I have signed up to attend the Minnesota Writing Workshop on February 11, 2017. It's in St. Paul, so a good three and a half hour drive from where I live. It's a workshop on how to get published, and it will last all day.
I've never been to a writing workshop before. It seems exciting and scary, all at once. This is me, putting myself out there, learning more about writing, and taking my wish to be a published author seriously.
I don't know what to expect. It's months off, and I know I have ample time to figure out what it's going to be like and everything. I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to wear. I'm not paying to meet one on one with an agent. It's already pretty costly as it is, and paying extra seemed like too much. Although, as I write that, I'm feeling that pang of worry. Maybe I should have paid that little bit more. I expect I can always change that in the near future if I do decide that I should do it. I'll sleep on it at least.
Anyway, I'm excited. I hope the weather allows me to get there safely and without anxiety. I hope the roads are not too scary to drive down in St. Paul. I seem to have inherited my mother's fear of busy roads. Just another thing to get past.
I will continue to query agents between now and then. I have heard mixed thoughts about querying agents over the holidays. Some people say it's a great idea, the agents can print off copies and read them at home (which doesn't really seem like a vacation to me...). Others point out that it's right after NaNo, which I did not win this year, and agents will be flooded with queries of unpolished books. I plan to just continue querying as I have been. Sending out four or five queries a week, and trying not to take the rejection emails too hard. I've changed my query letter once, but I really do think it's a good query letter. Maybe my book itself is just not what these agents are looking for. So I will keep looking until I find the one who sees what I see in my book.
Meanwhile, I will plan for this writing workshop, and keep going on my new book. I want to get published, and some day I will. Hopefully with this book, but if not, then with another. Someday I will be a published author. I just need to put in the work.
