Patty Mayeux Blog

Last week we talked about the upward swing of Ns, even when they stand for NOs. What about a Maybe? In the publishing world, a very crowded pool is filled with debut authors who splash and scream, asking the lifeguard to notice them, see them, respect them, choose them to be pulled from the churning waters. We submit cold query letters to agents after diligently researching bulging databases. It’s a numbers game but also a marathon of tenacity and resilience against the rejections, gentle though they may be. As I deepen my craft to create the best book I can, I also strengthen my persistence muscles and thicken my skin. All will be needed when the time comes for a maybe; an agent asking for the full manuscript. Celebrations and horrors in the same breath, for the truth of your work will be exposed. It’s turning in your theme paper, the one that will make or break your final grade, but one hundred times worse. Will it be returned, slashed with the red pen to bleeding? Probably not, but it might be rejected. Then what? Stand on that Maybe in the midst of all the NOs and catch a glimpse of the illusive YES. Persist. It will happen.