If you were a bird

Imagine you are a bird.  Not an eagle, but a small little bird like a robin.  You find a place to build a nest for your little ones.  After deciding that big shrub in front of the white and green farmhouse is perfect, you begin collecting items to build that perfect nest in the perfect location.  You collect twigs, shreds of candy bar wrappers, pieces of wiring, strands of ribbons, and are well on your way to assembling that nest.

Day by day, the nest gets a little bigger, a little bigger, until you feel that one more day is all you need, and that nest will be complete.  You fly high and low to collect just a few more twigs, and begin your final descent into the shrubs where your new home is waiting.  Zoom!  Into the bush you fly, only to find that your home is... well, where is it?!  You know you are in the correct bush.  You've been flying into that bush every day for days!  But no, your home has vanished.  Gone.  Now what?

This exact story line plays out in my head every time I have to remove a bird's nest from my property.  Unfortunately for the birds, they choose the worst places to build nests on my property.  One year a bird even built one in the Christmas wreath hanging on my front door.  Umm, no, sorry birdie, that's not going to work.  Each time I wonder if the bird is going to freak out.  Will the bird go bonkers trying to figure out where its home is?  What exactly goes through their mind?  I think I'd freak out if I were the bird and my home just disappeared in minutes.

What would your reaction be if you were a bird?

Overdue

Sadly, this is my first blog post of 2014.  Ouch!

This year has been one of non-writing for me.  Not that I'm finished with writing, I just wanted to put it down for a while.  Though, trips to the library and local bookstores always reminded me that I must press on (didn't Willie Wonka say that?), and keep writing.

For now, I am going to submit old manuscripts to new agents.  That will hold me over while I write some new books.

The End of 2013

I sit at my writing desk and notice the clock reads 9:06pm.  Year 2013 is almost over, and another year passes without an offer of representation from an agent.

This year, my #1 goal was to snag an agent and be on my way to getting published.  But it didn't happen.  Life got in the way.  I look back now and wonder, "What in the world did I do this year?"  The answer is easy.

See, I have many hobbies.  I love to sew, and at times that's ALL I want to do.  It's easy to get swept away in sewing projects.  I also love learning graphic design, and I have an amazing digital camera that requires a Ph.D to use.  Not quite, but it does take devoted time to learn all its functions.  Given all these hobbies, PLUS trying to write manuscripts and study children's books... PLUS having a full time career, house and husband, it's not easy.  But, I must say that I still am not giving up.  I will resume writing more this year, and I'll try, yet again, to land an agent.

Recently, I've been out of the writing mood.  I haven't written a new manuscript in months.  I haven't really studied a children's book in a few months, yet I still dream about getting a call from someone.

This year, I tried querying publishers, and chose two to begin with.  One rejected me after a month, and the other still has not replied.  It's been two months... I don't feel very optimistic, but we'll see.

Regardless, I'll keep moving forward.  Nothing can happen if I just sit home and wait for an agent to stop by my house to see if I'm a writer that wants an agent.  Haha, nope!

I hope the last moments of 2013 find you as hopeful as I am.  After all, hope is what keeps us motivated.

Please join me in 2014 as I continue to pursue my dream of finding an agent and a publisher.

All I Want for Christmas...

is an Offer of Representation.

This round of queries is very uneventful.  Agent responses are slowing down, drastically.  For the first round of queries, I chose agents with very quick response times, and saved the slower folks for last.  Yeah, that might be totally backward, but that's how I did it.  Sue me. {lol }

Two thousand thirteen has been a LONG year for me in terms of writing.  I began the year querying agents, as usual, and attempting to write more and more picture books.  Also, I finally broke down and got a library card to take advantage of freebies.  This allowed me to do a lot of picture books studying, and I quickly learned how different the picture book market is compared to when I was small.

These days, picture books are much more bold.  I see PBs featuring monsters (I guess all the parents got together and decided it was okay to admit to monsters being real), zombies, and other freaky story lines that parents would NOT have allowed back in my youth.  But, we live in a changing world, and that's just how it is.

Although it is always disappointing to get a form rejection (that's the only rejections I have received), I will keep pushing.  I'll keep writing, reading, and finally one day I'll make it there.

More Rejections

What does it mean when an agent rejects your work and says, "We cannot offer to see more of your work?"

Does it mean they do not like your writing style?

Of all the rejections I have ever received, this one particular agent is the only one that uses the impersonal "Dear Author" greeting.  Then, I get the part about not wanting to see more of my work.  Ugh.

Rejections for Almost 365 Days

It's been almost one year since I received my first manuscript rejection and I'm still hanging in there... or, err... here.

Last year, I wrote my first real manuscript.  By real I mean the first story I ever worked hard on, edited to death, researched and submitted with hopes of seeing it in ink.  Though, I hope everything I write will eventually be in ink.

Here I am, almost a year later, with many rejections under my belt.  You know, something I often here is, "Such-and-such was rejected 10 times before they got a book deal."

Really?  Just 10?  Ten is nothing!  If you tell me your story got rejected less than 20 times, to me that is the equivalent of zero rejections.  I'm pushing 50 total rejections on multiple stories.  But, enough of the bragging.  Back to writing...

Back to the Waiting Game, Eh?

On September 29 I queried one picture book agent in particular.  It was the first query with a new picture book that has been in the works for over 6 months.  I still haven't heard from the agent, and he's one that responds to all queries, too.  Today makes two weeks, so I decided to go ahead and query a few more agents.  I queried four more, all of which have the record for responding quickly.  Who doesn't love speedy responses?  Also, my "dream agent" is closed to queries until November 1.  That particular agency quotes a 6-8 week response time, but when I previously queried them it took 3 months to get a response.  Whew!  I guess their mailbox really is overflowing.

How's your WIP coming along?