Reviewed my 2007 writing resolutions again tonight and marked progress, particularly regarding the second item: pitch The Last Track to 40 agents. Without dropping exact numbers, and including the second round fired off today, hitting that number–if necessary–will not be a problem. At this point, it makes sense to allow time for replies, ease off the queries, and increase the writing output.
Did some background work for the guerrilla marketing campaign, or item three. Since the plan involves a number of people besides myself, I’m in a holding pattern at the moment. Rest assured, the ball is rolling in a sound direction.
No progress on the first item–entering 20 writing contests with cash prizes–other than identifying the contests. Of the four tasks, here I made the least strides. Initially I set the goal aside temporarily with the proviso of readying The Confession for entry in the First Chapters competition, but after a few more weeks into the project, I dropped that idea. In its present form The Confession is too personal for consumption; I may like the notion well enough, but the ideas are too raw, a steep percolation is necessary. Hopefully with some more effort it can be more accessible. And when I say accessible, I’m not talking about selling the piece, I mean being comfortable taking it out of a trunk and showing someone.
While forsaking First Chapters, I am honoring step four: finish a draft of The Confession before tackling another large manuscript. While this course may suggest self-indulgence, I must finish anyway, because allowing the process to happen as it wants will lead me to another place. That point I take on faith. But there’s another reason to continue, even if the manuscript never sees print.
I believe some stories need to be written, want for a writer to step through the associated emotions, feel them and capture their effects on a page, yet not share the actual product.
Projects with such a charter–and I truly hope I have very few of these in me–are not made for a reader; they exist solely for the writer.
That’s quite a big list. Good luck with the sumissions.
Thanks, Debra. Good luck with your writing this year as well. I’m wondering if the list might be a bit too ambitious, but the way I look at it, tapping agents is almost musical chairs. Should I cycle through the entire list, it might get a bit harder, since I’ll have to research again. I’m very serious about aiming for top tier. In the end, querying is rote. Print out query/synopis/sample, stuff in mailer, and let go. Simple. Contests have different regulations and procedures, though, so I forecast a more uphill battle there.