Thursday, January 12, 2012

Start The Year Off With A Bang


I’m not a fan of resolutions. It’s not their fault, they’re a great concept but the New Year has never been a big event for me. I tend to just continue on with whatever goals or aspirations I had in the previous year.

Exciting stuff, right?

That being said, I’ve been reading a new book called The Seven Secrets of the Prolific by Hillary Rettig. It’s actually targeted to perfectionist writers and overcoming writing blocks etc but it has some great content that I think any writer would find beneficial. For example, Hillary offers strategies for dealing with rejections and my particular favorite was by Chris Offutt whose goal was a hundred rejections a year (pretty impressive, don’t you think?). And just like that rejection became a cause for celebration for Chris because it brought him that much closer to his goal. I thought that was quite ingenious and a great example of the impact of perception. I don’t know about you but I’d much rather open a bottle of champagne and toast my latest R than curl up in the corner and try to bite anyone who comes too close. Of course, celebrating rejections might feel like you’ve gone too far so instead celebrate the heck out of the submitting. I know I do. Just try and stop me.

Anyway, although it's not quite a resolution (because I haven't yet calculated how many Rs I want this year ;-) ), I do plan to take the time to celebrate each submission with a bit of extra flare.

And speaking of things to celebrate, we’re exactly twelve days into the new year and already exciting opportunities are popping up. VERY exciting opportunities. So hold onto your keyboards for this list:

  • Harlequin Heartwarming – Harlequin’s NEW category line. That’s right, a NEW line. If your voice fits, it’s a great opportunity to become a new Harlequin author.
  • Dead Sexy – Entangled Publishing has a NEW imprint and are calling all romantic suspense authors to step up and wow them. Another great opportunity to break out this year.
  • RARE Submission Call – Executive Editor of Carina Press, Angela James is looking to acquire for 2012. Don’t miss this.
  • Pitch Your Shorts – Entangled Publishing has at least SIX editors standing by to acquire at Jami Gold between now and January 16th.
  • YAtopia Pitch Competition – EIGHT Entangled Publishing editors are participating in this one and it’s open for a 24 hours period on January 25th.


Phew. So who’s participating in what?

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13 comments:

Jackie Ashenden said...

Great post, Lacey! I really like that idea of having rejections as a goal. That really does put a different spin on it. Maybe I should set myself up for a goal of 20 Rs this year. :-)

Unknown said...

Happy New Year Lacey (better late than never!). I've never thought about celebrating rejections, but it's one way of handling the doubts and feelings of having failed - a positive spin has to be a good one! Hope 2012 is a great one for you.

Olivia Miles said...

Great post, Lacey! Not sure I could ever celebrate an R but I do agree on celebrating a submission of any kind. I also love the list of "possibilities" you put together. Let's hope 2012 has many more where those came from!

Caroline said...

Ohhh thanks Lacey. I'm off to check them out! Caroline x

Jami Gold said...

Thanks for spreading the news about the pitch session with Entangled at my blog! I appreciate it. :)

Marcy said...

I had no idea there was a new line at HQ. Thanks for the info! Off to check it out.

Talli Roland said...

Lots of great stuff happening this year, it seems. Yay! Happy 2012!

Suzanne Ross Jones said...

Oooh, a writing book I haven't read. Great stuff :0)

Thanks for these terrific links.

XX

Lacey Devlin said...

Jackie - I really liked that too :) Claim your rejection power!

Susie - Thanks! I hope 2012 is a great one for you too and may you get get none of the rejections you want to achieve and all of the publications ;-)

Olivia - I've already found a couple more opportunities! I hope that the rest of 2012 has as many too.

Lacey Devlin said...

Caroline - You're welcome :)

Jami - Thanks for hosting it!

Marcy - It's very exciting, isn't it?

Talli - Thanks for stopping by!

Lacey Devlin said...

Suzanne - I hope you find The Seven Secrets of the Prolific helpful. I really enjoyed it. Hillary also does workshops that I think could be really interesting. I just need to be able to clone myself...

Wendy S. Marcus said...

Some great stuff here, Lacey! I think I'm going to check out Entangled Publishing. I've heard wonderful things about them!

And don't forget the medical romance pitch contest coming in February!!!!

Sally Clements said...

fantastic post, Lacey!






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