12) Submission time! How do you handle the agonizing wait after you’ve sent something out?
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Here’s mine:
12) Everyone says the best cure to the waiting anxiety is to get started on the next book/story right away, but, come on! All I can think about is that email I just sent out. I’m checking my email every 5 minutes for a reply, even though I know better. Worse yet, I’m checking my spam folder, just in case.
And I didn’t even send in a work of fiction…we’re talking about a resume and editing sample.
Still, the pain is fairly acute.
I’ve been through the submission mill enough times to know that the farther away you get from the submission date the less you obsess over it, but I am still in the obsessed state. That, more than anything, drove me to send a follow-up email (something I rarely do).
Good news! I should hear back on Monday. Bad news! I have to wait til Monday….With it being Wednesday right now, that’s 5 days too long to wait.
My game plan for surviving the wait? Considering how much I want this opportunity, I think I just plan to obsess and sit by the phone, in case the managing editor makes a decision earlier. Don’t call me! I need the line free….
When I finish something and submit it (or, in the case of some shorter fiction, merely notify the person that it exists), I try to have another project lined up so that when/if I get a response (I have four articles that are so old for ASSEMBLED 3 that I'll probably have to do complete re-writes - all hail the editor who also writes and focuses on his writing, not his editorial commitments, neh?). If I duck my head back in the water immediately, its easier to deal with the editor/intended audience's lack of feedback (or interest).
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