The Waiting

The truth is, I have no idea how long these things take. I heard from my editor just the other day, which saved me the obsessive email checking that I had been reduced to. She has two big publisher proposals going on at the same time, she was clear about that from the start. Work is progressing, and she seems to like what she's reading. I can be patient. If history has shown anything, it's that.

In the meantime, I'm trying to make sense of all the info that's out there about how to proceed once I've revised and had it proofed. And it's a dizzying amount, some of it lowering. So much of the advice is to people who are 1) intent on quitting their jobs to do this and only this, and b) churning out book after book. And while I applaud those groups, and appreciate the hell out of the cheerleading nature of the discourse, none of these people are me.

I just need to sit with it and be patient. It's already starting to coalesce into a loose plan of attack. I think I know who I want to design the cover, I am pretty sure I know who I'll trust for distribution. The tools are out there. But there's the vast sea of other issues beyond these practicalities, all the marketing and promotion stuff that is still an overwhelming blur.

The hard part is done, you're maybe thinking. I mean, it's written. But that's the part I feel confident about. The rest of this is another story, another set of skills. It's the same thing, coincidentally, I cover in the book. Having some ability in one area does not guarantee success. You need a lot of other stuff too. And yes, here at least there are resources to help, but I'm faced with the same gaps in confidence and fortitude that doomed me before. I'll get there this time, I will. But it's familiar and not in a good way.

: j