Good question. I’ll answer in three words: Writing query letters.
Doesn’t that sound boring? You sure bet it is. It’s called “marketing” myself. Which is worse than boring. It’s painful.
I’m a WRITER. I want the CHARACTERS to be amazing and brilliant and full of life. And I’m content to be a nobody in the stories. Behind-the-scenes support. The male protagonist says, “Cheryl, you gotta help me with this. See, I’m a really great guy… and I handle this-and-this situation really well… but, well, the female main character. She’s not getting it. I think we need a scene that shows…” And I’m like, “I’m on it! Give me a sec!”
And I work really hard to get him shining. I put the right words in his mouth (literally, since he’s my creation) and draw attention TO HIM.
Publicity? Attention to yours-truly? Not so much. I sign my name “Cheryl Kramarczyk” (my real name, pronounced Kra-MAR-check, to honor my husband) to someday, somehow get royalty checks from all this hard work, but other than that, I’m content to be in the background. Back-background. Not even on stage, in fact. (I say that as I want to be on the shelves of Barnes and Noble. A paradox, I know.)
If it’s not bad enough that I’ve buried myself in blog posts about writing this beast called “query letters,” I changed my direction one-eighty. I was sitting in an online class on writing not long ago and one comment struck me. The presenter said she’d seen too many proposals based on “internal” struggles (such as “Does he love me?” or “Can I accept God’s love for me?”) when the pitch should be “external” struggles (“Will they be rescued in time?” “Will the car topple off the edge?”). Obviously, this is a suspense writer (I write romance), but I got her point. And it hit me… hard.
And I paused the online class and this was my next thought: I can’t pitch my story. It DOESN’T have an external conflict. (Or – at least – I’m not “pitching” it as such.)
You guessed it. That manuscript is on the shelf. (Yes, I printed the thing to self-edit.) And I’m pitching my other not-quite-ready manuscript.
Get this: I’m pitching the premise – this new premise – in two weeks, on June 23, face-to-face with a literary agent.
Am I busy? Um… Do I have to answer that?
In the last month, I…
1) … read through the manuscript (of the new premise) three times and self-edited the tangle of a story.
2) … joined a critique group to read over my manuscript.
3) … penned ANOTHER query letter. (Oh, for crying out loud. I just went through the painful process for the first one. Grumble, grumble, grumble.)
And that’s just my writing career. I also homeschool. I went to a conference and will attend a second one in two weeks. I know what you’re thinking: “Two weeks? You mean the same week as the writer’s workshop where you’ll pitch your new novel?”
Yep.
It’s worse. I’m TRAINING some other homeschool moms at that conference. It begs the question: Am I busy? Ha! I can’t wait for summer to start. Oh, wait…
Hence, this memoir of a blog post. I have nothing else to share except the tornado of my life. My heart cries out: “When will you quit promoting yourself and start writing again?”
Oh, if only I knew! I tell myself: “After the writer’s workshop, then I can start a fresh, new novel. New characters! New plot! Just WRITE!”
Yeah, right. I’ll be back at the grind stone, most probably. Churning out query letters and proposals (the scary second step to promoting the manuscript). Self-editing again… and again. And will do so until a literary agent catches my vision and a contract is signed. Until then, I’m in the business of “self-promotion.”
I’ll check in again soon! Give me a holler anytime. I’m supposed to, um, have readers. Read what??? Since I’m not-yet published…
Oh! That reminds me! A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a short story and submitted it to a writer’s contest. If it doesn’t win, I’ll post it under my short stories. If I win (oh, that would be amazing! a first for me!), I’ll post it with a medallion or something. Yay!
I’ll leave you on that high note. ‘Til next time!
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