Tipsy Tuesday

Times are tough. No one can disagree with that. What does it mean for writers? It means that, in many cases, we wait longer for answers, contracts and money. It may mean that some publishers who have an "inventory" of manuscripts through 2010 are hesitant to purchase "midlist" manuscripts for the next few months, opting instead to only go with their top sellers. It definitely means it's harder to sell to a publisher. So you need to take the time and effort to polish your manuscript--don't have the attitude that the editor will clean up your grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes. They will, of course, but when they're looking at two manuscripts to purchase and--everything else being equal (i.e., they're both compelling stories)--one has lots of errors and one has few, these overworked people are going to go with the author who has given them a manuscript that will take less work.

Don't let these tough times dissuade you from writing. Write a story that gives the reader a fresh new look at a tried but true concept, and you're a step ahead of the pack.