Saturday, September 29, 2012

Facing the Fear of Rejection

Well, I finally did it. After prodding and poking my Sam the Bedlamite manuscript, I decided it was time to get it out there. By "out there" I mean submitting it to the publishers, 12 in total. I researched a bunch about all the publishing houses, and I hope that at least one of the 12 is a good fit for my little picture book. But I'll have to wait and see. This is my first time around the block, after all. I've decided to pretty much forget that I sent it off, and then be surprised and excited to hear back, if that happens.

So far, the whole forgetting that I send the book out is going pretty well. But that may be that it has only be a few short weeks. I mean, I know that the envelope needs to get to the publisher (3-5 days), get sorted (another 3-5) and then sit on the slush pile for who knows how long. So yeah, its pretty easy to stay cool about it right now. Ask me how many times I am checking the mail box each day in about 3 months.

Surprisingly, I feel a greater desire to get my butt in the chair to write now that I have a story floating in (and hopefully to the top of) the slush piles. I guess finally facing the fear and anxiety of rejection has made it a little easier to start getting my other not-so-perfect stories out. Don't get me wrong--I'm not looking forward to being rejected--and rejected I will be--but at least I'm giving myself the change to be rejected. Three cheers for fear facing!

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