Image: Rory Bristol
There’s something about deadlines that I’ve only recently put my finger on. Some deadlines don’t feel “real”, either because they are so far away, or somehow trivial. Other deadlines, however, are all too real. Most of them, as a matter of fact.
This week, I have an overwhelming deadline. Jenny and I have a book proposal due on Friday. We were invited to put a proposal in, but the invitation left us in a position to say “yes” without the proposal even partially completed. We had to say yes. There was no question. It’s very rare for an agent (for any reason) to suggest a proposal they’d like to represent. Like, never thought that it’d happen to us, rare.
But, we’re all over it. This week is all about short deadlines and breakpoints of content. Thankfully, this publisher has a very specific book proposal format. This simplifies things a lot, but we still have a lot of work. Things we’re still not done with:
- Table of Contents (we’re close to finishing this one).
- Chapter descriptions for every chapter and section.
- Formatting for the proposal.
- Sales copy – writing text that will sell the book on each point in the proposal.
So, If I’m distant, or have to tell you I’m busy this week, please realize that I truly am out of time for social stuff. Taking a day, well, evening, off for a holiday is a big setback in our home, as we juggle all of our work. We’ll be playing catch-up for the rest of the week, while doing our best to keep our other commitments.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to write a fifth version of my “About the Author” text for the proposal.
zooey
Rory