The Waiting Game

I belong to a critique group and rwa chapter and see emails or hear phrases like this all the time:

I sent my manuscript to ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_(insert agent/editor)­­__and they stated they will take___(insert any time that seems too long)__to get back to me… should I wait, should I honor their request to not send it out to others, should I email them, the list goes on and on.

My answer and I repeat, my answer (because it is only my opinion) is that if you decide to take the step forward and contact an editor or agent, and they take the time to review your manuscript, then yes you should wait or honor their request to be exclusive (agents wouldn’t really request this but publishers might—although you should always give them a heads up if you are sending it out to multiple agents/editors). It all goes back to the good ‘ol what are you looking for in this relationship? Do you just want to be published? If so, you can do that on your own. But if you are looking for a specific agent or a specific rep, do your homework and have some patience. Patience in life is a virtue, patience in the writing industry can earn you “saint” hood amongst writers. Sounds silly but writing is all about the waiting game.

We write and only with time will we get better. We send off our manuscripts and we wait for responses, only risking the chance that agents or editors can come back with a rejection. But hey, we learn from them once we earn our thick skin and we wait until our manuscript and our skin is ready to do it all over again. Now, this waiting really isn’t about doing nothing of course. It is all about writing and learning while we wait. And once we get our manuscript off and a contract is signed, we wait to see it in online stores or real live bookshelves. And after all that, we wait to see if our readers liked it! Oh but wait, while we are waiting we are promoting to see if that makes a difference in our sales and peaks readers’ interests. Phew, makes you tired just reading it, doesn’t it?

Either way, the wait is worth it and if you are deciding to be a writer, waiting will inevitably be part of your life. It’s important to realize this so that you reach your dreams and not just settle. Of course, there is a chance you are using this waiting as an excuse to not do anything, but that’s a subject for another day. Happy writing everyone!

Filed under: Writer's Life, Writing Topics