Keep doing your thing

We are now entering the supreme self-doubt zone (i.e. it’s the fourth week since posting my manuscripts to the publisher).

No reply.

What does this mean? Have they read them? Or are they buried in a mountain of paper on a desk somewhere? Worse, maybe they’ve read my stories but are now so weak from laughter (the wrong sort) that they are unable to summon the strength to type a reply?

I know it’s still early days. I keep telling myself it’s VERY rare for publishers to respond to a submission quickly (of course, there are always exceptions to this rule – Oliver Jeffers got an offer the very next day…but then maybe it’s not such a good idea to compare myself to a mega bestselling author who also happens to do his own award-winning illustrations.)

J sent me a text recently, which helped: “Whatever the outcome, it’s important to remember your stories are really special, so you don’t need anyone’s approval.”

OK, so boyfriend’s are biased. But it reminded me of an interview I once read with Damien Hirst in which he said that what people mean when they say someone’s ‘a genius’ is that they have the confidence to just get on with it:

“It’s the confidence to say, f*** off, this is what I do”.

Nuff said. Keep doing your thing, whatever it is.