How much do you want it?

Do you stew every second of the day, thinking about it? Do you imagine grandeur moments of receiving a phone call from a huge publisher seeking to publish your book? Taste it with each typed word? Well, if you’re a dedicated author, determined to succeed, then yes, you do. And why wouldn’t you? Like me, you’ve worked hard to hone your craft.

You prepare a submission, send it off and wait. After a few weeks, most of the time months, a response arrives. Sigh...it’s a rejection. So, do you give up? Hum, your determination isn’t great and powerful enough if you do.

So you join a critique group. After posting some of your novel, you wait for your fellow critique partners to comment on the story. They do and the blinding red splotched across the pages inspires a defensive reaction. Why? Don’t you want to hone your craft? Remember, all the people whom you hope will buy your book will each have a different interpretation of your story. So what do you do?
Give up? Or look through the comments and see which ones are common and which ones are opinionated. You make the corrections and repost. You’re learning and growing with your craft.

Hurray! You’re finally published and the finished product sent off to a reviewer. You wait for what seems like forever. A review shows up on your Google alert. Yes! You zip over to read it and your mouth drops open. The reviewer hated the story. So was your book that bad or was the reviewer having a bad day when she read your work? Time to look inside and see if the problem is with yourself and your writing. It’s your call on whether you’re being honest and admitting maybe, just maybe there’s some truth to the reviewers comments. If not, then ignore it. Not everyone will love or understand your story.

Next, you receive your cover. Omigod! It’s the worse cover an author can have. The hair color for both hero and heroine is off. Their faces aren’t what you described in the book. The colors are hideous. Embarrassed, you rush an email to the editor but it doesn’t do any good. The cover stands as is. Do you accept it and move on or complain and whine until you make the editor and publisher angry?

Writing takes a tremendous amount of discipline and dedication. There are many ups and downs. An author must realize this at the start. If you don’t then the trip down the writing yellow brick road will end up worse than Dorothy’s and Oz simply a mirage along the horizon. Writing also takes some intense soul searching too. For me, writing is humbling and reminds me I’m not perfect. I strive everyday to improve my ability by learning more and more about the craft. Why? Because I want the reviewer to love my story, I desire my critique partners to love my story, I yearn for readers to develop a passion for my books, but most of all, I crave to do the best I can with my talent.

So, how much do you want a publishing contract? Do you step on the roller coaster ride to publication or do you talk the talk but skip away from the walk? Let me know what writing and seeking publication means to you.