This month as we head into the season of grillin’ and chillin’, our own debutante Kristin Owens isn’t letting up on her work pace. After years of hearing a string a nos, she’s celebrating her yesses, but warns us all to beware.
Magic Beans Don’t Pay the Rent
As a freelance writer, I’m constantly searching out opportunities. Not just to write, but to be paid to write. In money, not magic beans. For aspiring writers, freelancing is a great way to learn about craft and business. However, I would not recommend it to boost your self-respect or net-worth. It can be horrifically humiliating for those of us with egos, or demonically depressing for everyone else.
Here’s how it works. For each article pitch, I come up with a snappy title, describe what I’ll write about, and how this timely topic will fit the publication. I need to be somewhat invested in the subject matter because I’ll research it to death and need to stay motivated throughout the process. If it’s an essay, it needs to be completed and within a specific word count that meets the editor’s requirement. I do all of this with a nagging feeling that not one iota of my time spent on this machination will be eventually recouped.
For example: last year I pitched over twenty articles to fifty-seven magazine editors. I got two accepted. I won’t tell you what I was paid, except that the total sum didn’t cover pedicures for the year. And this, according to my tax accountant, is not a legitimate business expense (I really disagree—if the IRS ever chooses to audit me, my gorgeous feet will magically bewilder them).
Now let’s chat about books. Everything I just mentioned about articles is the same for books … times a thousand. You write a book. You edit the book. You send it to your agent. She smartly returns it and asks you to edit more. You cry. You rework it. She says it’s better. She submits to publishers. Then the NOs roll in with her professional filter attached: They REALLY loved it, but passing because
1. They published something like it twenty-three years ago,
2. They don’t see how anyone would buy it, or
3. It’s not for them, but want to see your next book.
NO. NO. NO. Everything in the writing world is a NO.
Over the years (yes, years), one sadly becomes accustomed to this. NO is the default answer. Writers expect nothing else. But still, we slog away. Hoping. Maybe even praying. Because we’re masochists. And maybe just maybe, someday … a YES appears. Um, what? You do a double-take. Then reread the email a few times, just to make sure. And when more than one YES appears in the same week, you look out the window looking for swine in the sky. And then a third time … okay, what the hell is going on?
Then The Yesses Came In!
I can happily announce this happened to me last month. And I was completely unprepared for how that felt. The YES’s came pouring in like water over the parched Sahara sand creating a tsunami of happiness (honestly, I can’t imagine why my writing doesn’t get picked up more often, I’m kinda brilliant). Specifically:
· A well-respected magazine with mucho subscribers said YES to feature my book.
· Book stores of all shapes and sizes said YES to book tour dates.
· Fabulous authors said YES to blurbing my book.
· A fancy cruise line I’m well familiar with said YES to my audition, booking me this summer.
· A big writing conference said YES and offered to pay for my travel.
I admit, I broke out a new highlighter and made colorful boxes around the confirmed dates on my old-timey paper calendar. Then I sat and stared at it, hoping I wouldn’t have to use white out at some point.
And that part stinks. I finally got YES’s and my next thought was they weren’t for real. Followed by, someone will take them away. Talk about the shifting sands on doubt. It’s not like I grew up in a family of eight and we fought over food at the dining table. Aren’t there enough YES’s to go around? Can’t we share?
And then, as if I wasn’t struggling already in my new-found glory of being happy, something exploded out of the blue. My independent publisher got a huge YES. Simon & Schuster is now distributing their titles as of June. This means my debut Elizabeth Sails will be available everywhere: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Bookshop.org … you name the bookstore, they can get it if you ask politely.
This is what I’ve learned: NO’s pick away at you, making your skin extremely sensitive over time, while the YES’s hit with a bang, jostling your spine. Both can be uncomfortable feelings, requiring either expensive ointments or a trip to the chiropractor.
But the YES’s will come. They have to. When? Who the hell knows. But all those NO’s need to lead to something. If I could put together a statistical flowchart I would, but I’ve got my emails and requests to send out because I greedily want more. Lots more YES’s.
Congratulations, Kristin! What wonderful news. May your whiteout dry out from lack of use 😉
Congratulations Kristen!