Starting Over

Ok, let’s start over. My last post was October 2011. It is now March 2012. That’s a big gap. So let me catch you up on where I’m at in this whole Worming my Way thing. 

I haven’t been able to secure a place in publishing and the more I research and dig in my heels about being behind the scenes in a publishing house the more things change around me. In maybe two years time, things are going to be so drastically changed in those houses- the jobs are going to be unrecognizable. And while I like the challenge of it all, I really want to keep my love of reading which I hear dies a rapid and painful death when working for “the man”. 

So I’ve decided that perhaps a career in trade publication is not for me right now. I don’t know where my life is leading me but the cosmos and pretty much all of NYC is telling me it’s not publishing. Not like this, not at this time. So I’ve steered my career path in a different direction and I’m going to go for a marketing position in an as yet undetermined industry. At this point, I’m going for a job that I like and don’t hate going to everyday. 

As for my journey into publishing, that is still happening, though maybe not in a way that I can foresee right at this moment. Here are the options I can see: 

1.                   I’m still working for a literary agency. I don’t read nearly the same volume for them that I used to, which has allowed me to catch up on my “for fun” books. But there is a particular project I’m working on with an author through this agency. The author pitched this book, and I really liked the idea behind it. It’s a Sci/Fi young adults that’s basically a mix between “Lord of the Flies” and the TV series “Lost”. That’s all I’m going to say about the plot though, because I really think this book will be published and become a cult classic in no time. 

Anyway, the author is still writing it. So I’ve seen the pitch, the outline, and the first eight chapters. AND as I’m reading it, I have all these questions that help the author to clarify stuff or think of something new to add. Too much of this and it’s probably not a good thing, but as this is a somewhat complex story, with something like 40 characters (centering around one. Also, many get killed off) things can get confusing. 

So I’m helping him out as a pre-editor if you will. If this goes well, perhaps there will be more opportunities like this in the future and I can do freelance or something. This is option one, work my way into what I want to do by just doing it for free for a while until people love me and want to pay me for it… risky but…it’s a way in.

2.                   I get back into my own writing. I’ve been writing stories since I was in eighth grade. I was working on a series for over 10 years and have recently shelved it for the sake of my sanity. I’m persistent yes, but when something you love doing is no longer fun, I know when to stop. So now I have another story I want to write, and I started it, but I really haven’t been writing like I want to be, and I mainly blame the job search.

Anyone who has searched for a job, no matter how long they were at it will tell you it’s difficult. In this economy it’s even more so, but more than that it’s depressing. And I’ve been so focused on trying to find a job that I haven’t felt like writing anything. I know, I know. That’s when it becomes more important to write. And I have… technically… been writing things, but they aren’t my stories. 

(sigh) SO, my second option for getting into the publishing industry becomes using the contacts I’ve made up here in NYC to my benefit for my own writing. 

I’ve got to say, the second option is my favorite.  But who knows where I’ll be in ten years.  

What does that mean for this blog Lisa?? You scant few readers may ask – if you are still out there…

Well, that means that this blog becomes less about what I know about the industry. 

It will become a true recounting of the JOURNEY. I will have months where I won’t write a single thing of whatever story I’m working on. I know me. And there will be posts that have nothing to do with publishing or writing or well anything of any importance. Except it WILL be important because -

Well –

The most important thing about books is the stories they tell and the places that those stories can take you. And the best stories out there are ones in which you cannot predict the ending. 

So here I go. Starting over. Page one.