I've stepped into the ring. Dry-mouthed. Heart pounding. Forgetting all those hooks and jabs I never did take the time to learn. Gloves on. Actually, though, I couldn't find my boxing gloves, so I'm making do with a pair of oven mitts instead. Do you think they'll mind? Standing here waving my fists around in circles, waiting my turn to get clobbered.
Or that's how I feel anyway.
The vision in my head is ever so much more exciting than what really happened.
What really happened is I sat down in front of my computer screen for endless hours, googled things like "writing a fiction book proposal" and "finding an agent," and finally sent off a couple hopeful queries to potential publishers and agents.
See? The boxing metaphor is more amusing.
Now I'm waiting to see if I get an Old Aunt Bertha response that starts out, "Thank you for your proposal, but we regret to inform you . . . ." (Ding, ding, ding! End of Round One!) - or - if I hear something more like Yoda's, "Welcome, my young padawan apprentice."
I suppose either one would be alright. But I am rather hoping at least one of the replies veers more towards the latter.
I don't know if I can say I'm exactly enjoying my introduction to the world of publishing. One thing I have found in my research is a whole host of YA Christian fantasy books I never knew existed before. My favorite so far is Rachel Starr Thomson's World's Unseen from The Seventh World Trilogy. It's free on Amazon if you have a Kindle. (Note: In the publishing world, this is what they refer to as an endorsement. If I could get the President of the United States to endorse my book, I'd be golden.)
In the meanwhile, I'll be sitting in front of my computer, waiting to hear back from Aunt Bertha or Yoda.
