fiction

The Business Side of Things

/ emhardenburger / 3 Comments

It’s writers conference week!! I am not nearly as prepared as I should be, but (as I like to remind myself) it is only Tuesday, so I have plenty of time to prepare! I didn’t post here yesterday because I was out of the office for the day running errands; one of the stops I had to make was picking up my new author’s business cards. I had not even thought of the concept of having a card if you are an author, but I stumbled across the tip while reading up on preparing for a writer’s conference and was shocked I hadn’t thought of it earlier myself. I fully expect to meet lots of new people this Saturday and now they will have an easy way to remember me!

My good friend and graphic designer, Michaela, created the cards’ design for me and they are perfect! The only thing I stressed about was whether or not to include the titles of the next two novels in the trilogy since Capacitance is the only one finished as of now. Ultimately, I decided to include all the titles so I won’t have to go through reprints every time I finish another book. Besides my personal information, I included a photo of myself on one side of the card–I think this is a great way to make myself memorable because there will be a face matched to a name. I am terrible at names, and this is a fairly common problem, especially at a conference so the picture should assist those people who, like me, are not the best at committing names to memory!

I love them! What do you guys think?

I love them! What do you guys think?

Now it’s back to prepping–I really need to perfect my “hook sentence” and pitch! If anyone has any tips for attending a writers conference, I welcome your suggestions!

Optimism

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To continue the past couple day’s unintentionally alliterative title choices, today I am focusing on another “O” word: optimism. I will admit, this is not a concept I have been overwhelmed with this week–researching agents whose tone comes off as intimidating at best and reading blog posts of authors lost in a post-query depression makes optimism about the whole process a little hard to swallow.

However, maybe because it’s Friday and the living is a little easier with the weekend coming up, I am feeling the optimism today. I’m sure I will smirk derisively at this post in future moments, but for now I think after the rush of panic, dread and general anxiety of earlier this week I have finally come to terms with things. There are going to be rejections, there are going to be cold silences, but I also believe there will, one day, be acceptance. I am just starting out as a writer, and instead of bemoaning the dismissive attitudes of some agents or despairing that my work will never get published, I want to sit back and enjoy the ride! 2015 is a year of firsts for me–first novel finished, first writing conference coming up next week–and I want to enjoy that, and come into my own as an author.

Ultimately when–months down the road–I come back to this post, I don’t want to scoff at my naive, wide-eyed idealism, but instead be reminded of my confidence as a writer, and keep enjoying the journey.

Overthinking?

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Today was spent mainly becoming more and more panicked as I delved deeper and deeper into my research of the ten agents I have decided to query. It is hard not to get frustrated reading all these interviews and seeing agents speak about the biggest mistake authors make is querying too early. Perhaps I am falling prey to this, but to me, my manuscript feels ready–my query letter, maybe not so much, but it is getting there! I wonder if I am doing my homework too much on all these agents; reading so many of their interviews makes it seem like they go into a query with a pessimistic attitude. Maybe this is scaring me off unnecessarily. So now not only am I toeing the line between too hopeful and too pessimistic, but I am additionally straddling the balance of being over-prepared and under-prepared. As a first time novelist, there is a lot of risk no matter who I query–by default, I can’t list an impressive inventory of published works and accolades. Querying soon feels right, because currently I am very passionate about my novel–maybe it’s time to listen to my gut feelings a little more, and give the jumble in my head a bit of a rest.

One thing is for sure, I need to give querying and researching agents a rest–particularly because I am heading to the Henderson Writers’ Group Conference in Las Vegas next weekend, and I need to focus on prepping for that! I am very excited about the opportunity to meet fellow writers, and get a chance to see the human side of some of these agents that are giving me so much anxiety right now. If anyone out there is heading to the conference next weekend, let me know, I would love to meet some kindred spirits!

#Overwhelmed

/ emhardenburger / 9 Comments

Today I finally narrowed down the list of agents I want to query, and now as I begin to do more research on each one specifically, I am finding myself getting more overwhelmed and a little nervous. Seeing agents’ who have the likes of “Gone Girl” or “The Fault in Our Stars” under their published client belts makes one’s head spin. I find myself wondering “Do I really know what I am doing here?” The lead-up to actually submitting my queries and waiting to hear agents’ response is arguably more tense than it will be after I have submitted my first round as I am second guessing my own capabilities. I am very confident in the quality and marketability of the book I have written, but how will I feel after that first inevitable rejection letter? Will I still believe in my abilities as an author?

Conversely, I also am nervous about the possibility of success–like stepping off of a roller coaster or drinking too much coffee too quickly, the possibility of success is a major head rush. Obviously this is a better kind of overwhelming sensation than the fear of rejection, but it is just as intense. It would be surreal to accomplish this lifelong dream at such a young age. One thought is clear in my mind through all the spinning emotions–it is paramount to toe a delicate balance between fear of getting rejected and over-confidence at being accepted and published. I don’t want to get my hopes up, but I don’t want to cast aside all hopeful optimism either.

Maybe–scratch that, certainly–my writing won’t be for every agent, but that doesn’t mean I should lose confidence in it; at this point, with a polished manuscript, I need to remind myself that my job is relatively easy…just sit back and let the writing speak for itself.