Happy May everybody!!

So I reckon now is as good a time as any to announce it.

I am officially out on submission!

 

For those of my faithful followers who don’t know what that means–I’m looking at you Mom and Dad–being out on submission just means that my wonderful agent has officially started sending my book out to editors to see if any will bite. Now before I start getting a constant influx of emails and messages asking for daily updates, be forewarned that this submission process can take a long time and result in a lot of rejection (she says cheerily so readers can’t sense her true pain). It could be weeks, probably more like months, before I hear from any of these editors, and if I’m being realistic those responses will most likely be rejections.

That’s a lot of time to dedicate to moping around and waiting for several editors to send your agent a big, fat (but polite) NO. And that’s just the first round!

So, being my proactive self, I decided to get a jump on how to use this submission time without stressing about the fact that my future lies in the hands of a bunch of strangers who may or may not even read past the query letter.

Enter the ever-helpful and knowledgeable GOOGLE. All I had to do was type in “what to do while on submission,” and a plethora of articles and answers popped up. I basically kept getting the same list of productive tasks to help distract me while I wait.

1. Start working on your next book.
2. Focus on your online platform and social media.
3. Pour yourself into a new hobby–preferably one that leaves you too exhausted or busy or excited to worry about what editor is reading you manuscript right now
4. Find something to relax you, like yoga or meditation.

With this list in mind, I was ready to start the most productive weekend of my life, hopefully the first of many while my manuscript is out in the cosmos.

Now let me give you a quick rundown of how this weekend really went…

1. Binge-watch Full House. All day.
2. Create a list of chores to clean the apartment…and then fail to do any of them because you’re too busy watching Full House.
3. Start a week of Star Wars movies each night, counting down to one of the best days of the year.

So yeah, that weekend wasn’t near as productive as I thought it would be. Unless you count indulging childhood nostalgia with the Tanner family as relaxing (which I kind of do to be honest).

At the very least, my life did manage to revolve around my phone–though it wasn’t exactly for platform and social media purposes. Instead, my phone was devoted to one incredibly important thing.

By the way, if you haven’t started playing the new Harry Potter game on your phone, do so with caution. It will dictate your life and time-management ability. But it’s also really fun and addictive.

So yeah. Not exactly the weekend I’d planned, but considering I barely even thought about the whole submission process all weekend I would call it a resounding success. And maybe next weekend I’ll be able to get some actual writing done–especially since I’m now on the last season of Full House–and get into a new hobby that doesn’t include the new Harry Potter game or binge-watching Netflix for nearly 48 hours straight.

In the meantime, wish me luck. I’ve got a long way to go, and while this first week-and-a-half hasn’t been so bad there’s no telling what the next few months are going to be like. Who knows, maybe I’ll get through the entire Family Matters and Step by Step series too.

Have you been through the submission process or know someone who has? Got any ideas on how to pass the time (productively or not-so-productively, I’m not picky)? I would appreciate any and all advice. Or if you just want to drop a line to say hello! This is a community, and I’d love to hear from you and get to know you a bit.

Hope you all have a great week!

Shannon