So I Wrote a Novel

Yes, that's right.  I wrote a romance novel.  It's over 90,000 words and it was written within thirty-two days between August and September of this year.  I've edited the poor thing to death and now, it's very nearly ready to be sent out to a publisher, so why haven't I?  Well, two reasons.

One:  I want someone who is very good at red-penning to look over it.  I do have someone in mind, but I obviously need to pay this person for their services.

Two:  Well, this is my real holdup.  I'm too chicken to get it out there.

Oh sure, in the real world, in the every day situations, I'm brave and can get around and do what needs to be done.  When it comes to really putting myself out there and exposing my work to people, I get to the point where I feel like I may vomit all over some poor individual's shoes.

My husband, God bless him, keeps telling me to just bite the bullet and get it out there.  He constantly whispers words of encouragement - Harper Collins and Simon & Schuster - into my ear.  Bless his heart, he just has no idea.  There's query letters and full story synopsis to write.  Then there's the issue of the large publishing houses requesting that a literary agent "sell" your book.  That's all fine and good, but there's still no guarantee with a literary agent.  I know what you're thinking; it all sounds like lame excuses, right?  You are correct, my friend!

There's always the smaller publishing houses that are willing to take on new authors.  There's also the self-publishing route.  So what's stopping me from traveling down those roads?

Remember the chicken?

Disney's Chicken Little

I have to figure out how to rid myself of the fear.  In The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho wrote, “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”   There it is.  It's not really fear of my own failure as a writer - I've written for myself for decades.  It's the fear of failing the reader.

Have you ever read a review before reading a book?  Some readers can be very cruel in their review and it isn't always the good reviews we pay attention to.  It's the people that we fear failing that cause the trepidation.  The truth is, you can't satisfy everyone.  Trying to do so is insane.  You can't make everyone happy.

So what am I going to do now?  Probably sit on it a while longer until I get up enough courage to just get it out there.  Call me "Chicken!"