August 31, 2003 --

Lots going on.  I've had a short metafiction story accepted for publication in Neverary.  I'm waiting to hear from Weird Tales magazine about another one of my stories.
      I will be co-writing a screenplay for a feature film, along with Jason Denzel, who is incidentally the director behind the Dragonmount film project, which I am contributing to with my 3D animation experience.
      I plan to submit another screenplay, my original work, to an animated TV sitcom pitching contest, hosted by Fox Studios.  You can view some of the original character designs for this sitcom (name not public information yet) at my online art gallery by clicking here and scrolling down to the animal designs.

      What about my novels?  I've finished editing Book II of Yeresunsa, leaving only Book III as a rough draft.  It will have to stay that way a while longer.  As usual, I'm stressing over stupid things, such as the fact that I'm an unknown author with few publication credits.  How seriously will agents and editors take my huge fat novel manuscript when it lands on their desks?  There's no way to know but to try, of course, but I would feel better about submitting it if I had some more credibility.  Things like guild memberships, nepotism, and awesome publication credits aren't supposed to matter that much to agents and editors -- supposedly -- but I hear stories about manuscripts being thrown in the trash because the author didn't have a recognizable name.  I think this might have happened to me.  No way to know for sure, but I received that rejection letter awfully quick.  The agent couldn't have had time to read the manuscript.  She responded the next day, and she must have a huge slush pile.

      This is the sort of silly worry going through my head at this point.  I don't mind if I get a rejection letter from someone who honestly read my book.  I feel confident that it's an appealing story, and at least one agent or editor out there is bound to like it.  What worries me is the idea of never getting read in the first place.  There aren't a whole lot of SF/Fantasy novel publishers.

      So I'm going to work on some more short stories.  I will send out query letters and phone calls regarding Book I of Yeresunsa, but I'll also concentrate on getting myself some more credibility.  So far, my first query letter (to one of my favorite publishers) was never responded to.  That's mildly depressing.
      The Illusionist is technically ready to be sent out as well, but I don't feel that confident about it.  I'll let it sit for a while.  Does every novelist hoping to be published go through this crazy nervousness about sending out their finished manuscripts?