Luke Keioskie writes:
Am I the only one who gets driven crazy by the waiting game? Does anyone else desperately check their email, hoping to see a publisher’s name in the address and, finally, find out whether your work is up to scratch? Am I the only one waiting for an answer?
I can’t be. Too often when writers get together the talk turns to the other side of the game and just how long it takes for a novel to go from your brain to the book shelves. A friend of mine had his first adult novel accepted by Random House. He started writing it in 2006, heard a positive ‘we like it but it needs work, do this, do that’ in 2007, had a face-to-face meeting with the publisher in 2008, and now the novel is due to hit the shelves late 2009. And he’s published more than 50 children’s books in the past! This doesn’t bode well for us emerging/developing writers, does it? We tend to wait longer just to hear a ‘no’. My record is 9 months for a rejection, and that’s not counting the rest that don’t even bother to get back to me.
Novel writing teaches you to be patient. Well, in truth, it forces you to be patient.
But how much longer must this go on?
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
A very wise author recently told me: “Waiting sucks. Get used to it”
Of course you could spare yourself the agony but not sending anything at all….
If you want a good idea of response times check this link out:
http://www.ralan.com
and once you get past the eye-meltingly awful design, click on response times in the right hand menu, up the top there.
I think the waiting has actually driven me mad. I’ve been discussing it with the voice in my head and he definitely thinks it’s the publishers that did it.
As for not sending out anything at all, Jez, I tried that. It lasted about ten, blissful years of just writing because it was fun, with no hassle and no F***ing waiting. Then that damned Bribie Island thing came up and look! I’m back on the treadmill! (And yes, Luke, I check my email every day and every day I hope there’s something there. How sad is that?)
It’s not even as if there’s a pot of gold at the end to make it all worthwhile.
Graham.
Oh, god, sign me up for the Lost and Forlone Brigade for I too, am a waiter. As in one who waits for replies not one who wiates on tables….cause that would be just sad.
Oh, dear, it’s happening again..’ make it stop, make it stop.
Here I sit, broken hearted.
Paid a penny, only farted.
terry
well done to you guys for getting a m/s in, though. you’re that much closer to hearing back from a publisher! however, those of us who are waiting to hear on your behalf are with you on the whole tense waiting game thing.