Face the Music! Hit SEND for Cryin' Out Loud! + Giveaway!

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Come on. Wail it out. That's right, dunk your head in the empty pan and let the wails bounce off the sides.

You'll feel better if you do.

*deep breath*

Do it again if you have it. I'll wait.

And wait.

And wait.

Are you done yet?

Here's a tissue. Dry your eyes, wipe the snot out of the pan and let's chat.

Ooo BABY is it hard to hit send.

Did I realize how debilitating that was until my finger was hovering over the left hand clicker button? Um. No.

Did I have to call and chat with a writer friend and have her pray with me before hitting send? Yes.

Three things you should do before hitting send:

Read over the submission email one more time. Not ten more times, just one more time. Especially if you're submitting to Chip Macgregor. His big pet peeve is misspelled words. Just sayin'.

Double check that EVERYTHING is attached.

We've all sent those emails that said "I"m attaching such and such" and then never hit the attach button. Um...yeah.

PRAY. Find a friend and pray.

Talk about a stress reliever! This makes a world of difference and is the #1 thing you should before hitting that all important key. Your writing career/life/marriage/relationships do not hang in the balance of the response of the agent. (Though for the sake of your spouse's sanity they might think it does. ;-) I couldn't believe how much more prepared I was to hit that all important button until I called my friend. Thanks Beth!

Bonus suggestion: DO NOT, (let me repeat that) DO NOT reread and reread and reread what you sent out.

Inevitably you will find mistakes. You are human after all and there is SOMETHING you messed up along the lines. Forget it. It's gone. There is nothing you can do it about now, so just his send and move on.

We all know these things of course, but knowing that others get it make a great deal of difference. We so often celebrate only the great things that have happened in our writing, but we should also take the time to acknowledge that it doesn't happen quickly. It's a hurry up and wait process, even when you send in a follow up email. There is always something going on in the background that God has got His hands on that we know nothing about.

Gives me goosebumps. I love that thought.

Another suggestion? Tell some friends that you've submitted. Let them join in the excitement of waiting. I decided that was one thing I didn't want to be shy about and while I don't tell everyone I'm waiting to hear from an agent, I did tell several of my coworkers and people that stop by the clinic. It's fun to give progress reports, even when there is nothing new to share. It's these kind of support systems that you should embrace.  Waiting can actually be kind of fun...once you get past the first nervous week. ;-)

Have you hit send yet this year? Planning to?

Leave a comment for a chance to win Ethel Herr's An Introduction to Christian Writing (second edition) which I'll be giving away and announce the winner in tomorrow's weekend edition! 

When To Hit Send?

Photo in Flickr Creative Commons by Horia Varlan

 A few weeks back, I wrote a post on After You Hit Send. After working on sending out my full, I have come to realize the big question... 

When to Hit Send? 

I sat there, with my finger poised on the mouse...one small touch would send off my manuscript into cyberspace all by its lonesome...with no assurance that it would be of any interest at all. I quickly texted my fabulous crit partner (Alleycat Ashley) and asked her,

"When do you know when you are ready to submit?" 

It felt weird to say that it was ready. Like I was being too rash...too presumptuous that it was polished enough. Ashley wrote back:

"Do you feel at peace about where it is?

 If the recipient were to reject you, would you feel good about it, like you gave it your best shot?" 

Oooh, good questions, don't you think? I pondered them, and looked back on all the steps I took to get to these final two questions. There were quite a few steps, and some were lengthy, but these steps helped inch that manuscript closer to cyberspace in the long run:

Photo in Flickr Creative Commons by goXunuReviews

1. POLISH: After typing 'The End', you most certainly are not at the end, really. It's only the beginning of the next phase...Editing. Typos, sentence restructure, plot inconsistencies, character arcs...don't get too dizzy. Alleycat Sarah wrote a great series on the Self-Editing Checklist to help with this step.
2. SEND IT: Not to agents or editors..but to friends and colleagues. Find some friends who read, preferably your genre, as well as professionals (that you know!) and/or crit partners. Get their overall feedback, suggestions...and wear thick skin!
3. POLISH once more, according to their feedback...at least the feedback you want to listen too. One of my friends told me a major plot point wasn't believable, but I didn't agree. Fortunately, the Alley Cats are a great sounding board and confirmed my hunch. Checks and balances are important when it comes to your story and your voice. If you feel strongly about why you wrote it, how you wrote it, and get some resistance from readers at this step, make sure you are honest with yourself, but also stand your ground if it's important. (It's always nice to have a crit partner at this point, because then you have someone who knows how you write, your story, and about the writing craft.)
4. FORMATTING is sometimes an afterthought, but SO important to make your piece really shine. Be sure you have the chapters numbered correctly (I have found this mistake more than once in my own manuscript), and that your margins are 1", a readable font through out, and proper spacing for chapter breaks, scene breaks... all that fun technical stuff. (Blah!)
5.  STEP BACK and marvel at your shiny piece. You have accomplished a great feat. It's something to smile about!
6. SLEEP ON IT. 2 a.m. is not a good time to hit that button. You'll want to skim through any new parts you've added and be sure you've gotten all those pesky typos. Tired eyes aren't trustworthy.
7. TEXT your crit partner for final encouragement....and move to the next step:
8. ASHLEY'S QUESTIONS: Yes, friends, they are from the mouth of a very trustworthy friend and crit partner, and I suggest you ask yourself also:

•   Do you feel at peace about where it is? 
•  If the recipient were to reject it, would you feel good about it, like you gave it your best shot?

If you can honestly say yes to both of these, then you are ready!

Now to tackle that query! Here's an older post to give you a start.

Any other steps you take to make your manuscript shine?

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Angie Dicken first began writing fiction as a creative outlet during the monotonous days of diapers and temper tantrums. She is passionate to impress God's love on women regardless of their background or belief. This desire serves as a catalyst for Angie's fiction, which weaves salvation and grace themes across cultures. She is an ACFW member and CEO of a family of six.

THE ART OF HITTING SEND

You're ready to send. Probably, hopefully, maybe, dear Lord in Heaven, please let it be!

As your cursor hovers over the button, a load of rocks has taken resident in your belly and someone has tied lead to your fingers, making it almost impossible to pick up your hand and use your index finger on that left clicky button.

What if it's all wrong?

Should you edit it just one more time?

And shoot, did you use the word "just" one too many times??

What if the agent/editor/crit partner/contest judge hates it? What if they laugh and gleefully turn on track changes and use the red highlight... not even the yellow!?!?

What if you send it and then reread it and see something HUGE wrong with it?

What if, *gasp* you attach the wrong file?!? (You then hurry and double check... yep, it's the right one.)



Pushing send is hard. You need to be ready. Willing. And tough skinned.

Because here is the deal:

All those what-if's? Well, there is a really GOOD possibility they will come true. When you hit that send button, you are saying, "Bring it on! Give me your best shot! I can take it!"

Writing doesn't come without a cost. It involves hours and hours and hours, sometimes to the point of years, of sitting in front of a computer and pouring out your story onto a word processor and subsequently editing until your fingers feel like they are bleeding. It involves taking the beating of rejection. Of people hating your stuff. Of making mistakes. It's all part of the deal.

So write your heart out, oh-ye-author. Edit like crazy. Be prepared. But in the end, you have to suck it up and push that darn send button if you want to ever get anywhere.

Think of the send button as your way of saying, "Ready writing world, HERE I COME!"

*Discussion* What's the last thing you had to suck up and push send on? How did you feel when you were done? And... dare I ask what the outcome was? If it was worth the agony of pushing the button??