Steps to (not) Becoming a Successful Author

1. Participate in SFFPit.

2. Assume no one will like your tweets.

3. Someone does.

4. Find out you need a synopsis.

5. Panic.

I know better, I really do. To really become a successful author, you should have a variety of things ready.

I used to always have, shiny, and ready to go:

1. A strong query letter.

2. An outline.

3. A 4 page synopsis

4. A 1 page synopsis

5. The first 50 pages.

6. The first 3 chapters, since sometimes 50 pages and three chapters are not the same thing.

I did go through the #SFFpit tag and look to see who got liked…not out of envy, but to see what kind of tweets caught people’s interest in case I wanted to do it again. I liked the idea that you could set things up and walk away, so it might be worth trying. There are several kinds…I think one called #pitmass is coming up, and Pitmad.

So, now to write and re-write, and polish like crazy, a one page synopsis and hope that I can still come off looking like a serious professional worth investing time and effort in. Wish me luck?