Time Flies

As a writer in the twenty-first century, I’m always looking for non-traditional ways to create and expand my fan base while still trying to explore conventional publishing methods.  One of the ways I’ve been most successful at this is to join an online writing site and post my work for fans to read free of charge. Though I’ll admit I was skeptical of how well this would work, to date I’m up to nearly 7,500 followers with that number growing every day.

Although I make my work available to readers free of charge, I’ve never given up on the dream of mainstream publishing. Since joining this site, I continued to pursue writing contests designed to increase chances of publication. In fact, the grand prize of two of my favorite contests is having your novel published. I also kept doggedly sending out queries to secure a literary agent who could help me realize this dream.

My perseverance paid off when I was able to find an agent for my most recently penned paranormal young adult romance novel. I not only found an agent but an agent with a solid reputation and proven track record. Still, I approached this with cautious optimism. Having been down this road before without much luck, I wasn’t ready to let myself believe this was finally going to be my chance.

A few days ago, while cleaning up my computer and going through some old files, I took notice on the dates of  the correspondence between me and my agent. I was surprised and a little sad to find it was a year ago this month that I signed with him. One year has passed since that first thrill I felt at finding a good agent. Make no mistake, my agent is still good. Maybe the book isn’t as good as we thought. Or maybe I’ve missed the market trend again. Who knows? The editors’ opinions are too varied for me to say with any certainty.

All I can say is that it has been one year this month since I signed that contract in the hopes that things were looking up, and I’ve discovered something that’s all bitter and no sweet. Time flies whether you’re having fun or not! 

Guess that means it’s time to get myself in gear and take the bull by the horns. Stay tuned in coming weeks for more on this topic.