So, 2018 was a year.
I signed with an agent and sold a book!
It isn’t usually like this.
My annual round-ups usually involved phrases like finished another book revision, or almost ready to start querying. This time last year, I was feeling down about writing and publishing. I was reaching the end of the querying road with QUEEN and I was excited about my next book but unsure if I could do it justice. I seemed to always almost reach the next level but came up short at the eleventh hour.
By January 2018, I had to stop querying QUEEN because I couldn’t keep doing it while trying to write the next book. (This is a good example of common query advice not working for everyone. Do absolutely work on your next book, but you may not be able to keep querying while you do so. Don’t beat yourself up if this is the case. Whatever works for you!)
Desperate to have a decent draft of the next book, I took a week off work and wrote around 50k (the second half) in those seven days. It was not a pretty sight; I was not a pretty sight during it, to be honest. But I had a draft when I went back to work. And later feedback focused on the first half and barely involved the second — I’d managed to turn my internal editor off while frantically typing out that 50k. Even now, it might be some of my best writing because I stopped second-guessing myself, even if I really wanted to cry at the time.
By mid-2018, I had signed with my agent and a publisher was interested in QUEEN OF COIN AND WHISPERS. By the end of July, I had a job offer and faced a completely new career change. By the end of October, the news was out and the book deal was public. It was exciting! (And for most of it I resembled a headless chicken running around on fire, haha.)
I’m not really sure what 2019 will bring. All I can focus on is what’s under my control: complete edits for QUEEN; finish the revision of my next book for my agent; and write the next book after that. And gear up for 2020, my debut year! (Which, from tomorrow, is NEXT YEAR. O_O) I also hope to review the books I love in 2019 and talk about them more than just on Twitter.
Goodbye 2018. You were a good one. ❤
And to anyone reading this, I don’t want to say “You can do it!” or “Just believe in yourself!” So much of querying and publishing is out of our control. But we control the writing, so try not to stop doing that, if you can. And be kind to yourself. ❤
Helen Corcoran 