QUERYING AGAIN

While the small publisher who requested the full manuscript of The Race that Lies Before Us did not ask for an exclusive, I felt that God wanted me to stop querying agents and publishers for about 4 months Since that timeframe has passed I feel that God has released me from waiting, even though I have not heard back from the publisher.

I don't completely understand why God would have me spend so much time waiting when I could have been putting my book out there more places--giving me more opportunities for acceptance somewhere--but I do know that I haven't been wasting the time. God has led me to work on my blog and techniques to increase the hitcount, and increasing my contacts via Facebook and Twitter. Efforts in both of those areas have been successful. As a matter of fact, yesterday I received a request to be a guest blogger for a fellow writer! I'm so excited.

Anyway, maybe the reason God wanted me to wait was so I could focus on networking and platform-building instead of spending time querying. Whatever the reason, I will begin querying on The Race again, next week.

AN ENDORSEMENT

I received a phone call this evening from the gentleman who's in charge of Midwest Raceway Ministries. I printed off a copy of The Race and gave it to him last month when we volunteered at the drag races at Gateway International Speedway. He finished reading it and he loved it. He loved the suspense, the twists, and especially the ending. He did say though, that his very favorite part was that I included a scene where the St. Louis specialty, the Gooey Butter Cake, was served. LOL

Now, if I can just find an agent and/or editor who agrees with the ringing endorsements I've received from two NASCAR people. I'm still waiting to hear from the small publisher that is reviewing the book. It's SO hard to be patient. But God is loving and gracious to send such encouragement when I've been wondering if this book is ever going to go anywhere.

PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE

Unfortunately, patience is a virtue I have a limited supply of. Although the editor reviewing the full manuscript of The Race that Lies Before Us has done a good job of keeping in touch with me, it's still hard to wait. And although it's only been 2 weeks that have passed with no communication, it feels like 2 months.

I keep thinking of the little ditty from Finding Nemo, "Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming." and think, "Just keep waiting, waiting, waiting." Rather silly, but at least it brings a smile to my face.

A REQUEST FOR THE FULL MANUSCRIPT

I just got an e-mail tonight from the editor at Second Wind, the small publishing house that has been looking at my first 3 chapters and he asked me to send him the full manuscript. I'm not there yet, but this is a big step forward!

INTEREST FROM AN EDITOR

A few nights ago, I sent a query letter to the editor of a small publishing house. I was surprised and pleased to receive an e-mail only an hour later requesting the first chapter. It's so odd the way this all worked out. God truly does work in mysterious ways. One of my "friends" on Facebook (someone I don't know, but we're in the same suspense writers group on FB) sent a message announcing the creation of an FB group for a publishing house. I checked it out, then went to their website to find out more about them. When I saw that they didn't require an author to have an agent, I tweaked my query letter to personalize it and sent it off. And to think that four months ago I'd never heard of Facebook.