Jumping into the Deep End of the Pool

Since hearing that Random House is accepting submissions for their new digital-only imprints, I’ve been thinking about submitting two of my novels, Ripple and A Solitary Life. Having now completed my submissions, I have two words for the process: Yikes! and Yikes!

I should clarify, I guess, what I mean by the process—or more accurately, my process. I looked at their website http://www.atrandom.com/eoriginals and had to think long and hard about submitting to imprints with titles like ALIBI, HYDRA, FLIRT and LOVESWEPT. I don’t mean to say that there’s anything wrong with the titles, but how do I gauge which imprint is the right one for me? HYDRA is for science fiction, fantasy, and horror so Ripple feels like a good fit. At first glance, I don’t necessarily think of A Solitary Life as LOVESWEPT, but it is marginally romantic and falls in the women’s fiction genre, although I would like to think that men will find it enjoyable and relevant as well. Nevertheless, I followed my own advice for once, closed my eyes and JUMPED!  In this case, I hit the submit button at the bottom of the page and then squelched the desire to throw up.

Now I’ll wait the two to four weeks to hear from them, to find out if Random House would like a full manuscript for consideration, and during that time, I’ll second guess every word I wrote on the submission form.  

I’ve been reading Noah Lukeman’s How to Write a Great Query Letter in preparation for my search for a literary agent and now I wonder if I should have paid closer attention before submitting to HYDRA and LOVESWEPT.  The online submission forms for both imprints have blanks for basic information: Short description of book/genre, Publishing history/writing history, Bio, Additional Notes, Sample excerpt, and Query letter (please tell us something about your book and why you think it would be right for us). Query letter? Does this mean they want a real, formatted letter, which would be a repeat of the information given above, or as indicated, just a quick, down-and-dirty reason for inclusion in their imprint? I opted for a simple explanation as to why my work appeals to my readers. In retrospect, I’m thinking my answer might have been more effective if I’d focused on why the publisher might want to read my work rather than my potential readers. (And there it is again: I won’t throw up! I won’t throw up!)

I will now focus on the next two to four weeks with positive thoughts and return to my writing with a renewed sense of exhilaration. I’ve never submitted my work to a publisher for consideration. I’ve never thrown myself out there and I realize that it is well past time that I took the plunge and jumped head first—or feet first—into the deep end of the pool. Either way, I’m all in.