I’ve been kicking around my ideas of how to know when I’ve “made it” as a writer, that glorious moment I will no longer feel like a pretender among the professionals. The big problem is that “making it” seems to be a moving target when I put some thought about it. I have a sneaking suspicion that when I achieve one of these items, I will move the bar.
So here’s my lists of things I would love to have happen someday in no particular order.
1. Win an award for my writing.
2. Be at a table at a convention.
3. Be invited to be on a panel about writing at a convention I’m attending.
4. Be invited to a convention as a guest.
5. Be invited to a convention as the guest of honor.
6. Participate in a writer’s workshop as a professional critiquing stories.
7. Have a fan recognize me from reading my books/blog.
8. Have another author recognize me from reading my books/blog.
9. Be retweeted by one of my favorite authors.
10. Have my blogged referenced by one of my favorite authors.
You might have noticed that I don’t have anything like “get an agent” or “get published with the Big Six.” I’ve definitely considered those. However, I haven’t made a definite decision that I will be submitting my novel to an agent or publisher. At this point I am keeping my options open.
For me, it’s not about becoming the next Laurel K. Hamilton, or Jim Butcher, or J. K. Rowling. It’s not about making the New York Times Bestsellers List. It’s not about making certain amount of dollars or selling a certain amount of copies. It’s about gaining respect, which when it comes down to it, is what I really want.
Not that I wouldn’t mind any of those happening.
The convention wishes are easily achieved, depending on the cons. After my sister’s FIRST homoerotic book her publisher was sending her to cons. She’s written about 7 or so now I think.