Buckle Up ... It's Going to be a Bumpy Ride!

“Come in and make yourself comfortable.”

I blinked. Comfortable? With sweat on my palms and an eye twitching to the beat of my pulse?? Dear God, why had I switched deodorants???

She closed the door with an ominous click and extended her hand. “I’m Zsa Zsa Gabor (name changed to protect the innocent), Acquisitions Editor for Steeple Mountain.

And you are …”

A basket case … on her first conference pitch ever. I swallowed hard. “Lessman, Julie Lessman.

She nodded and settled in on a worn paisley couch with all the grace and dignity of a queen on her throne. “Tell me about your manuscript,” she said.

I sucked in a deep breath, genuflected in my mind, and let it fly … “Well, you see, it’s a story about an Irish-Catholic family in pre-World War I …”

She extended her hand in the air, palm facing me, and for a moment I thought she was going to do the princess wave. The air fused in my throat when I realized she was halting my spiel. “I’m sorry, we can’t have Catholicism in our stories …”

And there you have it. My maiden pitch to an editor … a glorious seven seconds long! I went back to my hotel room and did what I’d been doing all conference long—cried my heart out and wanted to quit. God help me, the room maid had to think I was pilfering Kleenex!

Nobody ever told me what a bumpy ride it would be on the road to publication. No one ever mentioned that it’s truly an exercise in humility and perseverance that few have the stomach for. That it takes a unique individual to even try. All you know at the time is that you have this story burning a hole in your heart and you want to get it out. You want to pour your passion—for God and for writing—onto paper and … well, yeah, get paid for it.

So you buckle up and grit your teeth, and keep your eyes riveted to the road as you embark on a journey that has more pit stops (as in “in the pits”) than the Indy 500. And, regrettably, the bumpy ride doesn’t end when you are finally published, at least not for me. But with God’s voice on my GPS (“Turn right at the next 1-star review and pray till you get to Forgiveness Lane …”), you plot out a route for publication that hopefully won’t have you driving in circles.

Over the last few months, I have had a number of new writers ask me what advice I can give them as far as traveling the road to publication. The only thing I have to offer is the road map that worked for me, which I have outlined below. But I invite the other Seeker authors (or any authors who read this blog) to chime in regarding their own personal path to print. Let's share the wealth of tips for the many excellent writers out there just waiting for that one, wonderful green light...

Mile Mark1er #1: Get connected. This is the FIRST piece of advice I ever received, and it’s some of the best. I joined RWA, ACFW and FHL and trolled their Web sites for “travel tips” on my way to publication. I joined an ACFW crit group and made wonderful friends and partners in writing. I networked with fellow writers, whether on a blog post or in crit groups or book clubs or at conferences. And I was blessed enough to fall in to this wonderful group of talented ladies called The Seekers, and the blessings have been phenomenal! Not only do you acquire AMAZING friends, but you interact with fellow writers and are able to draw upon their wealth of talent, humor, support, expertise and publishing savvy.

Mile Marker #2: Improve your craft. I took a fiction-writing class at my community college, then attended several writing seminars and conferences. I also purchased tons of writing and self-editing books and studied them like crazy. Books such as Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King or Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maas and The Synonym Finder by Rodale Press (my writer’s bible!!) have proved invaluable. I submitted my work to my crit partners, entered contests for feedback, purchased paid critiques at conference—all of which helped me to grow as a writer.

Mile Marker #3: Enter contests. As far as testing the waters of publication, I think contests are absolutely essential. They helped me to obtain insightful feedback, some name recognition, WONDERFUL friends and toughened me up a lot … which, trust me, comes in handy when you get 1-star reviews!!

Mile Marker #4: Go for an agent first, publisher second. I spent two years and about 31 rejections on unagented queries to publishers, some of which took as long as three years to reply. In fact, within six months of signing with my agent, I sold to a publisher who STILL had an unagented proposal (requested from me at a conference) lost somewhere in their very deep slush pile!

