Writers need to have faith: faith in themselves, faith in their work and faith that someone will appreciate their work. It’s not easy to send a story or article or book into the abyss and wait for a response that may or may not come. Some writers hear from an editor or publisher months or years after a piece was sent. That’s a wonderful surprise down the road, but many writers give up while they wait..
Don’t view writing as a linear process. The odds are not in your favor when you put one piece in the (e)mail, then wait for it to come back before you send it out again.
If you’re like me, you probably have something “almost” ready to go out. This holiday weekend, spend a couple hours polishing your work. When you’re sure it’s as good as it can be, go to the bookstore or library to find magazines, newspapers, publishers, editors or agents who might be interested, and send it out. (You can also go to your Writer’s Market and look it up, but it’s not as fun!) Send it to more than one editor that accepts multiple submissions.
If you send one piece to two editors, you’ve doubled your odds of success. If you send two pieces to three editors, you’ve increased your likelihood of success by a factor of six. You need faith when you send out your writing, but you also need to increase your odds of success by increasing the number of submissions. Have faith in yourself, and a plan.
Talk to you soon,
Mary
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