Every muscle in my body is tense. My stomach is knotted and threatening to rebel. My palpitating heart refuses to slow. What has me so stressed out? I’ve officially sent off my werewolf partial. :-O
Dh tells me I must forget about it now that it’s out of my hands. Logically, I know he’s right, but that’s hard to do when I have to work on the book. Goodness, what was I thinking? (Mouth watering…must swallow.)
Nervously looking left and right. I have a major confession to make. The only publisher I EVER submitted unsolicited work to was Ellora’s Cave. Yep, now you know the ugly truth. I have little to no experience querying publishing houses. I had to get out a book to see how it was done. (blush) You’re probably wondering how I managed to avoid this ‘common’ road to publishing for so long. It’s simple really, I entered contests instead.
Now that you know the ugly truth, I’ll understand if you never want to speak to me again. Cringe. If you’re brave enough to look upon the horror and stick around, I could use your assistance. How did you get over the stress of submitting a manuscript? Do you ever get over the stress of submitting? If you haven’t submitted work yet, do you have a plan to get you over that first hurdle? Time to share your secrets.
July 18th, 2005
Jordan, I don’t know. I just do it. I tend to send queries and partials out to several places at once, so that I’m not focusing too much on the one submission. I think that helps.
I’ve also had enough rejections to feel like ‘ah, the worst they can do is say ‘no thanks’.’
by Trace July 18th, 2005 at 1:02 pmTrace is right (did you just send it off to the agent?), keeping stuff out there helps you go “oh well I still got a couple of live ones” and um chocolate.
After a while most roll off your back (not to sound caveliere but you can’t let every rejection cut you off at the knees or you’d–we’d?–never get a damn thing done). Focus on what’s next, what your next plan is (this is where planning and lists helps *ggg*)
GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!
by Cece July 18th, 2005 at 1:29 pmI don’t know that it’ll ever get easy for me. I’ve only got one thing outstanding now (going on 9 months) but I’m getting ready to send a few new things out. And I’m getting nervous just thinking about it. *g*
Good luck!!!
by Joely July 18th, 2005 at 1:51 pmTrace, That will be my next approach with this manuscript, if it comes winging back to me as fast as I suspect. You’re right the worst they can do is say no.
by Jordan July 18th, 2005 at 4:00 pmCece, I didn’t ‘exactly’ send it to my agent.:-/I know the publisher wants you to do that if you have an agent, but my agent wasn’t interested in this book. There’s not exactly a ‘guide book’ for this sort of situation. That’s another reason why I’m so nervous.
I’m ‘trying’ to focus on the next step now. I will submit it to several other publishers after I hear from this particular publisher.
by Jordan July 18th, 2005 at 4:04 pmThanks Joely! Good luck with your next submissions. I have two submissions sitting at Ellora’s Cave and now this partial. We’ll see what happens.
by Jordan July 18th, 2005 at 4:05 pmCongrats on getting it out there. Your hubby is right - all you can do is step back and let it go. It’s out of your hands. For me, that loss of control is the tough part (yeah, I’m a bit obsessive). I can’t fix it once it’s gone. But, remember that no one can buy it if it’s stuck on your computer.
Hope you hear more good news soon.
by HelenKay July 18th, 2005 at 4:41 pmHelenKay, I’m a bit obsessive myself.
You’re right that no one can buy it if it stays on the machine. (Prying fingers off the keys and backing away slowly.)
by Jordan July 18th, 2005 at 5:34 pmYou write, you send it out and you have faith. Rinse, repeat. Sounds simple, but only a same fraction of people manage to do the first part. and an even smaller portion manage to do the second part.
Good luck, chica!
by jaq July 18th, 2005 at 7:23 pmThanks, Jaq!!!
by Jordan July 18th, 2005 at 8:38 pmIt’s all good, Jordan. We still love you. I think you’ve got some good advice already, so I’m just going to say Good Luck!
by Sasha July 18th, 2005 at 9:56 pmHey the hard part is done. Now try to forget about it while you start working on something else!
by Jill July 18th, 2005 at 10:27 pmJordan, I was a member of the losing ‘batch’ when you won ‘THE’ contest, so I know how far you’ve come–and you should be very proud!!
