A Gift

I had hoped my book would be a instant wild success.  I’ve poured my heart, soul and energy into it for four years and was ready to send it on it’s merry way. Then a publisher friend had his editor read it and sent me a list of criticisms, detailing how to improve it.  I knew in my heart what he wrote was right but still it’s a blow to the ego. I felt so mediocre.

Now in the light of a new day I think, what a gift - to be told just what to do to make it work.  There were some positives in the critique as well but isn’t it strange how our minds gloss over the pats-on-the-back to focus on the criticisms?  I’ve realized minds are like that - they dwell on the negative, perhaps as a form of preservation and protection. If you wait instead of reacting to that initial response, a new more mature perspective takes root.

I'm ready to tackle this diversion from what I thought the road ahead would look like. There will be new scenery and leaning and hopefully more barriers broken as I traverse the land of book editors.  I need someone who can be ruthless but compassionate as we need to cut about a quarter of the words.

The current challenge is to find someone who believes in my book and with whom I’ll have a rapport to create a much better work - to push beyond what it is now to something greater.  I have an appointment with a friend who does this professionally. We’ll see if we can work together and if not I’ll be back on the hunt for the right person.

Found on Pinterest

That seems like a gargantuan task but one that must be done step by step. Making a list of what I want in an editor would be a place to start. Got any ideas, hints, or do you know of a good professional editor? Let me know if you do. 

In the meantime I content myself with creating new necklace designs and continuing in my experiments to color bone.

I wish you Happy Creating in whatever medium or mediums you use!