I am a pessimist. I don’t think that is a bad thing. Believe me, I know about the power of positivity; I am all for sending good vibes out into the universe. Pessimism fits me, though. To me, my pessimism truly feels like being realistic. I’m just keepin’ it real. I’d rather be pleasantly surprised than sorely disappointed and I cope best when I am keeping my expectations low.
Ten days ago, I did something big. Huge.
I sent my first ever manuscript to a publisher for consideration.
Woah.
I did it. I wrote it. I edited it. I had others critique it. I edited it again. I formatted it. I researched publishers. I found one that set my heart aflutter. I penned my cover letter. I sent it off.
Then, the waiting began.
Most publishers take several months to get back to writers – if they get back to them at all. Often it is simply understood that if you don’t hear from them, they’re not interested.
I have been trying to patiently manage my emotions – and my expectations. I remind myself, chances are I will not get a book published on my very first try. More than likely, they are going to pass, and the next publisher is going to pass, and the next, and the next. This book will probably never get published. Pretty much, I am just waiting for the rejection to happen.
Thanks to my pessimism, I think I will be prepared to cope with that rejection. After all, it is the most realistic outcome.
Still, every once in a while, my mind wanders into the realm of wonderful possibilities and I find myself with a little smile on my face at the thought that maybe, just maybe, they will be interested.
24 February 2018
22 February 2018
Another Platform
I joined the TODAY Parenting Team last night. It was kind of on a whim, to be honest. I had not been planning to join. I have come across the website before, but I am still choosing not to submit my work to sites that do not offer some form of compensation. Last night, clicking through articles in my news feed landed me on the TODAY website again. I read a little deeper into the process and ended up seeing the platform in a different light.
The Parenting Team is an online community that falls under the umbrella of the TODAY Show; it is free to join and provides an easy, accessible platform for writers. It is not quite the same as writing a piece for someone else's website. It feels more like writing a piece for my own blog without needing the blog. I'll admit, TODAY is still making money through advertising while I make none. However, their platform offers an outlet for my writings that do not fit here (where I write about my adventures in writing) but that I want to share without going through the process of querying to have published. It provides a place for me to share my writings on a variety of topics without having to create and maintain a blog within the niche.
Like I said before, I know I am doing it wrong, but I am going to keep on doing it my way. I don't want to get locked into a niche. I don't want to spend more time maintaining and promoting a website than I do actually writing. I don't even want to be confined to one type of writing – blog posts, articles, short stories, poems, books – I want to write whatever I feel the need and desire to write.
Their writing prompts and challenges even encourage writers to write – which is what prompted me to write my first post over there. I noticed their featured challenge:
So, I wrote up this piece: My Husband and I Still Celebrate Our Moversary.
I am glad I lingered on the TODAY Parenting Team website long enough to give it another thought. It is a fantastic platform for a writer like me.
The Parenting Team is an online community that falls under the umbrella of the TODAY Show; it is free to join and provides an easy, accessible platform for writers. It is not quite the same as writing a piece for someone else's website. It feels more like writing a piece for my own blog without needing the blog. I'll admit, TODAY is still making money through advertising while I make none. However, their platform offers an outlet for my writings that do not fit here (where I write about my adventures in writing) but that I want to share without going through the process of querying to have published. It provides a place for me to share my writings on a variety of topics without having to create and maintain a blog within the niche.
Like I said before, I know I am doing it wrong, but I am going to keep on doing it my way. I don't want to get locked into a niche. I don't want to spend more time maintaining and promoting a website than I do actually writing. I don't even want to be confined to one type of writing – blog posts, articles, short stories, poems, books – I want to write whatever I feel the need and desire to write.
Their writing prompts and challenges even encourage writers to write – which is what prompted me to write my first post over there. I noticed their featured challenge:
Romance After Kids
We'd love to get your thoughts about keeping love alive post-kids. How do you and your partner make time for each other? How can romance be sustained against a backdrop of sleep deprivation and homework battles? How have you seen your love grow even stronger with the passage of time and the addition of children? Please share your thoughts and feelings in this challenge because we’re all in this together!
So, I wrote up this piece: My Husband and I Still Celebrate Our Moversary.
I am glad I lingered on the TODAY Parenting Team website long enough to give it another thought. It is a fantastic platform for a writer like me.
07 February 2018
Timely
My most recent article has been published on Perfection Pending. This piece was a challenge in that it ended up being so time-sensitive; I am truly grateful to the editor of Perfection Pending for being very quick to get it published!
As my article says, Facebook's Messenger Kids app launched a preview build in December. The internet was abuzz with coverage of the announcement coming from all variety sources: Scary Mommy, Tech Crunch, The Verge, New York Times, Reuters, Techaeris, websites big and small, local news – it was everywhere.
I was excited about the new app; it was just what we had been looking for when my son got his own hand-me-down cell phone about 6 months earlier. Though, right away, I noticed that all the top comments, across all the different types of sites, were flagrantly negative.
