Holding on to sanity
Sep. 11th, 2024 04:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
It sounds weird to say this, but the only way I'm holding onto my sanity right now is by thinking about self-publishing Novel #5 if querying doesn't work out.
Technically, I have a revision plan for Novel #4, but I've been extremely unmotivated to work on the novel. Deep down, I can't shake the thought of "what's the point?"
I think maybe I'll start revising Novel #4 at the end of this year or beginning of next year, so I can try querying it if Novel #5 dies in the query trenches. But given that Novel #4 was on wide submission to editors, I feel even less hopeful about its chances of landing an agent than Novel #5.
I know there's an audience for Novel #5, even if agents/editors don't agree. I'm willing to try to capture that audience through self-publishing if querying fails, because I'm so tired of feeling helpless in the face of the publishing industry. If I do self-publish, though, I think I'd want to expand the story (adding 5-10k words), since I currently feel like the third act of the book is a bit rushed due to my efforts to stay under 120k words.
Sigh.
Technically, I have a revision plan for Novel #4, but I've been extremely unmotivated to work on the novel. Deep down, I can't shake the thought of "what's the point?"
I think maybe I'll start revising Novel #4 at the end of this year or beginning of next year, so I can try querying it if Novel #5 dies in the query trenches. But given that Novel #4 was on wide submission to editors, I feel even less hopeful about its chances of landing an agent than Novel #5.
I know there's an audience for Novel #5, even if agents/editors don't agree. I'm willing to try to capture that audience through self-publishing if querying fails, because I'm so tired of feeling helpless in the face of the publishing industry. If I do self-publish, though, I think I'd want to expand the story (adding 5-10k words), since I currently feel like the third act of the book is a bit rushed due to my efforts to stay under 120k words.
Sigh.