![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynling1. A cool cover design. And maybe illustrations!
2. My book in my hands so I can read it myself as a paper copy. I am the target audience after all.
3. Having enough "prior publication cred" that I can pitch graphic novel projects.
4. Being given opportunities to promote other writers in professional venues.
5. This is difficult to express, but basically: I'd like to have an achievement that people respect enough so that I'm not immediately shut out of most publication opportunities for essays and short stories (which I love writing) by default. I know it's a tough market, but I wish I could spend more time and energy writing and less time and energy submitting and being rejected. Once you get published, editors start coming to you with custom projects, and that's what I want to happen. I know some people think this is annoying, but I love writing on spec and working with editors!
I think I can achieve the first four on my own; but, for the fifth, self-publishing really isn't going to cut it. Unfortunately, that’s not up to me, so it’s definitely worth focusing on what I can do without the approval of gatekeepers.
2. My book in my hands so I can read it myself as a paper copy. I am the target audience after all.
3. Having enough "prior publication cred" that I can pitch graphic novel projects.
4. Being given opportunities to promote other writers in professional venues.
5. This is difficult to express, but basically: I'd like to have an achievement that people respect enough so that I'm not immediately shut out of most publication opportunities for essays and short stories (which I love writing) by default. I know it's a tough market, but I wish I could spend more time and energy writing and less time and energy submitting and being rejected. Once you get published, editors start coming to you with custom projects, and that's what I want to happen. I know some people think this is annoying, but I love writing on spec and working with editors!
I think I can achieve the first four on my own; but, for the fifth, self-publishing really isn't going to cut it. Unfortunately, that’s not up to me, so it’s definitely worth focusing on what I can do without the approval of gatekeepers.
