Jumping in

I haven't talked a lot so far about the querying process, mostly because I've only just barely dipped my toe in it. I have already experienced apprehension over watching my email inbox and the sting of rejection as certain phrases jump out of the query responses.
"I don't think I'm the right agent for your project."
"Your project is not the right fit at this time."
"You deserve an agent who is as passionate about your project as you are."

And always encouragement, though that doesn't make being rejected any easier.
"Remember, it only takes one agent!"
"Publishing is subjective, and I am sure you will find someone who is the right fit."
"Keep trying, and best of luck on your project!"

Yeah.

I haven't yet gotten the thrill of having a request. Now, possibly this is because I haven't had the opportunity to send out enough queries. By the time I was ready to submit my manuscript, it was December, and many agents were taking a holiday hiatus. When January rolled around, I found myself entrenched in craziness at work, which resulted in the inevitable Collapse of Exhaustion when I finally got home after a 9-10 hour work day, and getting up the energy/courage to send out more queries and deal with more rejection just wasn't appealing. I am only just feeling like I might be able to take a deep breath and jump back into that process.

Fun story, this post isn't even supposed to be about querying! This post is about a contest I entered. I was told about this contest by my friend Jenny, who is also going through the process of querying. She is much more diligent about it than I have been able to be, and therefore knows about a ton of contests and opportunities that I might never have heard of otherwise. This contest is on Cupid's Literary Connection and is called the Blind Speed Dating event. Jenny got picked to go onto the second round during the first week of the contest. I ended up submitting for week 5, and guess what...week 5 starts today! Ack!

I don't know what, if anything, will come from this contest, but I know that if I keep slacking off and not putting an effort into my dream, I won't ever get there. Every contest, every query is an opportunity for feedback, for practice, and who knows? Maybe the next contest/query will be THE ONE. Hey, it could happen.

If you'd like to check out my contest entry, click here.