Diligence in the Publishing Process

Some days are much more difficult than others to have diligence in the publishing process. After a long day of a crying, cranky toddler, it seems much more difficult to write chapter summaries and book summaries for publishers and literary agents. Instead of swimming in a refreshing pool of creating a story that people will someday love, I feel as though I'm wandering through a desert, parched and weary.

The process of condensing your entire book into a few paragraphs is some of the most difficult writing and editing I've ever had to do. All the little details that make the book engaging, unique, funny, touching, and lovable are tossed to the wayside to provide overarching themes and plot ideas. The characters I loved creating and spending time with as I wrote the book are diminished into mere names and place holders at times. It's honestly painful.

After this painful process of eloquently summarizing something I've come to truly love, I have to take a few deep breaths and hit the send button to a complete stranger who will rip it to shreds. If they don't like what I've said in my email body, they may not even read the summaries I've painstakingly created. My proposal will be put in the trash without ever being looked at.

Diligence. To keep pressing on.

To be quite honest, sometimes I wonder why I'm spending hours preparing various proposals to be sent off to publishing companies and literary agents that may never even be read. Is it a waste of time? My answer comes in the form of a comment from one of my test readers and dearest friends. When she finished reading my latest novel, Defiant, she looked at me square in the face and said, "I've read Christian books before. There's those books, and then there's your's. Your book is going to encourage people's faith."

I needed that simple reminder of what I've always told myself. If my book can encourage just one person, then all the time and effort was worth it. However, if it is published and can encourage many more, then I need to try. And keep trying. It is never a waste to encourage another.

Diligence. Persistance.

Faith that God will use what I've written with the talent He gave me in whatever way He chooses.

With that... back to the grindstone! My prize for finishing this latest round of proposals is getting to start on my new novel. Oh, to be creative again :)