Thoughts on Publishing

People always say you only need one person to say yes. But they never say how hard it is waiting for that yes.

• Watching other writers get manuscript requests and agent representation.
• Being rejected by an agent I felt super excited about within 24 hours.
• Wondering if my query is bad or just came to their inbox at the right time.
• Questioning if my inspiration is overdone or my story sucks.
• Getting form rejection after form rejection.
• Seeing my indie author friends publish multiple books and wondering if I really chose the right path.
• Researching agent after agent, rejecting one after another because they don't align with my beliefs.
• Wondering if there really is a place for books written by Christians in the traditional publishing space.
• Working on stories that could never be published, but loving them too much to leave them behind.
• Questioning if I should query another book and put New Magic away for now.
• Trying to figure out if everything above are actually thoughts I should listen to or simple overthinking.

Traditional publishing is a hard path. It's not straightforward. There are so many factors that have to line up for your book to get from written to edited to represented to to a book deal to actually being published. (And three more rounds of editing while you do that.)

If you're in the querying or publishing trenches too, I don't exactly have a hopeful message to share. I just want you to know you're not alone.

Some may run ahead. Some may fall behind. Others may leave the trenches entirely.

But we're never alone and all of us will keep pushing to get our stories out there, even when it's hard.