Hurry up and wait

The first thing you need to know about getting published is that the process is best described as interminably long stretches of boredom and anxiety, punctuated by moments of panic and frantic activity. And this applies to the whole process, not just the submission part.

Most people who want to be professionally published figure out pretty quickly that the submission process is the poster child for hurry-up-and-wait. You get your submission package together (meaning, whatever the publisher...