If you've got the desire to be a published writer, you will need to cultivate patience and be ready to play the waiting game. What kind of waiting game do I mean? Here are several different versions that take place in the publishing world:
1. Waiting for a response. Whether you are submitting your unpublished manuscript to agents and publishers, hoping you will land the big contract, you better be ready to wait. Most publishers/agents make writers wait a minimum of six weeks to get a response, but it's usually closer to three months. The worst part of the waiting is that when you finally get that kiss off letter, it is usually a form letter that is not directly addressed to you or refers to your manuscript by title, clear evidence that they never really read your work. Yes, it is possible that they have read it over, rejected it, and are far too busy to write a letter to specifically tell you why they rejected it. But it is far more likely that they are far too busy to either read your manuscript or respond to you in a personal manner, unless you've already got a name or were referred to them by a client.
2. Waiting for a review. Your novel has hit the open market, been sent off to reviewers who requested review copies, and now you must wait to hear the good (or bad) news. Now this is where you need to be really patient because reviewers receive piles of review copies each month, many unsolicited. To read the novels in the order they are received, write a meaningful review, submit it online or in print, and notify the author and publisher of its completion can take months. Not a month, months. More like three. So don't pester them. When it's done, if it's done, they'll let you know. In the meantime, Google the Hell out of yourself and watch your work spread over the Internet. And when you get your reviews back, be sure to thank the reviewers. If you are a gracious author, the reviewers will want to read your next novel and the ones after that.
3. Waiting for sales. As a new author, one of the most painful things you can do is track your sales numbers using any of the Internet tracking services. This is a great way to sink yourself into a depression. Unless you have a major publisher and public relations service backing you and pushing your work commercially, you need to wait patiently and occupy yourself with something else. Go write another book, perhaps. I have had to stop watching all my sales tracking services because sales have been slow. I have almost two hundred and sixty Facebook author page "likes", but commercially I have not sold a large number of copies. Is it frustrating? Yes. Will things change? Yes. Not everyone will buy a copy. Support comes in all forms. Some emotional, some financial. If you are patient and you keep pounding the pavement with book signings and readings, your sales numbers will increase eventually.
Writing a novel and getting it published is no get rich scheme. Only the most diligent, prolific writers find success. Keep at it, be patient, and don't get discouraged by how long you'll have to wait for things to move.
