There is that moment in every writer’s life when they need to submit their work. That day is coming up fast for me. It doesn’t seem to matter that I’ve submitted before or that I know what to do. I strive to make my work sparkle and still it might not win the SWiC16 Writing Contest.
The fact is, there are millions of awesome writers in the world today. With that in mind, I put my feet solidly on the ground and acknowledge the seed of doubt tromping around in the back of my mind.
To ease my doubt
Like with all my serious submissions, I lined up a handful beta readers and Yay! they did an awesome job: Pointed out the good, Got me taking a harder look at the areas I needed to improve, Asked all the right questions, And caught all my silly typos.
What most agreed on was my too-blunt ending. It left readers shocked, unsatisfied, and hanging with no place to go. Not good at all.
Act on feedback
I take all my feedback seriously. As the one to bring all these great minds together, I’d better sit up and pay attention when they tell me the truth about my 
work.
I wouldn’t have shared if I didn’t trust them. I wouldn’t have shared if I thought all they were going to do was rave. I shared for one simple reason to have some honest souls find the weak spots and point them out.
Back to submitting
I’ve done everything I can do to get ready including rewriting my ending. One last read and I’ll be hitting send on this most precious email.
What do you think
Anything specific you ask yourself before hitting send? This writer would love to hear about it before it’s too late. 😉
elements of emaginette 
I feel the same way every time I make a post on my blog. I am a bit of a perfectionist. I have learned it is better to do it than not and regret it. Good luck with your submission. I have confidence in you. 🙂
sherry @ fundinmental My TT
I agree it’s worth the effort and thanks for the luck–I’ll need it. There are some awesome writers out there. 🙂
Congrats. I’ve actually only done it twice. I ask myself is good enough? And do I really want to do this?
I do really want this. But is it good enough? Only time will tell. 🙂
Congrats! I’ve only submitted to an anthology I’m in and to a couple of contests. I send it off in hopes that I did enough work on it.
Exciting, isn’t it? hehehe
I’m better at subbing work, at letting the work go, than I used to be – probably because I’ve been doing it for a very long time – but I still hesitate, still worry, still triple check everything.
Good luck! Fingers crossed for you!
Thanks. Once I’ve know I’ve done my best, letting go isn’t too hard. 🙂
I like to hit up my critique partners to get their feedback. It’s always nice having a good set of external eyes look over your stuff.
I hope your submission is successful!
I’m pretty excited. Magic fingers crossed. hehehe
It is hard to hit SEND, but I know the time has come when I am obsessing over using THIS word or THAT word and whether this line needs an em-dash or ellipses.
Thanks. That’s what I’m dreading about my last read through. hehehe
Good luck with everything Anna!
Thanks, I’ll need it. 🙂
It is so hard to hit send, as I always feel like I just need to look it over one more time….I can drive myself crazy.
Congratulations and best of luck with your submission!! Here’s hoping you get a great response to it.
Fingers crossed. Thanks, Julie. 🙂
My present nonchalance with regard to story submissions is the result of years overwhelming anxiety. Finally, I just couldn’t take it any more. That’s probably also why I quit submitting so much, but I admire your guts to keep it up!
In other words, I have absolutely nothing useful to tell you, but I wish you the best of luck!
I appreciate it though. 🙂
I’m glad you got great feedback from your beta readers. Beta readers are priceless. Best of luck with your submission! I have my fingers crossed for you. 🙂
Thanks, Chrys. With all this luck, how can I lose? hehehe
Having beta readers/critique partners read your work is one of the best things you can do for your stories. They see things the writer doesn’t. As Chrys said, they’re priceless.
I go over everything in my head a million times in the days leading up to the submission deadline, hoping I haven’t forgotten anything. I’m always paranoid I’m going to miss something.
When the time comes, take a deep breath and hit send. Then pat yourself on the back for having had the courage to do it. Best of luck with it! I’ll keep my fingers crossed, too!
Thanks, Lori. I’m finding trying to stay calm the hardest part. 🙂
I’m in awe that you’re submitting something to a contest. I’m so early in the process of trying to become a writer that I can’t even begin to imagine having the courage to press the submit button. But it sounds like you’ve done everything right and I bet it’s awesome! I’d be curious how you went about getting beta readers. That’s something I’m currently looking at doing. Glad yours are so great and gave you such useful feedback.
No secret in getting betas. I just asked on my blog and got a wonderful response. It does help that I’ve beta read for others though. 🙂
Good luck! It sounds like you are doing all the right things
I hope that’s enough. hehehe
Looks like you’ve done all your homework. Good luck on the results. It was probably good advice to rework your ending if it didn’t feel satisfying. You don’t want to leave your readers hanging.
You are so right. 🙂
Am I too late? Did you hit send? Sorry. Before I send, I always read the thing out loud. I always print out and take the manuscript to a different location–sounds odd, but I find it works–and read it again. I do this, of course, after all that you’ve already done with your readers and your editing. Good luck!
Not too late. Thanks for the help. Every bit counts at a moment like this. 🙂
Congrats on submitting to that contest! One thing I’ve been told by someone in the know is that the people who screen things for the judges like female-centric stories where the woman triumphs.
Good luck Anna, Is that the one I read? Fingers crossed for you and I’m happy to repeat the process if you ever need it again (provided you can cope with my comments 😉 )
Yes, it is and thanks so much for all your help. 🙂
Sending your precious work off is always the hardest part for me too, Anna. You’re not alone, don’t worry. As artists, we pour ourselves into our work. So to us, it’s like putting ourselves on the line. Take a deep breath. You can do this. 🙂
True. I just need to let go. 🙂
Good luck!!
Thanks, Jennifer. 🙂