Misbehaving

I attended a lecture last week. The speaker shared this quote by an anonymous source, "Well-behaved women rarely make history."

What do you think? Do you agree with that sentiment? I do. It makes me think of Rosa Parks, Ida B. Wells and Shirley Chisholm.

That quote reminded me of another presentation I attended years ago. The speakers were New York Times best-selling authors Jayne Ann Krentz and Susan Elizabeth Phillips. The title was "Secrets of the Best-Selling Sisterhood." The authors' main point was, to be successful, you have to break some rules. Misbehave, if you will. Of course, one should follow the basic tenants of social politeness, but at least question the rules.

Let's take publishing, for example. If publishers won't accept submissions unless that publisher has specifically requested the submission, then we'd be better served to wait for their request. But why can't we submit to multiple publishers at the same time?

If an agent's submission guidelines state she'll respond to our inquiry in eight weeks, why can't we follow up in nine or 10 weeks - if we haven't heard from her - to respectfully request a status on our inquiry?

If a publisher offers us a contract, why can't we try to negotiate for better terms, even on our first contract? Until I've signed the contract, that manuscript is mine. It's in my best interest to make sure I'm comfortable with the terms. After all, don't we want both parties have a good experience with this relationship?

What are your thoughts on misbehaving? Do good girls finish last? Or do you get farther by following the rules?

Patricia

I'm back. . .at square one!

Okay, I didn't really mean to drop off the face of the earth. I've just been busy with other things, namely writing. One good thing about my series being dropped is that it has forced me to work on other writing projects and branch out in other directions. I guess I don't have much of a choice if I want to move forward. And as much as it hurts me to admit it--and even though I'm still hoping one day to find a new publisher for the two completed Kendra novels burning a hole on my hard drive--my series is pretty much dead in the water. I told my mother the other day that I feel like I've abandoned Kendra. She told me, "Don't worry. If I know Kendra, she'll be back." I just love my mother ; ).

So, fifteen years and three published novels later, I'm starting all over again. I recently finished a brand new novel. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I won't say anything more about it since it's currently on submission to publishers. With the current state of publishing--namely all the layoffs--things are moving even slower than usual when it comes to submissions. Many editors, who were already overwhelmed, are now doing the work of two or more editors. I'm settling in for a nice long wait. But for me waiting is nothing new. It took me four years to write my first book and another ten to get a book contract. This time around though I have a wonderful agent and I think my writing has greatly improved since my first book. Keep your fingers crossed for me and I'll keep you posted.

Currently reading: The Agency by Ally O'Brien
Currently listening to: Sade Live

Later,
Angela