Please excuse the tired cliche title with a twist. It's just a fancy way of saying that I'm procrastinating out of complete and utter cowardice! Like staring at a closed door when you've always wondered what's on the other side; like wondering what would have happened if you'd asked your boss for that raise, or like the time you didn't invest in that little fledgling company called "Microsoft", I am staring with complete reproach at a manuscript that's ready to go...but I am not!
No matter what you might think, confidence and self-esteem are two different animals. I have all the confidence in the world that I WILL get signed to a book deal someday soon (my magic 8 ball told me so.) BUT - and that's a big but - my lack of self-esteem is perched on my shoulder whispering, "They're going to hate it. You're an amateur and they eat amateurs for breakfast!" If you're a writer, you've had that same little demon on your shoulder a time or two.
Let me give you the scoop: I met a lovely lady at the Willamette conference. She's a published author and a renowned speaker. She agreed to read my book, and if she likes it, she'll give me a good review in a letter of recommendation. Ladies and gentlemen, to a writer, that is a Golden Ticket.
Imagine! A good review is an elephant's foot in the door.
The problem? Am I ever going to be "ready" to send it off to her?
I'd better make my decision fast before the iron cools. *Sigh*
A small piece of advice. Set yourself a deadline. On X day, it goes in the mail. Just one more task to mark off the list. Then it doesn't seem like such an overwhelming task. It takes the self-esteem issue out of it. It doesn't take away the feeling but it relegates the task to a task so you're not so focused on the feeling. At least that's worked for me in the past.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right about contacting her "before the iron cools". She's busy and her offer will expire as she gets busy with her own life, her deadlines, etc.
Best of luck!!
Thank you so much for your advice! I finally sent it off 8/22, but not before staring at the prepared e-mail on my monitor for an hour before pressing "send".
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