A common superstition among modern humans is that if two good things happen in rapid succession, a third is sure to follow. Equally popular is the belief that this works for bad things, as well.
I’m going to focus on the good for today’s post.
For the better part of two years I have been convinced that I could never afford to purchase the services of a professional editor to improve my daughter’s and my middle grade manuscript to the point where an agent will fall in love with it. It is certainly true that our family budget has no room for $600-$1,000 or more to be spent on what is, at this stage, only a hobby with no discernible future. I have not purchased myself a new laptop to write on for the exact same reason. And this fact is what has motivated us to doggedly enter as many Twitter pitch contests as we can, in the hopes that 1) we will gain some insight into the querying process, 2) network with agents, editors, and fellow writers, and 3) just maybe win a free session with a professional editor. Over the course of the last two years we’ve gotten our fair share of #1 and #2, but so far the Twitter gods or the fates or the muses or whomever have neglected to kick down that #3 and fulfill the sacred trifecta.
And then the other day, in the regular course of Twitter writerly business, I got a new follower — an editorial service run by two professional editors who’s day jobs are editing manuscripts for a children’s book publisher. They have a deal where they will do a full-manuscript developmental critique for under $200. I gleefully sent our manuscript and the down payment. Finally, we’re getting a professional editor to read and critique our manuscript, and offer industry-savvy advice for making it sellable.
Okay, that’s One.
Then this afternoon I discovered that I had four Twitter notifications. I occasionally get one or two in a week, when I tweet a link to this blog or participate in a contest. But four at once is practically a riot. It turns out we had won a contest I’d forgot I had even entered. This one is called Mentees Helping Mentees (#menteeshelpingmentees), and consists of a group of past PitchWars winners offering to critique the query and first 10 pages of PitchWars 2017 hopefuls. We somehow made it into the tiny handful of Middle Grade entries chosen. Which means that in the next couple of weeks we will receive detailed feedback and advice on how to fine-tune our submission package.
That makes Two.
I guess all there is to do now is wait and see what Three is going to turn out to be….
Am I Doing This Right? 