A Small Dose of Legitimacy

Today's post will actually kill two birds with one short story (don't worry - no animals were harmed during the writing of this post).

First off, it's time for our monthly Insecure Writer's Support Group post created by Alex J. Cavanaugh.  On the first Wednesday (in this case Tuesday) of every month we...in Alex's words...try share and encourage each other, express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

This month I'm going to talk about something that will stave off (they NEVER go away) those insecure feelings, a dose of legitimacy.  Some say (and I agree with the philosophy) that an aspiring writers pursuit of publication is their way to validate the merit of their work.  Positive feedback from critique partners or beta readers, no matter how glowing, can only sustain you so long.  But when an agent, editor, publisher, or anyone else who lives and breathes in the publishing world, selects your work to be singled out in some way, it gives us a sense of belonging.  It silences the whispers in the back of our minds telling us we've been fooling ourselves.  And that dose of legitimacy doesn't have to be much.  It is some pretty powerful stuff, and it can come in many different forms.  Even a rejection letter where the agent praises your writing, but just didn't feel the story was right for them, can provide a feeling of legitimacy.

I recently got my dose! 

Earlier this year Donna Hole posted about how the publisher of short story collections, Open Heart Publishing, was accepting submissions for their fall 2012 anthology.  Donna already had one of her short stories published in a previous collection, as did another blogger I followed, Stephanie Loree, so I decided to send one of my favorites off and see what happened.  The submission guidelines warned that it would be several months before decisions would be made, so I did my best to put it out of my mind and move on with other projects.  I was really successful at that because a couple months later when I received an email informing me that my story was a finalist for selection, it took me a moment to remember what they were talking about.  Unfortunately it would still be a while before I would know if it had been chosen, but we aspiring writers relish in any victory, big or small, so being named a finalist was momentous, and a tiny bit of legitimacy!  This time it was a little harder not to let the anxiety of waiting get to me, but when notification day came and went without a word, I reverted to the other aspiring writer survival behavior...repression.  Oh well, time to move on to something else, I told myself.  That is until a month later when I received an email that started off with...We have finished our submission reviews for An Honest Lie, Volume 4: Petulant Parables. (Are you excited yet? I hope so!)

Yep...my short story is going to be published!  An Honest Lie, Petulant Parables will hit the presses this fall.  I had to sign a contract and everything!  I'll be sharing this honor with 15 other talented writers (Donna included) and can't wait.  Of course this means I'll be pestering you sometime in the future to add another book to your TBR list, albeit a short-story collection, but I'll be proud of it just the same.

 

Needless to say, my insecurities have been abated for the time being.   Last week I posted about cross-pollination, about finding ways to establish meaningful connections out here in the blogosphere.  I was talking mainly about community support, but sometimes these connections provide opportunities to discover our own sense of legitimacy.  Donna pointed me towards Open Heart Publishing and I'll do the same for somebody else when they open for submissions again.  

What I suggest to you is find a short story publisher, or a short story contest, there not hard to find, and submit.  It may seem like a small step and not really where you want to end up, but it can prove to be a move in the right direction and could do wonders for your confidence.  

A small dose goes a very long way!