Last week, I sent my option book proposal to my agent (the uber-fabulous Kevan Lyon) and sweated for what seemed like days on end. Would she like it? Would she like it but think it needed major revisions to be saleable? What if it was so bad, I had to start over from scratch? (Having already started over once, I was in no mood to do so again!)
I would claim to be the queen of AIS (Author Insecurity Syndrome) if I didn’t know quite a few other writers who suffer from forms of the same malady. No matter how much our critique partners, agents, editors, and/or readers tell us they love our work, we still worry that this time, we’ve managed to produce the stinker that outstinks them all. I like to tell myself that this particular trait is what keeps me honest as a writer–it makes me work hard to produce the best possible story I can and to never be satisfied with a mediocre effort. The truth, however, is that it’s probably more self-defeating than anything else, since it all too often paralyzes me.
So, suffice it to say that I angsted over my agent’s response to my proposal until I heard back from her yesterday. She found a few typos and one place where a POV character’s thoughts weren’t entirely clear, but other than that, she thought it was ready to go. I cleaned up the errors, added a few lines to the problem scene to clarify, and sent it back. And last night, she sent it off to my editor.
In other words, I just traded one week of nailbiting for (up to) six more while we wait to hear whether my editor wants to make an offer on the book or not.
Yes, I’ll keep you posted.
YOUR TURN: What’s keeping you up nights? The economy? Global warming? The Israeli-Palestinian crisis? Tell me all and remind me that this is small potatoes!
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