6 Steps to Submission Empowerment
Kathryn Craft
Is it possible for “submission” and “empowerment” to sit comfortably together when speaking about traditional publishing? I say yes. Here’s how to set your attitude to survive this rite of passage with your spirit intact.
1. Submission Is an Honor, Not a Chore
Commit to submission whole-heartedly. This is it—you are paving your road to publication! You’ve spent years applying the craft you’ve learned to the story you hope will be your debut novel. Celebrate your efforts by inviting some publishing professionals to the party! Then, use the conventions of submission to make proper introductions between your story and those who can help it meet its readers.
2. A Completed Manuscript Is a Starting Block, Not a Finish Line
Your finished manuscript lets you toe up to the starting line of a different kind of process—and it’s not about your talent. It’s about whether you can find a business partner who sees room for your kind of project in their list and in the marketplace. Setting the expectation that this might be more marathon than sprint will help you conserve energy for the long haul and allow a lovely surprise if the process is short.
This is a question I always pose to my creative writing students. Many are earnest, excited, anxious adults who hope to write a novel. They arrive in the classroom with crisp blank notebooks and their favorite pen (as instructed), but what they really bring are their dreams. They set them down gently in the scarred chairs of the high school geography classroom where we meet.