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Row80 Update 11-30-11: Meh.

It’s been a long week. We made a ten hour (for me) road trip to Kentucky last Tues/Wednesday to have Thanksgiving with family, and Grace and I just got home Sunday night. We had a great time, but I’m still dragging through the recovery process. I’ve always been this way after a trip, but it seems to be worse as I get older.

On the querying front, I’ve sent out about 12-15 queries for INTO THE DARK, received a few rejections as well as requests for partials and fulls. It’s a waiting game at this point, and patience is NOT my best virtue. It’s very hard to keep from constantly checking my email, but I’m trying. I intend to query two more e-publishers before the year is out, but I’m going to wait until 2012 to query anymore agents. And that’s only a month away. Unbelievable!

Goals for Sunday Check-In
*Work on 200 word blurb for Into The Dark (for querying an e-pub)
*Work on marketing plan – some agents and e-publishers require this when you query. I’ve never done one, so if you have ANY suggestions on ideas, formatting, etc., I’m all ears!
*Write 1000 words on THE PROPHET. I’m way behind on my Row80 goals for this, so I’m hoping to do some catching up before the new year.

How are your Row80 goals going? What about you NaNoers? Who’s a winner?

On a side note, did you know “Meh” was popularized by The Simpsons and was added to the Collins English Dictionary in 2008? Talk about a generation of apathy!

21 comments on… “Row80 Update 11-30-11: Meh.”

  1. Hey! Requests for partials and fulls sounds exciting!

    I grew up on The Simpsons (you are hard pressed to communicate with my siblings if you don’t know your Simpsons references) and I not only type “meh” often, I say it. I promise, I’m not THAT apathetic! 🙂

    I’ll be posting about how Nano went for me…maybe tomorrow. Meh.

    • Thank you. It is exciting, even though I’m a pessimist by nature. I keep telling myself it doesn’t mean anything other than the query is good, lol. But it’s definitely a start.

      Oh, we love the Simpsons here. Grace always wants to watch Homer, lol. We say “meh” a lot, too. LOL. I hope Nano went well. I’ve heard some amazing word counts and wonder how people did it.

  2. Wow, congrats on the partials and full requests!
    And I’m right there with you on the no-patience … I’m a very anxious person lol
    Good luck 😉

    • Thanks. I’m trying to be grateful without getting my hopes us, lol. Yes! Anxious is the perfect word. It’s so hard to just wait!

  3. That picture is how I feel when it’s the end of the day and I haven’t done my exercise yet. LOL. Requests for partials and fulls? That’s great! Good weekly goals too. Don’t let the waiting game get to you. Good luck!

    • You know, that’s a good point. I’ve cut back on my eating (I ALWAYS gain when I travel, no matter what I eat), but I haven’t started exercising yet. I know I’d feel better if I did.

      Thank you. We’ll see what happens. I’m glad all the work (and help) I got on the query paid off. Right now I’m hoping for some great editorial advice to improve my writing, and that’s it. Trying not to get my hopes up, but there are a few out I’d love to work with.

  4. Stacy, that is so exciting about the requests! The waiting is so very hard, I know…sigh…Keep working on other projects to not think about it…and it WILL happen, I know it. I also didnt know you road tripped to KY! Where? My family is all in Louisville there.

    • Thanks, Donna. I know getting back into writing The Prophet will really hep. I just need to do it.

      We went to Hopkinsville, Kentucky. My cousin owns a restaurant, so we had Thanksgiving there. Great food and the first time the majority of the family had gotten together in more than ten years.

  5. Wow, paws crossed on the requests. Waiting is always the hardest. I envy you the trip to KY, love that state, still have lots of family there.

    • Thanks so much! It’s very stressful, but I think the best remedy is to get back to writing. And yes, I loved Kentucky. Was a great trip in beautiful country.

  6. Congrats on the requests Stacy – that’s wonderful news – so happy for you!
    Marketing plan – hmmmm – unfortunately I am not entire sure but have you tried googling for a few samples as a jumping off point? That might be a place to start and see what comes up!
    Great goals for this week – getting back into the swing of things after a big drive and some wonderful family time! Keep at it….
    Waiting is always hard but it’s always worth it so breath!! 🙂

    • Thanks. I’m hoping something great comes out of it, but it’s a long road.

      Good idea on the marketing plan. I actually hadn’t tried that. Thanks for the tip.
      And thanks…hopefully I can do it. I’m totally procrastinating Thriller Thursday, lol.

  7. That’s awesome you’ve received both requests for partials and fulls. And it is soooo hard to wait. Just try to keep writing! And try not to check email too much! (((hugs)))

  8. Congratulations, it took me a LONG time to get any query into shape to get requests for a full or partial. Yes, the waiting IS the hardest part.

    I don’t know much about marketing proposals – I think the Googling suggested by Natalie isn’t a bad idea, however – try putting the shoe on the other foot. What questions would you ask if an author friend asked you to market her book? Who’s the target audience, and how do you reach them? Does she have any particular “ins”? For example, we’ve both got SheWriters in common, a Twitter following, a FB fan page, webpages and blogs with XX followers. Do you have anything specific to your genre, like have written articles for a paper or online magazine (see what’s out there, and start send them proposals for articles you could write that would drive traffic to your blog.) Belong to gun clubs or chat boards for thriller or true crime lovers…?

    The more work you have done to build a following/brand recognition, the less THEY have to do. So, if they have two MS on hand they like equally well, and one author has the blog, Twitter following, and regularly contributes to XX magazine, and the other is a complete unknown… which would look more attractive to YOU? (Of course, if one book really grabs them, that’s the one they’ll take, regardless of the author being unknown, but in this scenario, they’re equally balanced.) Crossing my fingers for you…

    • Thank you. I spent a lot of time revising and had a lot of help before I sent it out. A LOT. And that’s a really good way to look at marketing. No, I don’t belong to anything like that as far as crime/thriller lovers, but I was thinking of joining. I’m also going to put some focus on Thriller Thursday for marketing.

      Thanks for all the advice. Really appreciate it!

  9. I love the picture of the kitty! Actually this photo reminds me that I am slowly giving in to my kids nagging about getting a cat. I’m a dog person but I’m one against three (two kiddos plus hubby) so I think I will just say, “Okay, get the damn cat.” The truth is, I really like cats. They are adorable, but… I can’t take one for a walk or a run.

    Congratulations on the partials and full requests! Querying is a tedious, nerve-wracking process, and I feel for you. I will, hopefully, join you in this journey in a few weeks.

    Good luck on your goals this coming week.

    • Me too, Angela. LOL, that’s a hard fight to have. I love cats, but I’m highly allergic and had to find homes for mine a few years ago. Was awful.

      Thanks so much. Yes, it is, and the worst part is keeping your spirits up while you wait. And good luck on your query process. Let me know if I can help.

      Thanks!

  10. Pingback: Row80 Update 12-4-11: Recovery Mode | Stacy Green – Turning The Page

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