‘If it doesn’t open it’s not your door’.

I wrote in May this year about ‘Pushing doors, aiming high, dreaming big’, before I submitted my chapters to: The Richard and Judy Search for a Bestseller competition. A week has passed since the competition shortlist was announced. Of course, it would have been nice to have been on it, but as the quote reads, ‘If it doesn’t open it’s not your door’. I’ll never know how close I came to being shortlisted. Did the judges dismiss me upon reading the first paragraph? Or did my chapters make it in to the hundreds from thousands, or the top ten, even? Only eight were successful, and for all I know I could have been the ninth. It’s both incredibly frustrating, the not knowing, and sort of exciting. Professionals within the publishing industry have read my work- I may not have been what they were looking for this time, but I hope that they saw some promise in my writing.

 

 

I have several other doors lined up in the coming weeks. The next is a week today (see link below), and I am very excited by it…

http://booksandthecity.co.uk/one-day/

Books and the City, are hosting a #DigitalOriginals #OneDay call for submissions from authors. Instead of having to try and attract a literary agent to get published, for one day, you can go direct to the publisher. If they like your submitted first chapter then they will request the completed novel. If your novel is selected then they will publish it in digital format…My insides dance as I write the words: ‘publish it’. Again, I imagine that I will be up against some great writers, but it’s too good an opportunity to miss to let that put me off.

‘#DigitalOriginals is part of the Simon & Schuster UK publishing company’. The same publishing company of my favourite female author, Paige Toon, whose books I’ve been reading for almost a decade. I would be immensely proud to have my novel published by them.

Another great plus side to entering this event, aside from having my novel potentially published and being able to meet my writing heroines, are the deadlines it brings with it. Who doesn’t work better to a deadline? When we have all the time in the world, we tend to take longer to achieve something. There’s no rush, no urgency. Add a deadline and we work harder and faster. Yes, we probably sleep less and worry more, but there’s a sense of purpose and achievement in working towards something. If The Books and the City team want to read my complete novel, they will let me know within six weeks of submitting chapter one…that’s really REALLY soon. So, if any of you are planning on seeing me in the next month, then be prepared. Bring chocolate, coffee and hugs (lots of hugs).

 
Last week my ‘sis’, as I like to call her, or my ‘sister from another mister’, Ruth, who has been my rock in this writing journey so far, said to me: ‘If anyone has got the determination to succeed it’s you!’ I used to wonder why authors had such long acknowledgements in their books, now I know why. Writing is hard. Self-doubt creeps in constantly. It would be easy to give up, which is why so many people do. The people championing you- who believe in you even when you’re having days when you don’t believe in yourself, keep you going. I’m lucky to have so many people championing me- who believe in me and my writing. You know who you are! I have already reserved a space for you in my acknowledgements page.

So for now, I will get back to editing my novel and leave you with this…

 

‘The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them. If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.’ Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.  

KT x