Writing is a journey, not a destination.

Search This Blog

Monday, October 12, 2009

It Is Finished

It is finished. If only my work is as complete as Christ's was when He said that. Perhaps I should say it is finished for now.

Elementals is written. I wrote the last chapter yesterday. Boy, was it hard not to post about it immediately, but that pesky Rule 2 got in my way. The price I pay for posting in the morning this month.

After allowing my two proof-readers to finish reading and yell at me a little, I will put Elementals aside and pull out Star of Justice. My goal is to review and revise for submission of my firstborn story to Marcher Lord Press on November 2. No special meaning to that date. I just needed a date.
Preparing for submission means several things. For a non-commissioned story (one I wrote without being asked), I must choose a potential publisher. I search for a company that publishes my genre and accepts unsolicited manuscripts (stories which don't have a professional agent supporting them).

There is no point in sending your love story to a house that only prints technical manuals for engine repair.

I also intend to try very hard not to sign on with a publisher who prints books I don't support. You might be surprised how many publishing houses have smaller houses attached that produce pure smut. Evil is a lucrative business, but I want no part of it.

Before submitting a manuscript, be sure to read and follow the publisher's guidelines for submission. These are almost always listed on the publisher's website. Treat those guidelines seriously and save yourself money and heartache. If they want only the first three chapters double-spaced in Times New Roman font, give it to them that way. They will not appreciate your efforts to be noticeable by sending three copies in Comic Sans on florescent yellow paper. They will appreciate your ability to follow directions.

Marcher Lord Press has a writing tips column, and they recommend any writer looking to publish with them know and apply those tips to any manuscript submitted. I will be spending the rest of the month looking over those columns. And praying. I'm reading a book by one of their authors, and I feel like I'm way out of my league with these folks. I don't know that I am, I just feel that way. That doesn't happen to me very often. I would appreciate your prayers, as well.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.