Going fishing. That’s the term I use for submitting my rejected manuscripts to other houses. It’s been awhile since my last book was published, but life kind of got in the way. I got married and then I had a baby. My baby is now eighteen months old and can amuse himself to some extent while I try and get some writing done. Also, since I work full-time, it’s hard to devote much time to writing when I have familial duties to take care of.

When I started sending my rejects out to various houses, my husband said, “Maybe one of them will bite.” That’s when I came up with the brilliant idea of calling this re-submission process ‘going fishing.’

I encourage all of you who have been rejected to go fishing. My next book, tentatively scheduled for a March 2008 release date, was sold to a publisher because of my fishing expedition. I still have others floating around out there, searching for a home while I work on my current project.

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com