Is getting nominated for a Pushcart Prize something to brag about?
Before posting it here, I showed this cover to two people—my wife and an old friend—and on both occasions the first thing out of their mouths was, “What’s that thing in the background?”
Since finding publication for my novel, I’ve started writing stories and sending them out to literary journals again. The rejections feel the same, so far, but the writing feels different this time.
Yesterday, Publishers Marketplace published an item about my debut novel, We Take Care of Our Own, in its “Deals” section. Exciting stuff.
To a long-struggling writer who never got into it for the money, an advance is an advance, and if a company is willing to give you one plus take on all the expenses involved in publishing your work, you better take it, dummy.
There’s a common, not terribly clever term many writers use to capture the toil and frustration involved in the submission process: banging one’s head against the wall.
Why expend the energy of replying to an unknown author’s email? Just because you state on your company web site that you welcome unsolicited emails and make every effort to respond in a timely fashion? Pfft, get real.