or, a very indirect and meandering review of 2022, and a topsy-turvy possibly unhealthy expectation of how 2023 could turn out
I have read more than 27 books in past years, but only by a few. Is this bragging? No. I am a sloooow reader, and I know there are people out there who have read way more books than me, and, likewise, people out there who have read less. When I told Brian that I only read 27 books this year, he said, “It’s not about how many books you read, Jen.” Uh, yeah it is. Okay, no it really isn’t completely about that, but it partly is. I am trying to be a writer, here. I’m trying to get better at writing all the time by writing as much as I can which is pretty much as much as I want to. (If you read that sentence closely you may not be able to see that I’m improving my writing skills, so don’t read too closely!*) The other way a writer becomes better at their craft is by also reading a ton, though, and I’m not sure that I’m reading enough. In essence, I need to read like it’s my job right now. It is my job!* And goodness, I’m not sure that I’m writing enough either!* Take this blog for instance… when was the last time I posted? Really, only time will tell if I’m getting better or not. Only when I have reached 10,000 hours of practice at my craft can I be considered a master (I’m stealing this information from Malcolm Gladwell, I think)– though I do have an actual master’s degree. Hmm. A master’s degree in writing does not make me a writer. For me, working towards a master’s degree was just a jump start, a kick in the pants to get my little writing legs moving. The work I did for my master’s degree amounted to only a fraction of the hours it takes to truly be excellent at what I do. That work was not in vain– there’s a book project pending that started out as my thesis: Mommy’s Doing Pull-ups in the Basement, Again.
Is writing a book a sign that one is a writer? I hope so.
This fall I finished a draft of the book proposal for this project of mine. Finally, a completed draft of a book proposal!* This is news!* I have been putting this task off for a while now. Over a year ago in a writing workshop I took through the Collegeville Institute in MN, I had a conversation with Lauren Winner, who was the writing guru of the workshop and also a writer I love reading, and she told me then to start writing a book proposal. And I did, half-heartedly, begin. I wrote a draft of the annotated table of contents. But then I went out looking for some book proposal guidelines later last year, and immediately became overwhelmed. A book proposal is a daunting thing. I think I got caught up in the scary details and lost sight of the bigger picture, which at that point was just getting started, just getting some words down on paper. Over a year went by, and I didn’t really finish the effort on the book proposal, until recently.
Recently, I attended a writer’s retreat called Craft and Revision, created and run by three women, including Lauren Winner. So, I had another conversation with her– I really think we might be best friends now– and she asked me if I had written my book proposal… Uh, no. I am really good at talking myself out of doing hard things. Fast forward to the end of the thirty minute phone call, and I had re-dedicated myself to getting it done. LW gave me some advice, and I have followed it. So now I am one step closer to sending it out into the world of publishers.
One of the details of putting together a book proposal I have been hung up on is the Marketing section: putting myself on social media, building a platform, and also proposing ways I’m going to sell this book, ways to promote it. It is basically a small business plan, how I’m going to sell my soul to the devil…. I mean, how I’m going to sell my book my-own-self because traditional publishers these days will not do it for me. This blog is one product of my effort this year to establish some sort of public self, though I’m still stymied on how I’ll grow actual Presence now that I have established my avenues of outreach. There is a whisper of me out there in the world, but it’s not very loud. How do I make it louder? I mean, I could publish a book I guess. But first, I have one more idea. This week, today really, I decided that I also will start a “newsletter” on Substack. It is still in the “Coming soon….” stage. My plan is to duplicate what I post here on my Substack page, which is also called “Pull-ups in the Basement.” Conveniently no one else on Substack has taken that title– a good sign!* My hope is that Substack will help me do a better job spreading the word about how awesome I am and how everyone should want to buy my book. This very post may even be the debut post on my new Substack page. Details forthcoming!*
And so, in a few hours now, 2023 will commence, and from where I’m sitting, I have a view of it that could turn out to be really exciting… or completely demoralizing. My hopes are, that I shop this book out, and though it will be rejected a few times (no writer can be truly successful without a healthy amount of rejection under their belt), it ultimately will be picked up by a good publisher in the coming year. By this time next year, I could be in the throws of making final revisions to the thing!* However, I dread that when I shop this book out, it will be rejected again and again
and again
and again
and again, and that it never gets accepted.
By anyone.
Ever.
Come this time next year, I could be looking into the pit of Now What??!* (otherwise known as Despair).
As I told LW on the phone a few weeks ago, I’m trying to keep my hands open and not cling too strongly to publication at this point. It’s a hard tension to be in. On the one hand, I really want to publish this book. Certainly. It’s a good story. I really like it, and I think others will too. But there are so many other things that have to click into place. So on the other hand, I also have to consider that it may never end up out there, in the world, on the shelves of bookstores and libraries everywhere, and, of course, (scoff) Amazon. The only thing I can do is keep writing, and reading, and pushing myself to do the hard work which could end up in failure…. but could also end up in the success of millions of copies of my book on all the shelves of bookstores and libraries everywhere–, and yes, okay, even Amazon– and maybe even the bestseller list of the NYT!*!*
Here’s to having a balanced perspective on what will happen in 2023!*
*I may need to revise my long-standing opinion that good writers do not use exclamation points.
