Submitting my heart to scrutiny

I'm about to start a bout of submissions for my novel Genehunter.  I'm going to do a first round of agent submissions at the end of November.  Which coincidentally happens to be when the Portsmouth Wtiters' Hub has a panel of agents at their meeting.  Perfect timing!

I'm also planning on doing #SFFpit, a science fiction and fantasy Twitter pitching contest, on the 10th December, and possibly the monthly Curtis Brown and Conville and Walsh Twitter pitching session too. Then there's the Angry Robot Open Door, which swings wide at the beginning of December.  There are so many opportunities opening up at the same time that it feels like a perfect storm situation for submissions right now.  It's so different from how things were just five years ago.

I've spent a lot of my time on Facebook and Twitter reading about the publishing industry.  In the last month I've read dozens of blog posts written by agents about how to do the perfect pitch.  And I also have a couple of successful pitch letters I got from Juliet Mushen's agent session at the Nine Worlds con last August.

So I know that publishing is a business.  I know that I have to write an elevator pitch.  I have to cram my story with all its glorious richness into one page of bland synopsis.  In short, I have to submit the product of my heart to the cold, hard, scrutiny of a profit-orientated business.  That's no surprise. Of course publishers hope to make a profit.  And yes, in a mainstream deal, publishers take all the costs up front with no guaranteed return.  It's no wonder that makes them cautious about what they buy.

But that doesn't change the fact that I'm submitting my heart to scrutiny when I send my work to them.  I'm letting them make judgements on the characters and story I love.  As Tolkien said: "I have put up my heart to be shot at."

No doubt already-published authors reading this will have a wry smile.  Because the truth is that scrutiny of the contents of my heart will continue well beyond the publisher.  When the book comes out reviewers and readers will all make judgements on my story and characters.

The life of an author is about putting the contents of their hearts out there for others to read.  And just maybe, by having the courage to do that, we enrich someone else's life - or touch their hearts.