So it’s a new week, and a new direction. Regular readers of this column (thanks Mom and the other two of you!) will know I’ve been struggling with my direction as an author since I finished my two trilogies, Liminal Sky and The Oberon Cycle.
I have a completed manuscript for Dropnauts – book four in the Liminal Sky series, but after failing to snag a mentor in Pitch Wars, finding out another potential mentor just didn’t get my work, and getting only one agent response for three Twitter pitch events (who later rejected the work), I’ve been a bit down in the dumps.
Oh how a week can change things.
We’re seeing a turnaround in a number of aspects in our personal lives, which has helped immensely.
But I’ve also been inspired by a friend who just snagged a spot at a major agency – so proud of them. And another friend let me know that one of the big pubs had a small window for unagented submissions, which closes tonight.
So I’m rolling up my sleeves and addressing a few issues with Dropnauts, and prepping it to send out to that publisher. I’ve also been researching agents, and have identified ten as possible prospects. So by midnight tomorrow, those will be out as well. Plus there’s another publisher who is accepting unagented work on an ongoing basis, so I have a backup.
I’m also getting ready to send out my new story to the sci fi magazines out there, and one of my others, purchased by the late Mike Resnick, will appear this month in Galaxy’s Edge. Oh, and did I mention that my sales for The Stark Divide just qualified me for full SFWA membership?
The tide is turning.
So keep your fingers crossed for me. This might be the year I finally hit the big leagues!
To my writer friends, what are your aspirations for 2020? What are you doing to try to meet them?