I've said it before and I'll say it again. This business hasn't taught me patience...it's just taught me how much I hate waiting :D
Well, that's not totally true. I AM a little better at waiting, mostly because I know to expect it now. But for me, the waiting is the worst part of this business. And here's a little secret, (for me at least) it gets worse on every step.
See, there's the waiting to get crits back from betas. Not fun. Will they like it? Will they shred my poor baby? But, this step of the process doesn't usually take that long, so over all, it's not so bad.
Then there is the waiting on queries. This is really not fun. Definitely the most hated part of the querying process for me. Don't get me wrong, rejects suck. But waiting for that response....miserable. Especially since there is a good chance that a lot of those queries will never be answered as more and more agents are going the "no response = a no" route.
Then, there is waiting on submissions. These are better and worse. Better in that at least you know to expect a longer turn around time, so maybe the waiting won't get to you so badly at first. Worse because the stakes have just been raised. An acceptance here can mean signing with an agent. Which makes waiting for the end result even more difficult.
THEN, if you've made it past all that, you get to wait on publisher submissions. These are killer. Yes, you know the wait is going to be a bit longer, so again you might not worry too much at first. But then as the weeks, and months, tick by, it starts to get to you. The silent inbox. Your poor refresh button will need to be repaired at least twice. Because now the stakes are HUGE. And the waiting, therefore, is that much worse :)
AND THEN, if you've reached that glorious of all occasions, A BOOK DEAL, you might think you are home free. THE WAITING IS OVER!!!
Nope. You get to wait some more :D
See, rarely will you get to shout your awesome news from the rooftops right away. You'll have to wait to announce. Maybe days. More likely weeks. Or even months. You might be waiting on contracts or maybe your publisher wants to announce in conjunction with something else they've gone on, or maybe you want to wait until the PM announcement comes out or maybe negotiations on your contract are going back and forth. This waiting might seem like it's not so bad. After all, you've done it! You have a book deal! But sometimes the best things are the hardest secrets to keep :)
And so, my fine writer friends, we wait. On crits, on queries, on subs, on contracts, on announcements - we wait.
How do you handle the waiting? Has it taught you patience? Or...just that you don't like to wait? :D
Me..."patience is a virtue" has become my new mantra. It's not working well LOL
6 comments:
The waiting never ends! And it never gets any easier. It does get more tolerable, and I have to say, I've gained a lot in the patience dept. over the past few years. ;)
OIy. The Waiting Game. I honestly thought this was going to be a post about a book. That's a great title. LOL Not such a great ACTUAL game.
I haven't done a query in a long time. Since I'm at a somewhat lull in my writing career as I sit back and really figure out what to do next [another form of waiting!], the waiting is okay with me.
for now.... give me some time and I'll change that tune. :D
The only way I can stand the waiting is by starting a new project that really excites me. If I don't do that, then I become a zombie who does nothing but refreshes my inbox every five minutes.
Patience? What's that? LOL. No, waiting is not happy and such. But it's necessary. I like to think that the waiting=likelier possibility of positive response. Especially in the later stages. NOt that I've reached any of those later stages.
You are so sly. Good post.
You know how when you're on hold the recorded message thanks you for your patience? Well, they're thanking me for something I don't have. And this whole writing thing isn't helping foster that quality either. LOL
The thing about querying, though, is I send them out into the world and try to forget they're out there. Then when I do get a reply, it's a surprise. It's not patience so much as a mental game I play to keep myself sane. ;o)
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