Mile Marker #5: Pray your guts out and stand on Scripture. This is pretty much the most important step, in my humble opinion, so I have a habit of posting “billboard” Scriptures that help me along the way. Here’s a listing that I put together, along with prayers for each. Pick one or two to tape to your computer or print the whole list off and keep it in your Bible. Either way, I hope they fortify you as much as they fortify me. And I wish each of you much success and a safe journey on the road less traveled!

Psalm 90:17
May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us;
establish the work of our hands for us –
yes, establish the work of our hands.

Oh, God, pour out your favor as we send proposals,
enter contests, submit stories to magazines, etc. and grant us favor and success
in all we set our hand to. Establish the work of our hands
so that we may honor You.

Psalm 45:1
My tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.

Father, pour out Your grace and wisdom
as we strive to honor You with the gift you have given us.
Let our tongues, our hearts, and our minds be the pens of a skillful writer,
and let our words always be worthy of You.

Matthew 6:21
For where your treasure is, there your
heart will be also.

Dear Lord, Let our treasure not
be in getting published or the plot of our next book,
but let it be first and foremost in You,
the true joy of our heart.

Psalm 119:116
Sustain me according to your promise,
and I will live. Do not let my hopes be dashed.

Thank you, Oh Lord, that hope does
not disappoint. And thank you, Oh God, that You
are the God of Hope. This day and always,
I rest my hopes in You,
for I know you watch over both them
and me ... to bear fruit.

Psalm 143:10
Teach me to do Your will,
for You are my God; may Your good Spirit
lead me on level ground.

As we strive to do Your will, Oh Lord,
keep us steady and strong, humble on the heights
and lifted up in the valleys. But wherever the
path of our life shall take us,
keep our faith, always, on level ground.

Psalm 71:14
But as for me, I will always have hope;
I will praise You more and more.

Dear Lord, as we press on to become the writers
you want us to be, fill us to overflowing with Your hope.
And may our lips never cease their joyful
song of praise to You,
our God.

Micah 4:2
He will teach us His ways,
so that we may walk in His path ...

Heavenly Father, precious Holy Spirit and dear Lord Jesus,
thank You that You not only have a path for
each of us, but a plan to equip us to
walk it. Let your Word, oh Lord,
be a lamp unto our feet and
a light unto our path.

Psalm 138
The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me;
Your love, O Lord, endures forever –
do not abandon the works of Your hands.

Thank you that you have a plan and a purpose for each of us.
Fulfill Your purpose for us -- strengthen us, fine-tune us, humble us
and guide us to be the writers You have called us to be.
That we, the works of Your hand, O Lord,
may serve You with ours!

Proverbs 16:9
In his heart a man plans his course,
but the Lord determines his steps.

Lord, prepare us for your plan, your steps for our lives.
Help us to keep focused on You
as we walk the path You have for us.

Hebrews 10:35-39
Therefore, do not throw away your
confidence, which has a great reward. For you
have need of endurance so that when you have done
the will of God, you may receive what is promised ...
my righteous one shall live by faith, and if
he shrinks back, my soul has no
pleasure in him.

Lord, even though we suffer
rejection and disappointment in our
dream of wanting to write for You, please
give us endurance and hope so we
will not shrink back from
all you have planned.

Isaiah 40:31
Those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run
and not grow weary, they will walk and
not be faint.

Renew us, O Lord, from
the fatigue of the day, the oppression of
the world and the heaviness of
our obligations. Let our spirits and souls be
filled to overflowing with Your hope
and Your strength.

2nd Corinthians 11:3
But I am afraid, lest as the serpent
deceived Eve by his craftiness, your mind
should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of
devotion to Christ.

Dear Lord, before our families,
before our jobs, before our writing ...
let our devotion be to Christ,
pure and simple. And let the effect be seen ...
in our families, our jobs, our writing,
and our lives.