There isn't much it compares with. Let me think....
After years of rejection letters clogging my mailbox like they were multiplying inside that small metal space, I heard the words I had begun to think would elude me forever:
"We want to offer you a contract on your book."
Tears flooded my eyes, unbidden. Me, the person who has never cried openly in a movie theater. I collapsed on the nearest chair and started to tremble. I ran screaming through the house after I hung up.
The woman might as well have slapped "APPROVED!" across my forehead with an oversized rubber stamp. In red. I was validated.....finally.
I can't explain why I needed that validation from a traditional publisher. I know I'm a good writer. I've gotten plenty of positive feedback from other writers and from educated people I respect. But I decided that this manuscript was going to be my totem, the visible mark of my worth as a writer. I threw all my energy into it and to its marketing.
"We want to offer you a contract on your book!" And I only had to wait several decades to hear it.
Yes, it was worth it.
- Will you marry me?
- You're going to have a baby!
- I want to offer you the job.
- I'm going to let you off with a warning....
After years of rejection letters clogging my mailbox like they were multiplying inside that small metal space, I heard the words I had begun to think would elude me forever:
"We want to offer you a contract on your book."
Tears flooded my eyes, unbidden. Me, the person who has never cried openly in a movie theater. I collapsed on the nearest chair and started to tremble. I ran screaming through the house after I hung up.
The woman might as well have slapped "APPROVED!" across my forehead with an oversized rubber stamp. In red. I was validated.....finally.
I can't explain why I needed that validation from a traditional publisher. I know I'm a good writer. I've gotten plenty of positive feedback from other writers and from educated people I respect. But I decided that this manuscript was going to be my totem, the visible mark of my worth as a writer. I threw all my energy into it and to its marketing.
"We want to offer you a contract on your book!" And I only had to wait several decades to hear it.
Yes, it was worth it.
Ink and paper are sometimes passionate lovers, oftentimes brother and sister, and occasionally mortal enemies. ~Terri Guillemets
By the way, congratulations on getting a contract on your book, Deborah! I read this a while back, but didn't comment! I'm curious about what happens next in this part of your life. Do things happen slowly after the exciting phone call?
ReplyDeleteMartha McKie