And that title is probably the worst I’ve ever seen. Never mind.
I was googling around when I found Ian Irvine’s website. He’s a fantasy author and has most helpfully laid out, in order on one page virtually everything about the writing/publishing process, divided into three sections: Getting There, Surviving Publishing and Coping with Success. And each section has lots of paragraph points (or lessons as he calls them). Link below.
It’s great info because it’s local (Australian) and comprehensive, though it is a little dated (2005). A lot has changed since then, so all his warnings and advice to scale-down expectations would only be more so now I suppose.
Small update: My book is with publishers at the moment and I’m being very careful about what I share, not just online but with my family and friends. Keeping it vague and keeping it cool. But I can say this: it’s a fraught time but also interesting because I am in a state that I have never experienced before. It is weird and unsettling and while I’ve done ‘weird and unsettling’ before, this is different. It’s into the sixth week now that the ms was sent to a group of pubs and I’ve been getting updates from my agent. I’m distracted from my other writing, yet pushing ahead as I can. Trying to stay away from social media. This morning I’m in position to have a good writing day. Funny how it can take several days to get into that position. It’s like a dog circling in the grass, finding a good spot to lie down.
Well done, Jenny. I hope you hear something soon and it all works out brilliantly for you 😉
THANK YOU.