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Follow my journey toward publication. Laugh, cry, point and stare-- it's all good. I'll leave a trail so that you, my fellow author, may have a straighter path to finding your own elusive publishing contract. Adventure awaits. Let's travel together...



Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Operation First Novel



IT'S IN THE MAIL!  Yep, that's right.  Yesterday I mailed off my manuscript to the CWG for the OFN contest.  The nerves have not set in yet but I expect to start feeling anxious as soon as I imagine it has arrived and is in the hands of a judge- meep!  For now though, I am content to be d-o-n-e scrambling on edits.  Hopefully I did catch all my typos.  Everything did not go off without a hitch though.  While paying for my postage I suddenly realized... duh duh duh DUUUUM... I forgot to include the self-addressed stamped postcard for confirmation of delivery!  Oh no!!  It's not a requirement but it is the only confirmation offered by the Guild.  I had planned on sending one, really wanting the comfort of receiving that back in my mailbox, and I FORGOT IT!  So I sent it certified mail.  At least the post office will confirm delivery and that will have to do.















And because I am a bit of a dork, I took pictures of me with my "brown paper package" before it went off on its journey to Colorado.  See?  That's me and my manuscript! :)

Now I am able to take some time off from my book and focus on homeschooling, my family, and Clash of the Titles (yay)!  Please bookmark our website, follow us on twitter and like us on facebook.  Authors, send in your entries for our first Clash!

Several of the Clash staff just got back from the ACFW conference and are reporting a lot of enthusiasm surrounding COTT after talking to several agents and authors.  Things are really starting to get going now and I am humbled to be a part of it.  I am the "Public Relations" person so make me look good by clicking all those "follow/like/bookmark" buttons. =)    Seriously though, this is going to be bigger than I ever imagined it would be and you will want to be a part of it too- writers AND readers!

As chatter begins to grow in the blogosphere, I will try to always link to articles or blog entries mentioning COTT so that you are up to date.  For now, you can expect fewer posts regarding my publishing journey and more about COTT and other "industry" news.  Because, as I've mentioned, a lot of the journey is waiting.  So I am actively waiting on God and on the contest judges.  If I don't move on to the next round in OFN, I'll start working on my pitch for the agents at the conference, my one-sheet, and my query (again).  Well I'll do all those things even if I AM a finalist, but... you know what I mean, right?

So make it a great week and don't forget to say "hi" every once in a while here in the comments. =)

5 comments:

Brooke R. Busse said...

Congratz. ^^ I can't wait until I finish my rewrite (though it's not even near done). I'm trying to do that while preparing for NaNo. As I was thinking about NaNo it got me thinking. Are you going to participate in NaNoWriMo this year, Michelle?

Terri Tiffany said...

Good for you for sending it out!! I hope you do well!

Michelle Massaro said...

Hey, Brooke- thanks! I might try to do nano this year because I do have another story in my head and nano would get me moving. I'd love to have a second novel in development when I go to my conference!

I have to see how stressed out I am come mid-October though. With a toddler AND homeschooling, this busy time of year is now even fuller than before. I'd like to start an outline next month and put myself in a good position to participate in November. =)

Thanks, Terri! Keep your fingers crossed for me...
=)

Jill said...

Oh, it's so exciting sending off a contest entry. I usually send mine off with a prayer! I will definitely check out your links.

Michelle Massaro said...

Thank you Jill! Yes, many prayers have been spoken over this contest, this novel, this entire journey. And I'm positive there are more prayers yet to come! =)