Contract

I received the contract today for my review. I haven't opened it yet since I'm at work. I'm starting to get excited...

I've been working hard with editing. I try to make sure I work on the novel everyday, even if for a little while. I'll probably see if I can get someone else to go over it for me when I'm done. I want it to be a good book, entertaining, no grammatical mistakes, the whole nine. I did read the review the publishers had sent me. It wasn't as bad as I had feared. I will probably have to ask them for some clarification. They mentioned it needed a bit more imagery (which I agree, especially as I'm re-reading. Boston needs more of an appearance) and character development. So I want to check which characters need more... fleshing out, in case I don't see it. I may feel they are well-rounded and three-dimensional, but it might not translate on the page.

As I've said before, editing is hard.

The Review's In

The red indicator light on my Blackberry flashed to let me know I had an email. I was happy to see it was from the publishing house. She sent me the review of my novel and was also letting me know that my contract was currently being drafted. The excitement I had was quickly matched by my nerves at having to read a professional review. I don't know what to expect. I'm open to revisions but criticism.... I know, I know, get over it, silly. This is a good thing. I've been accepting rejection letters for about a year now, maybe longer, with considerable aplomb. Someone wants to publish my story. So, I need to suck it up and see what she has to say about making this the best novel it can be.

Yay!

Waiting

I heard from the president of the publishing company. She agrees with her staff that the novel is publishable. She feels there are some re-writes needed. She also explained a little about her company and how they work. I'm waiting for their reviews so I can look into revisions. I was thinking of printing out the manuscript. I like to work with hard copies when editing. I mostly read on the monitor while I'm at work because it's easier. But it is different reading on the screen versus on paper. Of course, that's over 200 pages and I have no ink at work (j/k. Of course I wouldn't print something of that size at work....).

I also picked up my Idiot's Guide to Getting Published I bought a couple years ago. There's a section about what happens when someone says "yes." I had stopped reading before then. Now, I'm just making sure I understand the language of what's coming next, what happens with a sit-down.

I haven't been writing too much. I was going over the first vamp novel, the one I submitted, making a few changes here and there. The psychic one is at a bit of a standstill. I've already began an outline but I'm stuck. I'm not bored with it, which is a fear, but I think I just don't know what the big events are yet so I don't know how to get to them, if that makes sense. I had also looked at the Book Four in the vamp series. This is what I do when dealing with writer's block: I look at other stories (I'll probably start pulling up stories I started in high school and college. There're also the ideas I had started around the time I was laid-off last year); I read sitcom recaps on TWoP; I think of other story ideas; I read Cyanide & Happiness comics. It's my way of taking my mind off the current plot line, hoping that when I come back I'll have a sense of where I was going.

Stay Calm...

I received an email from the publishing house tonight with positive news. So, I finally finished filing a claim for copyright for the vamp novel. I've been doing a little reconnaissance to figure out my next move. Yay!! that someone wants me. Scratch of the head about being sure I make the right decision. :)