Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Screwing Up



Okay, so you know when you've screwed up big time and you totally want to pull all your hair out, throw a huge temper tantrum, and then punch a hole in the wall?  Well, that happened to me yesterday, and let me tell you- I think I did throw a little tantrum, and quite possibly made myself bald.  The wall is still in tact though...but only because of my joint problem in my hands (otherwise that wall would have been pulverized).




Then, you call Hubsies all in a dither and of course he's at work and can't do anything, and you hang up and freak out some more.  Then, you calm down a little, take some deep breaths...and it's supposed to get better at that point.  But it doesn't.  You think sleeping on it will work.  Nope.  Still freaking out. 

But then, you have to realize the consequences of your actions, and now you know for next time what NOT to do.  It makes you stronger and more wise.  Or maybe the valium just helps you forget it ever happened.

It's kind of the same thing in the publishing world.  Of course I don't really know what it's like to screw up big time with agents or editors or whatever, because I haven't tried to pitch my book yet.

But these people do:

What NOT to put in your query letter to a literary agent

These people TOTALLY messed up royally in their queries.  I don't know if they just crawled out of a rock and decided one day to query an agent, but it totally makes me feel better about myself.  I have a nice laugh when I read these, and think "Ah, one less query I have to worry about being better than mine".

Anyway, so when you mess up royally in your life, just go to that website and have a good laugh at the people who totally just ruined their writing careers.  It helps.  I promise. 

P.S. seriously, it's okay to laugh- if you are serious about becoming an author, then you KNOW what to put in your query... and definitely what not to put.

7 comments:

Colene Murphy said...

Awe, I hope youre okay!

But ya, that was a great site! Thanks for passing it along lol.

Anonymous said...

I HATE those days! I just had one on Sunday. It was the worst. In fact, I'm still thinking about it. grrrrrr.

Whatever it was for you I hope you're doing much better now.:)

Abby Minard said...

Thanks Colene and Angela- yes, problem solved, issue resovled. All is good :)

Jennie Bailey said...

I feel bad for laughing at your day, but you were really, really funny describing it! I have had those days! And I love your valium comment.

Thanks for that link. It's nice that we can learn from other people's mistakes BEFORE we make the same ones!

Abby Minard said...

Thanks Jennie- I aim to please on here :) And yes, it is nice to see those up there so we don't make those same mistakes!

Andy said...

As a husband who gets calls like that I can really relate to Hubsies. But I have also had those moments of panic when you something up. Glad that you made it through.

Abby Minard said...

Ha, I'm sure you can Andy- but I'm sure Sarah isn't as crazy as I am ;p