A Writer’s Life: If I Were A Man, I Never Would’ve Gotten Any Action

August 10, 2007 by Tari Jewett in category Archives tagged as A Writer's Life with 1 and 0

Home > Writing > Archives > A Writer’s Life: If I Were A Man, I Never Would’ve Gotten Any Action

Because in my 20’s, I had a real problem with asking for what I wanted.

I remember the very first query letter I wrote to Harlequin Silhouette. I was almost apologizing for wasting their time in asking them to consider my book. Admittedly, it wasn’t a great book but you think after all the nights and lunch hours I spent on that thing that I would’ve been a better advocate than that.

As time wore on, I wanted to be published so badly that it became my life purpose to sell Hot Tamara. Maybe I was tired of rejection, or just getting ornery as I approached my thirties. Whatever the case, I began thinking about why I should be published as opposed to why I shouldn’t. When I wrote that fateful query letter to Harper Collins, I shook my moneymaker, baby. I was damn proud of that story. Having reread the letter recently, there’s a chutzpah to it even though the book had already been rejected by ten agents.

The thing is, when you finally climb up into the realm of publishing, you have to keep on asking for what you want. You have to risk that someone will tell you no, which then requires that you do some fancy footwork to change their mind, or maneuver around them. Even though I consider myself to be moderately ballsy, I still squirm just a little bit when I ask my agent to do something on my behalf, or my readers to buy my next book.

When I hesitate, I remember that no one else will do it for me … unless of course, I ask them to.

Mary Castillo is the author of In Between Men and Hot Tamara. Her website is www.marycastillo.com.

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A Slice of Orange

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A Slice of Orange started in 2004 as a group of authors from Orange County, California. We have expanded to include authors from around the globe–from the UK, all across the US to New Zealand. Our authors include the multi-published and writers at the beginning of their publishing career. In addition to authors, we feature blog posts from editors, PR professionals, and cover designers. The bright segments of the writing and reading community that make up one perfect entity—A Slice of Orange.

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Anonymous says:

August 13, 2007 at 10:35 AM

Mary,
I love this post…We often forget to ask for what we want, and forget that most people can’t read our minds. Thanks for the reminder.
Always,
Michelle