Steps

Dear Readers:
This successful writing endeavor was supposed to take several years. Thus far, it has stretched into six and I am still learning and fine-tuning. Advice from those experienced, famous authors stress that the magic formula to publication involves about a dozen things:

  • You need to begin getting your feet wet by taking creative writing classes.
  • Next comes reading all sorts of genres including some that have never appealed to you.
  • You need to attend writers’ conferences and glad hand other writers, pitch to agents, and rub elbows with editors.
  • You need to polish up your image by blogging and chatting on Facebook, Twitter, and other writer’s blogs.
  • You need to enter contests, perfect your synopses and query letters and research agents to contact and then start sending out those letters and electronic messages.
  • And, when things seem dull or slow or listless, you need to keep writing. 

I am proud to say I have done all of the above, some more extensively than others and appear to be reaping some rewards. What are these? If you go to my home page, you will see a new header “published items” with links to the pieces I’ve had published in 2013 – one in a literary magazine and a second in a writers’ periodical. This is an encouraging milestone which prompts me to keep working. The plot thickens.