"No child under 16 should be using any type of social media including FB. Parents purchasing their children smart phones are ridiculous." - a commenter on New York Times
"Why would anyone allow Children under 13 use mobile phones and tablet?" - a commenter on Tech Crunch
"Sorry, but I cannot believe ANYONE (parents, educators, government etc) would even allow youngsters under about 12 (min) near social media. So so wrong.. Kids should ONLY interact with others in person, or via voice on the phone..." - a commenter on The Verge
"What in the hell ?!! Why would a 7 year old need to be on Facebook 😡!!" - a commenter on Reuters
But most comments were simply like these on Scary Mommy:
"Nope. Not in my house."
"Nope not happening."
"Nope. Just nope."
"Hell no!"
"Nope."
"No."
Still, we downloaded it. We used it. We liked it. So, after having it for more than a month, I thought, "Hey. I should write a piece about why I like it." And I did. I finished the final draft and, wouldn't you know, the very next morning it is all over the internet again! This time, because a group of 100 child advocates and experts wrote a letter to Facebook urging them to kill the app. This, obviously, fanned the flames of the negative comments.
I re-worked my article with the new information and now felt a sense of urgency to get it published. Though I wouldn't usually do simultaneous submissions (I'm pretty sure that is frowned upon by editors), I sent my pitch off to five different outlets, labeling it as timely and letting them know I had pitched to multiple sites.
I was thrilled when Perfection Pending got back to me quickly. Still, the next few days, I kept fretting over the possibility someone else was going to publish a similar article first and mine would be white noise, or there would be some announcement or development and my piece would be old news.
Sure enough, the morning before my piece was set to go live, I was seeing it in the news again! Turns out yesterday was #SaferInternetDay. The hashtag spurred on more discussion of the app and while many were still against it, there were a few more voices starting to speak out in support of Facebook's Messenger Kids app as the safest messaging option available to kids.
I am grateful for the timing and I hope my article – my voice – will be among those circulating as the discussion and debate continue.
As my article says, Facebook's Messenger Kids app launched a preview build in December. The internet was abuzz with coverage of the announcement coming from all variety sources: Scary Mommy, Tech Crunch, The Verge, New York Times, Reuters, Techaeris, websites big and small, local news – it was everywhere.
I was excited about the new app; it was just what we had been looking for when my son got his own hand-me-down cell phone about 6 months earlier. Though, right away, I noticed that all the top comments, across all the different types of sites, were flagrantly negative.
"No child under 16 should be using any type of social media including FB. Parents purchasing their children smart phones are ridiculous." - a commenter on New York Times
"Why would anyone allow Children under 13 use mobile phones and tablet?" - a commenter on Tech Crunch
"Sorry, but I cannot believe ANYONE (parents, educators, government etc) would even allow youngsters under about 12 (min) near social media. So so wrong.. Kids should ONLY interact with others in person, or via voice on the phone..." - a commenter on The Verge
"What in the hell ?!! Why would a 7 year old need to be on Facebook 😡!!" - a commenter on Reuters
But most comments were simply like these on Scary Mommy:
"Nope. Not in my house."
"Nope not happening."
"Nope. Just nope."
"Hell no!"
"Nope."
"No."
Still, we downloaded it. We used it. We liked it. So, after having it for more than a month, I thought, "Hey. I should write a piece about why I like it." And I did. I finished the final draft and, wouldn't you know, the very next morning it is all over the internet again! This time, because a group of 100 child advocates and experts wrote a letter to Facebook urging them to kill the app. This, obviously, fanned the flames of the negative comments.
I re-worked my article with the new information and now felt a sense of urgency to get it published. Though I wouldn't usually do simultaneous submissions (I'm pretty sure that is frowned upon by editors), I sent my pitch off to five different outlets, labeling it as timely and letting them know I had pitched to multiple sites.
I was thrilled when Perfection Pending got back to me quickly. Still, the next few days, I kept fretting over the possibility someone else was going to publish a similar article first and mine would be white noise, or there would be some announcement or development and my piece would be old news.
Sure enough, the morning before my piece was set to go live, I was seeing it in the news again! Turns out yesterday was #SaferInternetDay. The hashtag spurred on more discussion of the app and while many were still against it, there were a few more voices starting to speak out in support of Facebook's Messenger Kids app as the safest messaging option available to kids.
I am grateful for the timing and I hope my article – my voice – will be among those circulating as the discussion and debate continue.
05 February 2018
I Am A Writer
It was about three weeks ago when I decided I wanted to start writing more. I had been thinking to myself, "I'd love to be able to call myself a writer. That's what I want to do. I should just do it."
Still, I felt unsure as I brought it up to my husband. Is it just a waste of time? What if I never get anything else published? I probably won't make any money from it.
"I want you to write," he said. "I told you that before."
He had told me that before, but it was lost in the noise, drowned out by my own self-doubt, and forgotten. His words, his sincere tone, were just what I needed to hear – that he would not think it frivolous of me to pursue writing more. He genuinely supports me (and that is just one of a plethora of reasons I love him so).
I was simply exhilarated as I threw myself into it. You know the feeling when you are so excited and passionate about something that you completely immerse yourself. I was practically fangirling about writing.
