Phase Two may take months or years to complete the mental miles of this journey. Full of peaks and valleys, this emotional roller coaster will give a new meaning to perseverance. This phase shall make or break a writer and can be emotionally brutal. By this time, you may have found a group of writers with whom you meet with periodically to discuss the business of writing, publishing and obtaining agent representation. I found Romance Writers of America. You also learn the dos and don’ts of author etiquette, which I personally have difficulty with and I believe I’m almost in Phase Four of my writing career. But, that’s another article. Also, you may have a completed manuscript ready for agents and editors to view your work. They will see your beautiful prose, your unique introspective viewpoint and surely they will love the point of view of the sub-plotted characters, which are obviously perfect for a sequel, hence a multi-book contract is just around the corner. After all, you’ve absorbed all the information needed and your friends and family have told you that you’re a wonderful author and they can’t wait to see it on the shelves. You’ve worked hard and it’s ready. You know about query’s and proposals and your story telling will “Wow” the publishing community. You write your query, perfect your first three chapters and mail it overnight, no signature required and run to the mailbox every day for the next five months. You begin walking to the mailbox on the sixth month and finally, after more than a year you dread going to pick up the mail and only check it once or twice a week. Then, suddenly, there’s a package filling the box and your heart leaps. You grab it out and hold it close to your breast. You run to the house, throwing bills and junk mail to the side, open the return envelop to find a small piece of paper stapled to your query letter, the short summary of your baby, your work of art and it reads,

“Thank you for sending us this material. We’re sorry, but it doesn’t meet our present needs.”

That’s it? That’s all they have to say, no request, no input, just thanks, but no thanks? It doesn’t even appear that they read it, no indication that a page was turned.

This is the point in which you either pass or fail the test of fate.