Writing for Hire

Well, I am now, or almost am, a writer who will soon be among the mobs of other unpubsished writers screaming "Employ Me!" This doesn't sound like such a big deal at first. But when you look at my odds of actually getting published it becomes a big deal.

Writing in high school was easy. Whew. That was like a walk in the park compared to writing for hire. Writing for hire, writing with the sole goal of becoming a published author is a completely different ball game. What do publishers want? How do they want their ideas/visions to come across? I like to imagine the first job interview as a first date. On a first date, you are most likely very worried, unless you've known he/she for a very long time. You're worried about your breath, your hair, what to eat, how to eat it....your breath again, whether or not to kiss on a first date or not...blah,blah, blah.

To me, that's how a job interview works, or at least the search for a publisher. Every publisher wants to find the next big thing, discover the biggest talent. Quite frankly, fora while there, that might not be you. Of course, you could be extremely luck and have connections with Mr. Big Literary Man's friend/wife/dogwalker. That does help. But if not, you have to rely on the idea of a query letter. I've had experience with those. At first, mine were too long. I needed to shorten them. You want to draw them in with the first sentence. Basically, by time they finished reading, you want them to sit up and think, "Who is this person? Why haven't I heard of him/her already?"

I will soon start querying again. Once I and my editor finish editing my book. Other factors fit into my "personal resume". I am 18. This is my first novel. People might think: "Hmmm...18? Is she sure she's ready to compete with authors twice, even three times her age?" Well, if I wasn't, I wouldn't be querying you. :)

Then there's the fact that this is my first novel. First novels aren't always great. Well, the first written novel. The first published one could be, because someone at least liked it enough to put it on the market. It's kind of like this: would you rather buy a carpenters first chair, or his fifth?

Writing for hire is like life, too. The more you live life, the more you learn about yourself and others. The more you write, the more learn about the craft, and the better you become.