GOIN' BACK ON MY WORD

Silly me. I spent the week bitching and moaning because someone wrote a book with the same premise as mine and I was just about resigned to the fact that the manuscript was going to sit in a drawer for the rest of my natural life, when I get the mail Saturday and there is a letter from The Nancy Ellis Literary Agency (see Posting entitled "Dubious Agent #42) saying, "We requested your manuscript, but we have yet to receive it. We will keep your file open for thirty days and then recycle your materials." I took it as a sign because NOBODY bothers you about sending them your manuscript. Nobody. "Unless they're hurting," as my wife said. After some research, I see that they have revamped their accounting process and the author's money goes straight to the author. In their "Selected Titles" link, they list many authors whose books they have sold to Major Publishing Houses. At any rate, after CONTINUING to hound my wife and friends about this issue, they all said, "Send the book. Otherwise, it's just going in a drawer, right?" (My wife and friends are so empathetic about my writing! :)

So I went back on my word and sent the book. For awhile, I tried to listen to my gut and see if I was getting any kind of spiritual guidance about whether or not to send the book. Nothing. But now that I've sent it, my gut is telling me that I've set something in motion.

Exactly what, I'm not sure. We'll see. The process is such that most likely the response will come back and it will say something like, "Interesting idea, but not quite right for us."
Whatever. I'm still writing. You can't stop me.