If you’re dealing this without your agent, it must be important to you. Best of luck, hon.
And what everyone else says is true. The only way to make it through is getting involved with another ms, chocolate, and faith in what you’re writing. You kin do eet!!!
by raine July 18th, 2005 at 10:29 pmWell, I might be an especially neurotic case, but I’ve never got over the terror of submitting a book. Every time is like the first time, and I just settle in for the long wait until I’m told that I’m not wanted. I convince myself that the books I’ve had published so far have all been flukes somehow, and that this time the editor will finally suss out that I can’t actually write…
However, despite these feelings of fear, I *do* get stuff accepted, so it’s worth it in the end. The fear is part of the process. It’s not nice, but it’s normal.
The only advice I can offer is that everybody goes through the same thing [unless they’ve got an ego the size of a planet or something] and you’re not alone. Best thing is to just crack on with your next idea and completely forget about the book that’s ‘out there’…
Am having lots and lots of good thoughts for your success!
by Wendywoo July 19th, 2005 at 3:11 amThanks Sasha & Jill!
by Jordan July 19th, 2005 at 1:25 pmRaine, Thank you! If it makes you feel any better, I was a member of the losing batch the year MaryJanice won.
I need to probably explain something about my agent. First off, he’s a VERY good agent. I like him. He loves paranormals and represents a lot of the top names in the business, including MJ. This makes him extremely picky about paranormal manuscripts. So far I haven’t impressed him in that arena. He’s requested a rewrite on one of my paranormals, but didn’t care for the one I submitted yesterday. (Our opinions differ.;) To give him his due, this book is NOT a typical romance. It’s much more of a sci-fi action/adventure that has a romance in it. (Emphasis on sci-fi action/adventure.) I love this book. I think it’s some of my best writing. We’ll just have to wait and see if I’m alone in my thinking.
I’ll be concentrating on the work left to do on this manuscript. That should keep me quite busy for some time.
by Jordan July 19th, 2005 at 1:35 pmWendy, I’m afraid I am going to be quite similar. I doubt I’ll ever get over this fear. I’m sure having something bought on occasion will ease the stress. Here’s hoping that happens soon.
by Jordan July 19th, 2005 at 1:37 pmJordan with stuff like Gena Shoewalters Awaken Me Darkly out there, I think you’re in real good company *g*
by Cece July 19th, 2005 at 2:34 pmWow, I love submitting!!! It’s a game. Play. Grab the ball. Run…to the mailbox! LOL.
by Suzanne July 19th, 2005 at 3:29 pmThanks Cece!
by Jordan July 19th, 2005 at 5:52 pmSuzannne, Are you sure you haven’t had one too many of those ‘froufrou’ cocktails?
That’s great that you love submitting. Maybe it’ll rub off on the rest of us. 
by Jordan Summers July 19th, 2005 at 5:54 pmOnly one way to get over it. Ignore it and work on other stuff.
by Kate July 19th, 2005 at 6:04 pmHitting send or pushing it through a mail slot causes instant PANIC. I’ve only done a few times at this stage but I’m not sure I’ll ever get over it. I even get nervous sending stuff back to my editor.
Good luck with the submission!
by Mechele July 19th, 2005 at 6:27 pmKate, I’d love to be able to do that, but I still have work to do on this particular project. I will not be touching the pages I sent off though. I’d like to keep my sanity.
by Jordan July 19th, 2005 at 9:18 pmMichele, I’m like that too. I worry that I missed something when I send it into my editors. *ggg*
by Jordan July 19th, 2005 at 9:19 pmJordan I have a requested partial I’m getting ready to send out and knowing it’s out there is pretty good incentive to get it done =)
by Cece July 21st, 2005 at 2:50 pmCece, Yeah, that normally pushes me too, but for some reason this week’s just not happening. I’m about to call it and try again next week after my dentist appt. on Monday.
by Jordan July 21st, 2005 at 5:16 pm