IWSG - Queries Off! And Knowing Your Value
It's [past] time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group! (I missed two months, sorry!).
This month's co-hosts are: Melissa Maygrove, Cathrina Constantine, Kate Larkinsdale, and Rebecca Douglass.
The optional question this month is: If you have a playlist (or could put one together) that either gets you in the groove to write or fits with one of your books, what is it? What type of music or what songs?
I don't really do the playlist thing. I just play from my giant bushel of familiar songs, which ranges from musicals to hard rock to rap to electric to pop to whatever-the-heck-I-want. But I will punch it to a more appropriate song for dark or action scenes sometimes. I've never put together a playlist, really, so it won't surprise you I was the one receiving custom mixed tapes from friends, not the one making them.
What's my current insecurity? I am officially querying my horror comedy! You can probably extrapolate what insecurity/ies that might indicate.
Also, I received my first two-star review of one of my books. I've never even gotten a three-star before. Ouch. That one hurt.
I also had a situation recently with the leadup to an event in which the terms were breached and the treatment of the "speakers" wasn't great, and I had to decide whether to cancel or not. In my entire time doing workshops, panels, etc., I have only cancelled once. Even as the person putting on the events, I never cancelled, even after family tragedies. I put on my game face and I followed through. I don't like to rock the boat, and I never want to be seen as "difficult to work with," but after years of doing that and a few experiences that were hard to deal with I've come around to knowing my value. I will always do my best to honor commitments and to work out issues, but if I'm mistreated it's time to put myself first. And I hope other people realize they should be doing the same. I definitely hope I've never made anyone else feel as an event organizer the way this organizer made me feel. I always appreciated people who agreed to speak at events, and always fully understood that they were the ones bringing the value. I was just the one connecting them with the audience and running the logistics. It's a symbiotic relationship that should benefit both parties.
I also had to send a legal letter to a publisher who never paid me or sent me my contractual author copies. I won't see a penny of it or my copies, but it's worth at least trying. My husband says he doesn't know how any of us do this, with constant rejection, negative reviews, and mistreatment, but we all know how and why we do it.
So anyway, don't let people treat you like crap. And if you make promises, meet them or immediately address why you can't, offer alternatives if necessary, and apologize. And don't treat people like crap.
Know your value.
No submission news to report right now. I've been deep in final edits, then synopsis/query letter writing. As one does.
In personal news, I got to be a stowaway on my husband's business trip to Virginia (I had airline miles, he was already being put up in a hotel with a rental car by his company, and his food was paid for, so my only cost was for food and the Metro into D.C. the day we went). The place they put him up is called Worldgate, and it had a ton of international restaurants (and a cafe and boba shop) right there outside the hotel, so I was able to walk out there for food while he was at work and just hang out in the hotel room. Very relaxing! Seems like a perfect hotel for writing conferences. The only thing missing was some sort of corner store or drugstore. We made quick jaunts into two of the museums in D.C. (just long enough for one exhibit in each since we didn't get into D.C. until late afternoon and all the Smithsonians close at 5:30).
Someday we'd like to do a vacation just to visit all the museums and get a hotel within walking distance.
Next month we're going back to Yorkshire, UK so I can introduce my husband to my favorite places from last summer! I should have news and pictures for the May IWSG.
Have you ever had to back out of an event? Have you ever been mistreated by event organizers? Do you have any submissions or queries out? What are your current insecurities? Any other fun publishing/writing-related news?
May you find your Muse.
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