There should be a word for the time a memoir excerpt (or any piece of work) is accepted for publication and the time it is released.
Maybe there is and I don’t know it. I know the feeling, though. Think of a deep chasm. In outer space. Loads of space and time to think about what could or could not happen.
The best practice for any author is to continue writing. Because sometimes the work doesn’t get published. As was the case with my first contract for my MS “Salmon.” But that’s another post for another day. While this contractual hiccup occurs often, a writer without perseverance and persistence withers, withdraws and sometimes becomes paralyzed from rejection.
While rejection stings, the more I learn about the publishing business, the less hung up I am on the rejection.
But. Today. There will be no “This is good, not great” rejections. Today, January 8, 2016, an excerpt titled “Pas de Deux” from my unpublished memoir, “Hurricanes, Handcuffs, Pepper Spray, and Scrambled Eggs” did get published.
Here’s how my memoir excerpt got published.
On August 19, 2014, I entered a free memoir writing contest on Womens Memoirs. Part of the submission process was, if accepted, that I work with its writing guide, Writing Alchemy. Eager to learn and hungry to be published, I agreed. The contest had numerous topics to choose from, Coming of Age, Education, First Love, Aging, Marriage, etc. But I submitted in its Wild Card category instead where the boundaries of a few topics merged. I titled my 1,334-word story, “Reckless Love” and hit “send.”
February 1, 2015, after the initial acceptance, of which I can’t remember the date, I read Writing Alchemy, rewrote my story, and then resubmitted “Do White Lies Really Matter?”
April 6, 2015, my submission was accepted to be included in the anthology TALES OF OUR LIVES. Author and editor, Matilda Butler, helped me understand that the piece was not about white lies, (although there is one little lie about a hotel in Jerusalem). After much thought, I came up with the title “Pas de Deux.”
Insert that deep chasm I mentioned earlier.
On November 9, 2015, I received an email from Matilda. The release date for TALES would be January 8, 2016. The response and submissions were so intriguing, Matilda created two volumes, TALES OF OUR LIVES: FORK IN THE ROAD and TALES OF OUR LIVES, REFLECTION POND.
Today, January 8, my excerpt, “Pas de Deux” is available on Amazon in TALES OF OUR LIVES: FORK IN THE ROAD.
This is a two-volume anthology of award-winning, inspiring, women’s true stories told from perspectives that illuminate our diverse lives (WomensMemoirs). For the first 53 hours, you can buy both on Amazon for $.99 each. Each day thereafter, the prices increase $1 every 53 hours until it reaches its final selling price of $3.99. You don’t have to buy both, though, but I hope you do.
As a bonus, both volumes include a free copy of the newly expanded version of the Introduction to Writing Alchemy— the methodology originally explained in Writing Alchemy: How to Write Fast and Deep, the approach I used to rewrite my story.
I hope you enjoy reading these inspiring true stories. And I look forward to hearing from you soon.
TALES OF OUR LIVES: FORK IN THE ROAD
TALES OF OUR LIVES: REFLECTION POND
If you need a link for a country outside the US, let me know!
