Current Writing Status November 10, 2018

Here’s my current status with writing.

I’m not retired yet, so I’m trying to work on some things and get some other works in the oven to see if I can make any money.

When I finished my MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Texas in El Paso (UTEP), my thesis was a 400 page novel called The Soldier’s Journal.  I had to defend my thesis before a panel of professors, and I passed and received my degree.  Afterwords, took a month off and re-looked at the novel, and rewrote another draft.  I then wrote a couple drafts of a query letter and sent them to some agents attempting to get representation.  I sent two query letters nine weeks ago and one responded with a no.  I sent six more about six weeks ago, and one replied with a no, but most said on their web-page that they were busy and if I hadn’t heard back in six weeks then I should assume its a no.  So, I’m 0 for 8.  Since, then I paid a service to look at my query letter and rewrote it, I think it is a lot better now.  I also, sent my novel to a structure editor and am currently waiting for it to be returned to me with her edits and recommendations.

I have had 4 short stories published, two on line and two in a compilation book.  I didn’t get paid for any of these though, so, of course my goal is to get paid for my stories.  But at least I have some published for my resume.

So, while I’m waiting for my editor to get back to me, I’m working on a couple non-fiction works that I hope to have the first draft finished of one by the end of the year, and the second by February 2019.  I’m not really looking for representation for these books, I plan on using Kindle Publishing to get them on the market.  It will be my first time, so a learning process, and I’ll tell you all about it in case you are interested in doing the same.

So this is where I’m at in my writing career.  In future posts, I’ll keep you updated on my progress with my novel, non-fiction books, and short story publishing.  I also want to track the money I’m making to give new authors some realistic tracking and financial planning for themselves.  I’m fortunate to have a military retirement paycheck coming in when I finally retire next month, but I know a lot writers don’t have the safety net.  I also want to review some of the things I mentioned in this post such as: my MFA experience, my short story publication experience, my query letter, and my novel writing experience.

I look forward to sharing my writing experience with you guys, and I hope you find some information you can use.

RR