I wrote a book! This is next.
The work of a writer is mostly invisible. I find the process difficult to explain to people who don’t know what it means to work through years-long projects, alone, only to painstakingly query overworked industry gatekeepers knowing there’s no guarantee of getting it published. If you’re one of those people, don’t worry. This difficulty is my bad, not yours.
Let me see. I can’t share any excerpts; that will compromise the process. So what can I share? Ah. This:
My book centers around a small, green box.
I designed it to be a landing place for messy prayers.
If that sounds good to you, please stick around. I’m asking you to cheer me on. Subscribe to my free newsletter to get updates. Follow me on Instagram @slywriter. Consider eventually joining a launch team. This process is going to be long. But if I’m stubborn enough to finish my manuscript, edit the heck out of it, write a book proposal, research agents, and write personalized queries, I’ll be stubborn enough to get it published.
It will be published, and it will be beautiful.
To my many friends who have struggled with their faith, worked hard for healing, and dared to ask the hard questions, this is for you. To the many strangers out there who have needed someone alongside them in the darkness, doubt, and pain, this is for you, too.
I can’t wait to share more. Eventually I’ll update you with the official pitch, title, and excerpts, but for now, you just have me and my small, green box.
Next steps?
Since I have my writing all ready to go, my next step is to get querying. For anyone who hasn’t queried before, let me tell you. It’s like those movies where the hacker types furiously while a countdown flashes in red. She wipes rivers sweat from her face and pauses for one tense second before pressing a final key. For writers, that’s tapping send.
A query is a cold pitch where a writer contacts an agent, carefully following all of the submission requirements listed on the agent’s website. Queries often go in batches. We send some emails out, then wait. Silence. Send more emails, then wait. Silence. Years of work hang in the balance, and still we wait. Research. Write. Wait. Work. Pray. Why do we writers put ourselves through this torture? Well, we love our work. We believe in our work. We dare to hope that someone else will choose to advocate for it as fiercely as we do.
It is possible that I could work my way through my list of agents and receive a whole lot of silence and/or rejections. I hope for better, obviously, but realism tells me to expect rejection. That’s the writer’s way, after all. We know that we must to have a tough skin to resist the “T-Rex of Giving Up” as Scott Erickson puts it in Say Yes. I have a plan in case that happens, but for now—it’s query time. Because there is no chance at a yes without putting the work in. Faithfully, persistently, hopefully. That is also the writer’s way.
Dear friends,
I won’t keep you updated every single step of the way—the querying process is too much of an emotional rollercoaster for that—but I do want you to know that a book is on its way. No matter how the process goes. Good things are coming.
Dear strangers,
I hope you decide to subscribe to my newsletter to get these updates in your inbox. Every week I overhear conversations of people who need a book like this and—I want to share it with you. I’m getting so close. Please hold tight. Good things are coming.
Dear agent,
If there’s any chance an agent I’m querying has clicked through to my website, hi. I really appreciate that you’re here. Thanks for all the hard work you put in for your authors. Email me back ok? Good things are coming.
That’s about it :)
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Thank You
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