A Writer’s Fortune

by Linsey Lanier

Right now, as you read these words, RWA’s 30th Annual National Conference is going on in Orlando. The likes of Nora Roberts, Debbie Macomber, and Linda Howard are getting ready to sign their umpteenth book. Everyone’s looking forward to the Keynote Luncheon (or already heard it), PAN and PRO members are getting excited about their Retreats.

If I had my druthers, I’d go to writing conferences, especially Nationals, all year long just for the fun of it. They’re so exciting. Alas, I lack the funds, time, and energy — they’re also DRAINING. So Instead I’m sitting this one out at home. Maybe next year.

But while I sit back here in the land of Dixie, working on my manuscript, I’m thinking about a strange thing that happened a few nights ago.

Hubby and I went out late for dinner and, as we often do, had to drive around for several minutes before we could decide where to eat. We ended up at Panda Express. Not gourmet fare, but as hubby would say, it keeps the gut from sticking together.

Anyway, just before we finished, I decided to open my fortune cookie. I don’t eat them (they’re not dark chocolate, after all). I just read the fortunes. So I cracked mine open and unfolded the paper inside. Here’s what it said.

“Your troubles will cease and fortune will smile upon you.”

My heart skipped a beat. Really?

I’m not usually the gullible type, but when we got home, I couldn’t resist checking the phone messages. Was there a call from an editor dying to read my wip? An agent who thought I was the bomb?

All I heard was the homespun voice of a contractor saying he’d be late for the job we wanted done the next day (one of those “talkers”) and a mechanical reminder of a doctor’s appointment. I checked the slip of paper again (which of course, I was carrying in my pocket).

“Your troubles will cease and fortune will smile upon you.”

Hmm. Do these things come with an expiration date?

Then I remembered I hadn’t sent out any submissions lately. In fact, even though I’d paid my $5 to enter the fabulous GRW PRO Rejection Collection Contest, I hadn’t sent out a single submission this year. Why?

I don’t have to analyze myself too hard to find the answer. FEAR. For me, it’s fear of both success and failure.

Success, because if I am lucky enough to get an offer, I’m terrified I won’t be able to fulfill the contract. Failure, because if I get a rejection, I might sink down into a murky despair and not be able to write for months.

“Your troubles will cease and fortune will smile upon you.”

I guess I have to admit it. If that prediction is ever going to come true, I’ll just have to suck it up and do what it takes to make it happen.

So help me out here.

How do you get up the nerve to send out submissions? How do you battle the fear of failure and success? If you’re at Nationals, how do you handle your nerves when you pitch to an editor or agent?