I’m a by-the-books person. Can you tell that about me from blog posts? I mean, I can’t help it. I just love books so, so much. 😉 Okay, so I imagine it’s more that following rules is ingrained so deeply within me . . . other than a few minor rebellions when the rules went against something even deeper ingrained (like, say, logic), I was the one who listened.

In some strange and perhaps useless way, I approach the publishing industry according to rules too. For instance, once I signed with an agent I left all communication with editors to her, except for at writers conferences, of course. In my mind, this is just the way it was done. This was the way to be professional. And, well, leaving the business end to her meant I only worried about writing. Right?

But given that I didn’t make it to the ACFW conference this year, and given that my agent has a little more to worry with than just me, and given that I still hadn’t heard back on anything sent out upon request after last year’s conference, I gave it some prayer and had the feeling it was time to break this “rule” I had in my mind. I emailed my agent to get her okay (I am such a goody-goody, LOL) and then dropped a few “Hi, remember me? Just checking in” notes to a few different editors.

I must pause to say that God is so stinkin’ cool. No, no one immediately replied with, “What, didn’t you get the contract we sent you??” (ha!), but I did get a couple “Of course I remember you!”s and, when I asked these editors what they might be looking for now and proceeded to pitch pretty much everything I have in my Documents folder, I got requests, between them, for pretty much everything I have in my Documents folder. (Did you all hear me squealing in surprised glee last Thursday evening??) Also got the news that one of my projects in penciled into a publisher’s 2012 schedule.

Does this guarantee a contract with a major publisher? Um, no. But what it does do is remind me that (a) God knows what’s he’s talking about (duh, right?) (b) boost my confidence and (c) establish connections.

So back to work I go. FYI, my blog today was either going to be about this or the dream I had right before waking that involved a very poor rewrite of the Twilight saga, which I then apparently recognized was a poor rewrite, and which was then about how the characters put the story back the way it should go. (I’m such a dork, LOL.) It also involved an alligator under my couch. Don’t ask me why. I really, really don’t know. 😉