Patience comes hard for me, and I should know better by now. Especially since I teach Kindergarteners. Hey, but it's easy to be patient with them. You do it this way, and if that doesn't work, you try another way.
Raising 2 sons also taught me patience...along with a husband who often acted like a third child.
But it wasn't until I became a writer-then-author that being patient became the most difficult. I think I've figured out why.
It's that ocean of silence between emails.
Submission - wait for response
Contract - wait for word of next step. (Unless it's a rejection, then you're back to step 1.)
Assigned a release date - wait for an editor
Assigned an editor - wait for cover artist, and fortunately this one is usually not that long
Assigned a cover artist - wait for release and hopefully a review
(Psst! I do think the waiting for the book's release is the hardest one because that's when the clock and the calendar both join forces against you.)
In the meantime, you've gained either an extra gray hair or two, and some extra leverage for your ulcer, not to mention the high blood pressure.
But in the end, there you are. Up for sale. And wasn't it all worth it?
I'm glad you've put the steps out there. Now I know the sequence. So far, my patience is holding out. So are my spirits. If this publisher rejects it, there are others. I refuse to be cowed!
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