The query letter is a worthy foe, but a critical part of the writing process. Initially the negative responses bothered me, but at this point I’m damn near impervious. Rejections get stuffed in a little drawer and then I query some more. Thank you, come again.

There are websites where the writers post scans of the rejection letters, but that’s no way to get a manuscript published. Besides smacking of a bruised ego, it reeks of the desire to have the last word in an argument that never was. Besides, does an editor or agent really want to deal with a writer who posts private communication on the Internet?

So my strategy is this:

1) Writing, writing and then more writing
2) Querying about completed writing projects

So it’s down to the wire and the only topic so far is no blog topic at all and The Wife’s cat is licking peanut butter off my spoon as I type. Now there’s a lead-in. Query to self – does Seinfeld have days like this?

This is the second day with no official writing projects and it’s hell. Cranking out 4-5 pages a session for the last 2 years provided a lot of focus to my writing. Vacations are fine and all, but I need to write. This is the biggest conflict and the one I wrestle with the most frequently at times I don’t like to write, yet I must. Let me repeat that since it sounds important � at times I don’t like to write, yet I must.

I’m suspicious of people who say they love writing. I love words. I love reading. I love reading other people’s words, but to love my own words strikes me as a crippling sort of vanity. Instead, every so often I write something that I like. Sort of.

Writing resembles raising a child in the same way that there is no controlling a child. Children behave based on the examples their parental figures provide. Hopefully every role model sets a good example, but if a kid wants to stick their finger in the electric socket or throw a ball in the house, the kid will win that argument. To write may appear easier than reigning in a child, because it seems that the author has control over the finished product, the control that a parent lacks. After all, writers focus x hours per day, 5 or more days a week for the purpose of perfecting a manuscript. Children don’t come with copy paste and multiple undos, do they?

But the control the writer brandishes is an illusion. I have no control over what comes out when I write, revise and revise again. The only control is the choice to sit down and take the chance on the process or not. And it’s a process that never ends.

Checking my watch, I see I have 5 minutes left on my blog a day deadline 😉

The 6th draft is now history. The target date was September 1st. Hmm. One and thirteen are close, right? Anyway, what’s 12 days amongst friends? Here’s a breakdown that compares the 5th and 6th drafts, chock full of meaningless statistics.

Length
Draft 5 – 54,000 words
Draft 6 – 80,000 words

Writing Period
Draft 5 – November 2003 – January 2004
Draft 6 – May 2004 – September 2004

Perspective
Draft 5 – 1st person
Draft 6 – 3rd person omniscient

So, is the book done? Tragically no, but it is good enough to hand off to a neutral 3rd party to beat up for a few weeks. Now is the time to take the manuscript down to the woodshed and show it who’s in charge. Meanwhile, if an agent calls my bluff and wants to see the first 3 chapters, I can send them out without any fear of embarrassing myself.

What’s next? Remember that query business? That starts again. I’ll do a quick polish on the synopsis as well. Then there’s the matter of the second book.

The process never ends. And that’s a good thing.

Periodically, I study either Publishers Weekly or a book on the publishing industry. The tome Buddhapuss is munching these days is How to Get Happily Published. So many books in this genre – books about selling a book or getting a book deal – are commercial powerhouses. For instance, there are more than 500,000 copies in print of How to Get Happily Published. That’s way, way out of the stadium from a sales perspective.

A search on Amazon.com for the phrase published returns several pages of results while Google returns 52,700,000 worth of pages.

Here’s 3 observations about this phenomena.

1) Lots of people want to get published. Or at least read about getting published.
2) 99.99 percent of the people who buy these books don’t get published, thus they were ripped off. Look for a class action lawsuit soon.
3) It’s more fun to read about writing, than it is to write and submit something. Not that rejection is all bad, it’s just intimidating. Fear of the no is a lot more potent than actually hearing the word no.