2023 in Review
What a year! As with every year, there were ups and downs. But wow, did this year in my writing journey bring me many, many ups!
“The New Year has arrived, may your fears fade away, your strength grow and your dreams come true.”
-Author unknown
At the end of 2022, I was asked to join a critique group. And saying yes, was single handedly the best decision I had made for my writing career yet. Before I went public with my writing, or had a critique group, I was sending out queries and manuscripts to literary agents with ZERO other eyes on them! NOOOOOO! Ha the funny thing is, many authors tell me they started their journey this way. But if you are new to this, I’m telling you, the more eyes on your manuscripts, the better! I will share more about that another time. For now, let’s stick to all the WINS of 2023.
So by early 2023 my critique group was at 3 people and we were thinking of adding a fourth. I came across another writer on Twitter and we had add some earlier contact and she seemed perfect as our fourth member. Short story… I asked, she said yes, and the rest is history! We have a STRONG, brilliant, hilarious group of four women that have become my instant besties and writing partners for life. We talk daily, (usually all day :)), and have a respect for each other and our writing that I am eternally grateful for. One day, we will meet in person and I CANNOT wait for that day.
Moving along, I took another leap forward in my writing journey by attending my first ever SCBWI conference in May. YAY for spending a whole weekend with like-minded people who cheer you on, want to help you grow, and give you the tools to help you succeed! (Plus TWO whole nights in a hotel room by myself… NO kids! Ummm yes, please.) It was the exact thing I needed at the time, to recharge. This conference came with the opportunity to read two manuscripts in front of a small group of other writers AND a literary agent! Was I nervous? TERRIFIED. The group critiques your manuscript and gives feedback. I had never done anything like this before (remember, this is still when I hadn’t even told my family I was a writer yet!). The first table read went well. It was with a big time literary agent who is known to be TOUGH. And, she was. I read a humorous manuscript that was given some great feedback, as well as some harder critiques. The second table read was with a literary agent I had my eye on from Twitter and believed she would be a great fit for me. She seemed to really enjoy the manuscript I read at her table, and I got up the courage to ask her if I could send her my revisions. She said yes! The following week, I worked hard on that manuscript and sent it to her, holding my breath! Fast forward a couple months, and she asked for MORE! HUGE WIN! This is called a “full request.” So, with the help of my amazing critique partners, I put together a package and sent her 3 more manuscripts. And waited, and waited, and waited. :)
Fast forward to another big step (or leap) I took in 2023 was TELLING MY FAMILY (and friends!). In the summer, I felt I was “getting close” to my next big step in my writing journey (getting an agent) so I thought it was time to share what I had been up to for a little over a year. Telling the news went well. They were surprised. They didn’t really understand the steps of publishing (which no one really does unless you’re in it, and even then it’s still a complicated mess ha). I actually started by saying, “I write picture books.” and my mom (bless her), said, “Picture books? Like you put together photo albums?” So a little more explanation was needed :)
It felt good to finally share, and not long after this, I went public with more family and friends. But as every writer would also understand, it comes with a lot of questions that we usually can’t answer:
When will your book come out?
Why is it taking so long?
Have you heard from that agent?
Why did the editor say no?
How long until you have a deal?
What’s going on with your book stuff?
Etc.
It’s good they ask questions, but they are questions we can’t always answer. My answer is usually something like: “I have no idea, I promise I’ll keep you posted.” haha
And moving on to a very exciting win, was when I was chosen for the #pitchme contest in September. This is a contest two authors put together to showcase a writer’s manuscript to agents and editors. Writers are to submit a query, a pitch and the first 70 words of a manuscript. I submitted my lockdown story and was chosen to be in the showcase! I was THRILLED! However… something else was going to happen that SAME WEEK that wouldn’t qualify me to be in the showcase….
THE BIGGEST WIN of 2023….. landing my amazing agent. This will be a whole other blog post (plus an upcoming interview I will share soon!), but yes, the same week I was chosen to be in the #PitchMe showcase, I was also offered representation by my literary agent. WHAT A WEEK! When you receive an offer of representation, you need to let all other outstanding queries with agents know you have an offer and give them usually two weeks to make an offer or step aside. I had that “full” out with the agent from the conference and a few other cold queries. I received another “full” from one of the agents as well after I nudged her with my news about an offer. But in the end, I signed with Bethany Jett, the offering agent, YAY! And so I had to step out of the showcase for PitchMe as that is for unagented writers only.
Moving forward again (WITH AN AGENT), I officially went on sub in early November with my lockdown story. We have received 4 passes so far (that’s okay, and normal!). So we wait, and wait, and wait some more.
I also asked my agent to send my Christmas manuscript to an editor who I believed would love it based off his manuscript wishlist on Twitter. He responded very quickly with positive feedback and some suggestions to make the manuscript even stronger, so I worked on those in December and we sent the revised manuscript back to him just before Christmas break and hoping to hear his thoughts soon! (Alert: DREAM EDITOR, so fingers crossed please!!!).
Let’s hope 2024 starts with some AMAZING NEWS!
Thanks for making it this far! There’s my big wins of 2023. So much to be thankful for and excited about!! Did I have downs as well, absolutely- agent rejections, contest losses, editor passes, etc. BUT let’s focus on the good! It was a great year in my book, and I KNOW, 2024 is going to be INCREDIBLE… I mean 20 is my second favorite number and if you know me well… 12 is kind of an obsession and 12+12 is 24 so I mean, duh, 2024…. MY YEAR!! ;)
Stay tuned!
