Thankful dot com

My heart is racing and my hands are literally shaking. How is it that a simple e-mail (well, 7 actually) could make me such a nervous wreck? Because they are e-mails to book agents and I sent them my query letter. Aaaah! It has taken me about 15 months to finish this novel, including the last few weeks of revising. When I began this undertaking, I really had no idea what I was getting into.

Do you have any idea how many people are writing books??

ALOT!

Do you know how many get published?

Not so much.

One of the agents' blogs I read shows how many queries she gets each week and how many she requests the manuscript for. It varies from 150-250 queries and she usually asks for 0 or 1 full manuscript. Not great odds. I didn't know, if I had, it might have intimidated me. The competition is fierce to say the least. So, here I am, a lowly Utah housewife with aspirations to-what? Fame isn't something I crave. I just want my books to sell. Of course, getting them published first would help.

Today's gratitude post is for the internet. I would have NEVER been able to get to this point without it. thesaurus.com is a site I visit every time I write. Think of having to pick up a fat book and look up a word each time I need it, I shudder. Then, there's the agentquery.com site. This is where I learned about how to write a query, plus they have a huge list of agents and what kinds of books they represent. It was also here that I discovered all the agent blogs that I now read regularly.

I can't forget the computer. I don't know how writers did it with a typewriter. No backspace, spellcheck, cut, copy, paste or delete. Seriously, I began my writing career at the right time!

So, now, I wait. I'll be nervously checking my e-mail daily, hoping for those responses and at the same time, dreading them. Cross your fingers for me, or say a prayer, if you're so inclined. I know I will be. If not, just wish me luck.