wavering lately. I should take a look at the line up and see if there's anyone who speaks to me.
The party sounds like fun!
Definitely can be hard to know when a book is ready. Looking back it is always easier to see if a decision was good or bad. 🙂
~Jess
It can be really hard to know when it's ready, but great CPs go a long way to pointing you in the right direction.
I've really been chewing on this question ever since I started editing Xenophobia.
Is it ready…? That sounds scary. *shivers*
It's an exciting time to be a writer. Today, writers have so many options. But I wonder if that makes the choice easier or harder…
Sometimes insecurity can creep in when a writer seeks too many opinions on a query or manuscript. You'll never please 100% of your potential readership, but you can get it to as polished of a state as possible. Before I decided to go indie, I had gotten a query to a point where everyone loved it and felt it was very strong. Then I submitted it when I won a query critique contest, and suddenly this editor thought it was horrible and wanted me to change a lot of the things everyone else had praised. It's like having too many cooks in the kitchen.
Getting feedback from honest, trustworthy readers certainly helps with this insecurity. Even with their thumbs up, it can be scary, and you just have to put on your brave face and try.
Reaching that 'ready' mark can be scary. Then comes the part where you share it for feedback; that's a whole different kind of scary.
I get stuck at 'is it ready?' which means I over-edit. I'm determined not to do that with my current WIP. Twitter pitches just confuse me – I don't fully understand them, although I haven't really looked into them.
I hope I'm ready for the pitch, but that question is still up in the air. Queries are great practice no matter when or how you get the chance!
I'll be visiting the pitch but have nothing ready to submit, so it will just be a visit to see who all is there.
And your three questions are so true.
Twitter seems to be a great way of getting your work out there.
http://www.ficklemillennial.com
Hey Lee,
Yep, here I is.
You, my amazing author friend, pose some interesting thoughts on your take on things.
Penny's gonna' pitch her pup tent and the Twitter party.
Yep, still your starstruckest fan,
Gary
Submissions are never easy, but I find that it helps to put as many feelers out there as possible. The better the odds something will come your way.
i liked those self-posed questions… here are my answers for me
when is my book ready to submit? when i'm sick of editing it (and it flows and all i'm doing is nit picking and second guessing myself!)
who to? research, send a well-crafted, honed for the receiver pitch to everyone looking for my genre
what to pitch? query needs to hook them like you want the back of a book to hook a reader – not too many details, just a few juicy tidbits to whet the appetite! cheese on a hook! ha haha
and thanks for volunteering to promote Two Princesses. I'll put stuff together and send soon!
also enjoyed "reasons not to write" post – so funny, yet so true!
Tara Tyler Talks
I'm fascinated by twitter pitches. Now I just need a completed manuscript. 🙂
I’ve had no rejection letters, but that is only because I’ve never submitted anything – I’m far too insecure. I will also be observing the Twitter Pitch Party to see what goes on.
I'm hoping to be able to observe the Twitter Pitch Party just for the fun of it.
I could wallpaper my room with rejection letters. But that's not going to stop me as I have a really cool new series in the works. IMHO the best I've done so far.
I've never taken part in a Twitter pitch party but I think it's awesome IWSG is doing one. You admins are setting up so many amazing things for our group!!
I'm not on Twitter. I would need lessons in order to participate in this event, but it sounds like a great way to reach agents. Best of luck.
I'll be having to make some of those decisions soon and I'm not looking forward to it. (Although I am looking forward to the book being finished!) Too many decisions in areas where I have little expertise.
There's some really good advice there. I guess the message is, don't look back and wonder "what if I'd…"
The Twitter pitch party is a great idea – I'm not quite ready to pitch yet, but good luck to those who are.
Hi Lee – this is going to be fun and a learning process for those of us not ready to pitch … but keep writing, so there is a series ready to add in to the mix … cheers Hilary
The Twitter pitch party should be awesome
Hi, Lee…
Thanks for the reminder of the different ways to submit for publication and for the TWITTER PITCH…. Although it takes time and major effort, we as writers do have choices….
Those questions… I think there are as many answers as there are writers. At least, the submission process has moved from paper to the e-format. Much cheaper.
That first question for me can be a cause of delay. I worry I didn't edit enough or have enough beta readers and the story is really awful.
I'm not pitching but the pitch contest sounds like a fantastic opportunity. Maybe another time I'll be ready to try it.
Remember all the money that was spent on postage and paper when someone wanted to see the entire manuscript?
It's wonderful there are so many choices now. I do wonder if that makes it harder though (making more decision). LOL
I'd love to pitch but my book is definitely not ready! If I know that I still need to work on it, without even getting feedback yet, then it's not even close. Maybe someday.
If you make the wrong choice, next time you make a different one. It's all a learning process.
This dinosaur doesn't play twitter (or FB) but wishes my writing heroes lots and lots of success.
Great tips, C.Lee! I may or may not pitch – it will depend on whether I feel like one of my projects is ready by then.
Excellent Lee. I especially like the last I. How should I submit it? Because there are so many ways open these days. We have to think outside of the box.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat G at Everything Must Change
I'm juggling the where do I submit to for one of my books right now. I have a bit of a plan.
I'm not pitching, but I'll be watching on. 🙂
Insecurity is right! Writing is so competitive and crammed with so many participants (see all the books for sale on Amazon) that one can feel overwhelmed by all the challenges. Not sure that insecurity can completely be eliminated, so I just hold my nose and leap into the waters!
Great post, by the way, and nice to meet you. 🙂
Looking forward to the Pitch Party – hoping I've got something ready to go 🙂
All important questions.
The twitter party sounds great. I am working on something although it's short and not quite ready so I'll see how appropriate it is and how ready it is at the time. Sounds a great idea though.
Shah X
http://shahwharton.com
The twitter pitch party should be grand indeed! Lots of paths these days.
Any one of those question can stop a heart. 🙂
Anna from elements of emaginette
So true, yet it's interesting how time gradually helps us decide the path that's best for us.
The Twitter Pitch sounds pretty exciting. I'm trying to get ready!
It's true. It's hard to know which path is best. When I encounter someone looking into publishing, I always have to lay out the options for them, and help flesh out what will work best for them. It's a big bad industry, eh?
I will pitch and hope I don't get lost. Still figuring out how things work in Twitterland.
I've done queries in the past. It's definitely nerve-wracking and can make you feel insecure, but you have to try!
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
I'd love to try the pitch, even worked up a possible pitch. But I'm not going to be available. 🙁
Nope, not pitching but sounds interesting. I am not there yet.
' Juneta @ Writer's Gambit
I'm not on Twitter, but I wish everyone who participates good luck! 🙂
I entered a few twitter pitch parties recently and got some love from a few agents! It really makes your day when you can get ahead of the slush pile.
What's so wonderful for writer's today is all the options that we have for submitting our work. Good Post, Lee.
If you make the wrong choice, you still have two other options, too. Much better than it used to be.
Our Twitter pitch party is going to be great opportunity for many. And yes, a lot of fun!