I’ll say it right up front. I’m not a patient person. I put covers on my pans of water to get them boiling quicker, and, yes, I watch the pot! Driving in my car, I sweat and swear behind someone on the freeway going the speed limit in the left lane. It is considered a passing lane afterall! In a store, I always count the number of people ahead of me before choosing a checkout line. I’ll even hover sometimes if I know they’ll be opening a new lane.
How in the world I continued writing four plus books, suffering rejection after rejection, before finally selling is beyond me. I think maybe I had hope there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Now I’m wondering.
I’ve been waiting for a decision from my editor on a second book for five weeks. The book is finished, just needs some revisions. (Not the least of which is cutting 100 pps from a 425 pps manuscript, but hey, who’s counting?) I also sent in a proposal for a NASCAR trilogy about three weeks ago.
My editor said they’d have a decision after Memorial Day. I don’t know about you, but to me, that meant within the week after Memorial Day. Well, it’s Friday, and I still haven’t heard anything. I even emailed my editor the other day to tell her about this new blog in the hopes of triggering something. Surprise, nothing!
I scheduled lunch with a friend today to keep myself occupied, but it won’t be enough. This waiting is killing me!
What do you hate waiting for and how do you combat the pins and needles?
10 comments:
I hate waiting for company to show up at my house because I don't want to start doing anything since they're going to show up ANY minute. But then of course they're always late and I spend all the time twiddling my thumbs which is extremely irritating. Interesting site, came across it randomly. Hope you hear back from your editor soon.
I do the exact opposite while waiting for company. I'm putzing every second, putting this away, picking up that ... can't relax.
Thanks for stopping by, Kim!
this is my take on it. editors and publishers will do anything and everything they can to screw up your life.
okay, i doubt that's really what's going on, but i had to wait SEVEN MONTHS to finally get a nod on my current project -- the second book in a two-book contract. Seven f'n months.
it's especially tough when they say they are getting back to you by a certain time and they don't. in january my editor asked that i cancel a trip to florida to visit my dad because she was sending me a revision. i canceled, but the revision never came. of course it came a month later when i was at my dad's during the rescheduled time.
i'm not sure what can be done about this type of thing. you can't just not believe what they tell you. how can that arrangement work? i have no answers.
Seven months is too long. Now I feel like a weenie!
helen,
seven months is not the norm at all.
five weeks is also a long time to wait. i didn't mean to downplay that! ;)
all waiting horrible horrible horrible. if you're like me, your life just stops because it's so hard to concentrate of anything.
I hate waiting for The Hubby when I *know* his method of timekeeping is far different than mine. I should always add at least half an hour, or, depending on the time, an hour or more. But sometimes I forget, and then I wait, impatiantly.
As for editors. They are busy. I've finally gotten used to this. They can surprise you and call you exactly when they say they will, but usually, they've got hundreds of different things going on, and have to wait to hear from another editor (who is also busy) or spend a day taking nuisance phone calls, or finishing up edits on another author's mss,and well, it takes time. Five weeks? Not a long wait. Give her another week. Call her. But don't expect anything. Just learn to be delightfully surprised when you hear her voice on the phone.
I know.
But waiting gets you know where. :-)
Michele
I have to admit, I'm the one making my husband wait.
wow, michelle. i'm admire your healthy attitude. it would take a triple dose of zoloft for me to achieve that. :D
Thanks, Anne. I'm now wiping coffee off the keyboard.
In this business there's a lot of hurry up and wait, but once you make it your livelihood, the hardest thing is waiting to get paid. I'm sure many self-employed people have to deal with this, but when you go from monthly or bi-weekly payday, it's hard to get used to the reality that the author's payday is a bit less predictable. Now, I said this is the hardest part, but that's not to downplay the rest of the waiting. It's hard to wait for answers, too. And it's hard to sit on your hands. Very uncomfortable.
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