Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Dilemma Time

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Apparently, December is dilemma time. I’m currently embroiled in the classic: “Do I write or revel?” Writing is hard and it’s easy to let it get inched out by shopping, entertaining, party going, card writing, and decorating. If normal Christmas madness isn’t enough, I’ll be hosting three parties between now and Christmas Eve. Everywhere I turn, I seem to trip over a dilemma. Do I serve cocktail wienies or meatballs in chili sauce for the cookie party? Should I serve heavy hors d’oeuvres for Christmas Eve or a traditional ham dinner? And what the heck do we give Grandpa?!?!

It’s not even mid-month and I’m decision-ed out.

The writing front hasn’t given me a holiday break, either. There’s always the ongoing decisions to make while revising Folly. What’s the best way to ease into the next chapter? What exactly does Nate reveal during that first meeting with Nick? But my most pressing dilemmas seem to revolve around marketing. They’re the choices I need to make now, but I feel the least confident about.

The anthology: The EDF Best of 2008 anthology is out and it’s time to order my copies. So here I am with a wonderful opportunity, wrapped in a thorny dilemma: how do I best use this opportunity to promote my work? Andy and I have been hammering out possibilities: donating a copy to our local library and asking my buddies there to catalogue it for the collection; donating a copy to our cats’ vet for his waiting area; buying extra copies and hawking them to interested acquaintances; donating a copy to my alma mater. The possibilities are endless, but we need to use our promotion dollars wisely. There’s no use giving away books that will gather dust. I still haven’t come to any solid decisions.

And then there’s “The Market.” Some of you may remember this story—a piece from my ongoing Mark/Leslie/David series. I sent this out to Publication A several months ago, where it’s been waiting and moldering while they published a special themed issue. I usually have a slim to none chance with A; it’s a high profile, prestige publication whose normal acceptance rate is just over 1%. With a backlog of submissions due to the themed issue, I figure my chances are nonexistent. So, a few months later, I sent Market off to Publication B, which has an aversion to simultaneous submissions. In my thinking, A would never take the story. B is a long shot, but I thought I’d give it a try. I expect a rejection from B in February.

In the meantime, I’ve tripped across a lucrative contest that I believe would be a perfect fit for Market. The deadline, January 31. So now the dilemma: do I enter Market even though it could possibly burn bridges with B? Karma makes this tiny world go round, and I hate to foster bad ju-ju. But my job is to find the best home for my fictional babies and to make the most of possible opportunities to advance my work. Sometimes that means taking a gamble.

Have you ever faced dilemmas like this in your writing? What did you do? I’d love to hear from you.

4 comments:

Stephen said...

Hey Greta!

Regarding the multiple submissions issue, I posed a question out on EU, which Maria answered. As a publisher, she sees no problems with multiple submissions. You might find my question and her response out on EU.

On marketing your success with EDF, I recommend you visit with your local library to see if they can promote a local author. Furthermore, you might even put the plug out there with the local media--radio and newspaper. From what I've seen here in Texas, local media always seem to be interested in local personalities with a nice success story to tell. It's scary, I know, but it may be just the right stretch you need at this time. Just a thought.

Greta Igl said...

The library is at the top of my list. I have "people" there :) (ok, friends. I used to work there)

Local media???? gulp. Yikes, Stephen. You're freaking me out. I'm a writer wallflower. I like to play with words and make-believe people! But, you're probably right. I'll think about doing up a press release for our local newspaper. Maybe I'll get the nerve to send it out after a few too many holiday toddies.

Linda said...

Hey Greta, I found your blog! I'd keep hitting it under your google name and come up empty... I'm gonna linky love you...

Wow, you've accomplished a lot this year. Quite liked your BLR pieces, and congrats on the anthology.

May I suggest: a reading at your local INDY bookstore? And are there any other authors near you to collaborate with?

It's a very heady and wonderful thing to read your own words before an audience - I promise you will love it. Peace, Linda

Greta Igl said...

Hey Linda! Glad you stopped by. I wander over to your blog every so often. You always have great stuff. And thanks for the linky love. I'm putting a link to your blog on mine also. Maybe it will remind me to stop in and visit you more often!

Now to your suggestion: I've thought about the reading, but wondered if I was being too presumptious. I'll see if I can find some other folks here in SE Wisconsin. My mom knows a woman who runs an INDY bookstore. Who knows? Maybe I can make this work. But after Christmas. I'm officially swamped. I'm sure you know what I mean.