Acquisitions, reality, and hope springing eternal

Over on Buried in the Slush Pile, The Buried Editor wrote a great post about the acquisitions process, which, according to the nifty diagram, includes eleven points at which the manuscript may be rejected and five points at which the author may be asked to do revisions. Interesting, yes, but the last sentence of the blog post is what stood out for me: “It also demonstrates just how miraculous it is that anything ever gets published.” I chuckled, and then I thought, wait! I don’t want to hear this.

Actually, I kinda already know how hard it is to get published, how high the odds are stacked against any one manuscript or author. But I don’t want the reminder. Sure it’s important for aspiring authors to be informed and to understand the process, at least to some degree, but I guess I don’t like letting reality suck the fun out of dreaming and hoping.

Then again, keeping my dreams alive is up to me. I did choose to check out the diagram – which is truly informative and interesting should you wish to have a peek – and I can also choose not to let harsh reality get me down. I can choose to work hard to improve my craft, too.

Yes, it’s tough to get published. No, not everyone who hopes to get published will. And we writers can’t necessarily do much about that: as The Buried Editor points out, there is a lot that the editor does and very little the author can do during the acquisitions process.

So what’s my job? Write the best manuscript I can, and don’t worry about the odds. Write, learn, improve, write some more. Dream a little. Oh, and don’t give up. Hope springs eternal.