I finished my novel!

​What a wonderful statement: I finished my novel! Actually, I finished it in August, but it’s only now as I am beginning a new project that I feel it is truly done, complete, executed (I should look up more words in a thesaurus, but you get the idea.) Once I had something to actually try to sell, I began to send query letters out to literary agents all over the country. Literary agents are the gate keepers to most large publishing houses. They try to sell your story, and if successful, get a share in the profits. The ultimate middle-person, unlicensed, unaudited, unburdened. Fifty queries was initially my goal, but after talking with other authors, I realized that 100 queries or even 125 might be more appropriate. It’s a tough world out there. I’ve pitched 75 queries so far, with not a single bite, and I’m definitely running out of steam. One agent was interested but they wanted a major rewrite. That’s when I knew I was truly finished because I didn’t want to change anything.
 
My plan for the new year is to self-publish One Beautiful Thing. Meanwhile, I set myself a goal of writing a short story every month for a year. I have a wonderful group of beta readers who are willing to give me feedback as to what they liked, what worked or didn’t, and where they stumbled or got distracted. I’ll definitely try to get some of the stories published. Eventually I’ll assemble the best of them into a collection. It’s fun, especially when a beta reader tells me they enjoyed my last story and are can’t wait to see what I’ll come up with this month!