I wrote pages of story ideas and notes. I researched. I read. I wrote some more. I researched some more.
I decided to branch out out with my pitch to become a KidTripster contributor. That success further incited my enthusiasm.
I made it official – taking my headshot portrait, building my Facebook page, linking, liking, trying to establish a (small) social media presence.
I sent off two idea pitches; one was rejected, the other has a 6-8 month response window.
I wrote two more pieces. One is in its second draft; I plan to get the final draft done this week. The other is finished; I pitched it to five different outlets and received a response from one within 24 hours that they were interested in publishing it! It should go live tomorrow evening. I am giddy, I tell you. Giddy!
Writing it all out, I realize how much I have done in just three weeks. It never felt like work. It was exactly what I wanted to be doing. I have no delusions that I can keep up this pace indefinitely, but now I have confirmation that it can be done. I can do it.
And now, if someone asks what I do, I confidently say, "I'm a writer."
Still, I felt unsure as I brought it up to my husband. Is it just a waste of time? What if I never get anything else published? I probably won't make any money from it.
"I want you to write," he said. "I told you that before."
He had told me that before, but it was lost in the noise, drowned out by my own self-doubt, and forgotten. His words, his sincere tone, were just what I needed to hear – that he would not think it frivolous of me to pursue writing more. He genuinely supports me (and that is just one of a plethora of reasons I love him so).
I was simply exhilarated as I threw myself into it. You know the feeling when you are so excited and passionate about something that you completely immerse yourself. I was practically fangirling about writing.
I wrote pages of story ideas and notes. I researched. I read. I wrote some more. I researched some more.
I decided to branch out out with my pitch to become a KidTripster contributor. That success further incited my enthusiasm.
I made it official – taking my headshot portrait, building my Facebook page, linking, liking, trying to establish a (small) social media presence.
I sent off two idea pitches; one was rejected, the other has a 6-8 month response window.
I wrote two more pieces. One is in its second draft; I plan to get the final draft done this week. The other is finished; I pitched it to five different outlets and received a response from one within 24 hours that they were interested in publishing it! It should go live tomorrow evening. I am giddy, I tell you. Giddy!
Writing it all out, I realize how much I have done in just three weeks. It never felt like work. It was exactly what I wanted to be doing. I have no delusions that I can keep up this pace indefinitely, but now I have confirmation that it can be done. I can do it.
And now, if someone asks what I do, I confidently say, "I'm a writer."
02 February 2018
I Just Want To Write
I know I am doing it wrong.
I am well aware "they" all say that if I want to be a real writer, I need to market myself -- I need to have a professional (read: paid) website and domain name, I need to be active on at least a few social media platforms, I need to network, I need to cultivate backlinks. Here's the thing, though, I am not in this to turn myself into a business or a brand – I just want to write.
None of that is for me. I barely like posting on my own personal Facebook page, I am most comfortable giving out my thumbs-up to others without comment. The Twitter account I started years ago had a grand total of one tweet, and I never even started accounts for Pinterest, or Instagram, or any of the others. Keeping up with all those things to market myself as a writer would turn my passion into a slog. Some people love to post on social media and thrive on it. I am not those people. The demands of self-promotion would easily overshadow my writing and completely drain me.
Social media shares and likes are essential to a writer, though. The best way to pitch current work is to refer back to how many reactions a previous piece received. Those clicks, likes, comments, and shares equal reach and impact. I recognize this and I am making an effort. I now have a headshot. I set up a writer Facebook page. I even converted my never-used Twitter. I have been on social media more this past week than I was for the entirety of the last year!
When "they" say I need to do all those things to make it, I believe them. I trust their expertise. Still, I am going to go my own way. I fully expect that I will never have as much success as those who do it all -- but I believe I can find a satisfying balance for myself and, most importantly, retain my passion.
After all, I just want to write.
I am well aware "they" all say that if I want to be a real writer, I need to market myself -- I need to have a professional (read: paid) website and domain name, I need to be active on at least a few social media platforms, I need to network, I need to cultivate backlinks. Here's the thing, though, I am not in this to turn myself into a business or a brand – I just want to write.
None of that is for me. I barely like posting on my own personal Facebook page, I am most comfortable giving out my thumbs-up to others without comment. The Twitter account I started years ago had a grand total of one tweet, and I never even started accounts for Pinterest, or Instagram, or any of the others. Keeping up with all those things to market myself as a writer would turn my passion into a slog. Some people love to post on social media and thrive on it. I am not those people. The demands of self-promotion would easily overshadow my writing and completely drain me.
Social media shares and likes are essential to a writer, though. The best way to pitch current work is to refer back to how many reactions a previous piece received. Those clicks, likes, comments, and shares equal reach and impact. I recognize this and I am making an effort. I now have a headshot. I set up a writer Facebook page. I even converted my never-used Twitter. I have been on social media more this past week than I was for the entirety of the last year!
When "they" say I need to do all those things to make it, I believe them. I trust their expertise. Still, I am going to go my own way. I fully expect that I will never have as much success as those who do it all -- but I believe I can find a satisfying balance for myself and, most importantly, retain my passion.
After all, I just want to write.