I am paving the way toward professionalism in this little world called writing. Yesterday, I was awarded (it’s a bidding thing) the job of copy-editing someone’s novel. And they’re actually going to pay me for it! I’ve been copy-editing and beta reading for people for the last few years, all for free. This is a grand new revelation to think someone would actually pay me to do the same work that I was doing for free. Hmmm…it sounds a lot like ministry.

So, now that I have this free-lance copy-editing thingamajig on my record, it has been said to me that more copy-editing jobs will come. Maybe that’s true, maybe that’s not. I don’t really know, but it would be awesome if it did. I mean two to five of these jobs a month and I’d be making the income that I want to make–not so sure how that would work with school, though.

Secondly, I’m paving the way back into author-hood. Last night, I emailed in FOR BY GRACE to a new publishing company with query letter all neatly typed and gone over a half-million times. Hitting that send button was one of the scariest things I have ever done. I didn’t really sleep last night because of it (note to self: send in these query emails early enough to have a few shots of hard liquor before attempting sleep).

This new publisher is fantastic, and I can’t tell you how excited I would be if they chose to publish FOR BY GRACE. However, I still must wait. Their site states they will get back to me by July 1. Well, that’s a damn long time to wait for an answer, and we all know that I am NOT the most patient person in this world–or even this tiny apartment complex. So, I’m set to wait until at least July 1, where I can finally give up the hope of them liking FOR BY GRACE.

There was a huge debate last night before I sent in my query letter as to what name the letter should bear: legal name, nick name, or author name. After much discussion, I chose: legal first name “nick name” legal last name.

If you have any other suggestions on how to do this, please tell me. I’d love to be informed for the next time (and yes, we all know that I am a glutton for punishment).

ttfn!!