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Feb
25
2011

Treading Water

Ever feel like you’re just treading water? Suspended somewhere in the middle—neither reaching the goal you set nor falling short.

Yep, that’s me right now. Treading water. Suspended in the middle. I have multiple submissions out, some nibbles on each piece and still I bounce around like a buoy in the open water just waiting. I stay afloat by two things—hope and persistence. I hope I’ll find a match for my current submissions soon and I persist with writing new work because even if what I’ve already written never sells, the next thing might.

I wonder how long I’ll have to tread water? Will it be a few more days? A few more weeks? A few more months? Or a few more years? Oh lordy, if it’s a few years, I’m going to need to invest in some good moisturizer for when I finally climb out of the water since my skin is bound to be pruney! But I’ll probably have a rockin’ body by then, huh? There’s always an upside.

So how long did you tread water before you got your first bite—that first sale? Are you still treading? Do you need some moisturizer recommendations because you’re finally climbing out of the water after the long haul? Let me know. I’d love to hear your story!

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Heather

7 pings

  1. Sandra Sookoo says:

    Great post! I think it took almost 11 months before I made my first sale 3 years ago. I wish you the best of luck. even now, I sometimes still feel like I tread water. Between everything that needs to get done, sometimes it feels like I don’t go anywhere. Have a great weekend!

    1. hthurmeier says:

      Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Sandra! I’m so happy to have connected with awesome authors like you because of SSS. I didn’t know you’d only been writing 3 years! You have so many books to choose from I thought you’d been doing this a lot longer!

  2. Shoshanna Evers says:

    I wrote my first novel in 1999. It was absolutely terrible.

    Since I first got published just last year, that means I “treaded water” for 10 years! But ultimately, I got serious about getting published, and that’s what made the difference.

    I didn’t spend those ten years consistently submitting and querying. I queried a few people, got form rejections, and decided just to write for fun so I wouldn’t have to get rejected again.

    I didn’t get the balls to submit my work again until last year, and by then I’d been taking writing classes, writing every day, and had written about a hundred short stories and four novels before I finally decided to start querying again.

    Then it happened pretty quickly after that – two books came out last year with Ellora’s Cave and I’ve got four more slated for this year with Ellora’s Cave, The Wild Rose Press, and Berkley Heat.

    Good luck Heather! Your writing is good, it’s just a matter of time!

    1. hthurmeier says:

      Thanks for the kind words, Shoshanna! It’s hard to remember your success took time too. It feels like it happened so fast! Congrats on all your successes this last year and I wish you many more in the years to come!

  3. Shoshanna Evers says:

    Thanks!

  4. Janet Walters says:

    Persistence is what the name of the game is. Yes I sold the first book I wrote but I revised it seventeen times and submitted it eighteen.

    1. hthurmeier says:

      That’s some dedication, Janet!

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