I submitted a manuscript to a competition.
The End.
LOL JK.
That isn’t all I did, but writing it down in one sentence like that showed how it all boiled down to one choice — submitting it.
And I must admit, at that time, I really didn’t think that my work was good enough. You see, I’d written a first draft of that manuscript and I was looking for a place to submit it. Yeah I know — no one submits a first draft, but I liked to give myself a goal or a list of places for me to submit to so that it would look like I was working towards something.
Cue the Scholastic Asian Book Award.
After reading my manuscript, one of my friends thought that it was suitable for children, and I guessed that she was right. I didn’t mean for it to be a children’s book — I was writing for past me, for the girl who wanted a story about someone who looked like her. The book fit the criteria of writing a story about Asia or inspired by Asia, and I guess it seemed like the right fit for this competition.
But I was worried. Most of the titles that were in the top three had gotten published, and they were all under the genre of realist fiction. Mine was fantasy. I also worried that the book wasn’t smart enough, or suitable enough for children, or that the people in-charge wouldn’t publish anything with fantasy in it. I was wrong.
But of course, no one sends a first draft out. It was about 9 months before the deadline, so I asked another friend to help me edit. We went through two rounds of edits before I submitted it, and I crossed my fingers.
I turns out, my book made the shortlist. It was one of the Top 5. I had to go for a press conference, and a prize presentation ceremony after that.
I didn’t win, but I met lots of people who thought that publishing my book was a viable option, and more importantly, Scholastic’s editors asked to see the manuscript. After a few months, they asked if they could publish it. After signing a contract, several rounds of edits and what not, the book is almost done.
As you know, it will be released on 27 May, 2016.
Y’know, doing this taught me several things, like re-writing, querying, and having a little faith in what I do. Some of it has to do with luck, like how putting my own work down and worrying wasn’t doing me any favours. At the end of the day, though, I knew I had to put myself out there, because whining and hiding my work was useless — finding opportunities like that was crucial, and it was how I knew I had something worth publishing.
There were many expensive sushi dinners with friends when I heard that Scholastic had agreed to publish it, and I guess the whole point is to submit your work and find many ways to put it out there, no matter what, even if you think it sucks. The worst outcome would probably be getting ignored, or getting trolled, but more often than not, there are people who believe in your story, and would take the time you give you critique so that you can improve.
Featured Image by Joe Ross