I tried not to hyperventilate.Ĭontinued interest, combined with Mindy’s cheerleading emails, ratcheted up my excitement.īy the end of the showcase, I had fourteen agent requests and one editor request. After so much radio silence during the traditional query process, I could not believe that my entry was getting this kind of attention. After the sixth request, Mindy reached out to say that Secret Agent 1616 wanted to see the manuscript… When another request appeared, and then another… I was stunned and overjoyed again.
#RADIO SILENCE SUCCESS STORIES FULL#
What makes you think you can write?īut an early comment, (a compliment and request to see the full manuscript) helped me relax. What if no one likes my entry? My self-doubt (the result of so many unanswered queries) emboldened my inner critic: They made a mistake. Then terror set in: OMG, I’m a finalist! That means I’ll be in the showcase. I basked in that feeling for a full minute. I almost didn’t bother to read the list of finalists. Over the next few days I read Mindy and Michelle’s writing tips and advice on Twitter while convincing myself that my entry didn’t make the cut. Guided by my Kidlit Nation mentor, I then polished and buffed the manuscript until it was ready for submission. This time I took a lyrical approach and reduced the word count by half. Still too long for today’s market, I reworked it again after taking Renee LaTulippe’s Lyrical Language Lab. Originally, it was an 1,800 word prose story. I wrote it for my dad, who grew up on an orchard-filled Virginia farm and had a lifelong love of peach cobbler.
I didn’t think I had a chance against the other 500+ entries, but remembering my 2020 mantra, I crossed my fingers, sent in the book of my heart (PEACHES), and waited. It hit my radar in February, just after a demoralizing PBPitch experience. With zero expectations and loads of insecurity, I set off on my journey. These near-successes led me to an important decision: In 2020, I would go ALL OUT - respond to every critique giveaway, enter every Twitter pitch event, sub to as many contests as possible, enroll in the Gold membership in Julie Hedlund’s 12×12 Picture Book Challenge, and query with abandon. I got an encouraging rejection, won a 10 minute “ask anything” call with an agent, and was selected for the Kidlit Nation Picture Book Mentorship. I embraced online critique groups and tinkered with social media.
I took courses and attended conferences, workshops and webinars.
I set my fiction writing aside.Īfter my first grandchild was born, I dove back in. I saw them as near-misses, failures that signaled: this dream is not meant to be. I didn’t know that near-successes mean: keep going. When I had near-successes, I didn’t know what to think. There was no #kidlit, no #writingcommunity, no 12×12 Facebook page. But back then, supportive online writing groups did not exist. Four years ago, I got serious about writing fiction.
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