When It Rains, It Pours - This Is The World Of Publishing

We have all heard the common phrase, "when it rains, it pours" and I have to say, publishing is clearly one of those businesses where this phrase feels common pretty much every day. Editors,
agents, writers, art directors, line and copy editors, contract departments, you name it, all feel this on a pretty regular basis. If you are an author feeling exceptionally stressed right now and want to scream, "You just don't get it!" believe me, we do!

I have had friends ask me how things are going and a common response is, "I think my authors know when the other authors need something because they all start asking at the same time." As I write this, I have revisions for one author, contract reviews on 4 others, submission material that is due to an editor ASAP and another full manuscript that needs to be read with editorial notes. For me, reading late into the night sucks because my brain is too tired. I honestly tried last night but I dozed off.

Of course there will be other times when things just flow perfectly. You have time to write. The kids don't bug you. Your writing is coming out of your brain and on to the page like a fresh moving mountain river. Enjoy it.

As some of you know, I teach some adjunct classes at a local community college. I had a student who, through her lack of computer knowledge, turned in an assignment with a file that I couldn't open (don't even get me started on Freeware software). In any case, that was 3 days ago. When she turned in the assignment the first time, I immediately got back to her to have her resubmit it. She finally did yesterday afternoon. I opened up my email this morning (5:15 am) and she had emailed by 6 pm yesterday wondering what the delay was for getting the grade completed. REALLY?

My response was that the grade would get done AFTER all of the other work that was due today would get finished. In other words, she got bumped to the bottom of the pile.

Why do I bring this up? No, this is not an issue of not following directions, it is, instead, an issue of how we all have piles of work to get through and we will get there, when we get there. If you are an author who does complain, or has complained about the speed of publishing, remember that those editors and agents are frequently in the same situation you are in. We all have those days, weeks and months where we feel our "TO DO LISTS" are endless.

But we will get through it. I promise you.

As for me, I am off to the next item on my list.