In the Meantime…

The clock begins the minute we hit “send.” 

We just launched a glorious new concept, never done before in exactly this way, and it fits the publisher’s needs, and it is a GOOD STORY!

But the acknowledgment of all this effort is…crickets. Did it go into spam? Sick? On vacation? Moved and left no forwarding address?

Hours, days, MONTHS go by. We are living “in the meantime.” 

The publishing industry has scaled back a lot and is not back to pre-COVID levels yet. And there seems to be an annual lag in editorial activity from mid-July to Labor Day. What do writers do in the meantime?

Read

Stop by the library or reserve books online for easy pickup. Stock up in your genre, being aware of publication dates. Decades have gone by since The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Check the word count and subjects of books published since 2017.

Request

While you are at the library, ask the librarian what series or subject kids like. What questions are they asked that do not have recent books to answer. Check with preschool moms or kids at church or soccer practice for book suggestions. 

Refresh 

Where do people get book ideas? Everywhere? Start a file of new ideas and topics: A single object in a museum, a quote, an intriguing picture, a personal experience. Fill a folder with possibilities.

Revise

Dig out old manuscripts. The word count may not be correct for current submissions, but the story is good. Has the time come for that topic again? How could this story be tweaked to fit a different reader? Try rewriting in rhyme, as a comic book, from another point of view, in an alternative time period?

Recreate

Volunteer with kids at summer camps or at Bible schools, in museums or parks. Even the Snack Person hears a lot about kids’ interests and questions. 

Enjoy the summer and have a lovely “Meantime!”

Award Winning author Robin Currie learned story sharing by sitting on the floor, in library story times. She has sold 1.7 M copies of her 40 storybooks and writes stories to read and read again! How to Dress a Dinosaur came out of direct exposure to preschoolers! How to Dress a Dinosaur – Familius.com Shop