I started following some publishing types on Twitter, just to see what kind of things they are into…and while they are clearly reasonable folk, with very pertinent advice about writing and publishing…they are also TOTALLY SCARING ME.

It’s not enough just to write the dang book. Then you have to ‘pitch’ it…meaning you throw it at the feet of of a literary agent, as you try to woo them through a perfectly crafted 1 page query letter …

I think about drafting a query letter (with its picture perfect spelling, grammar, word choice, length, focus and ‘personal touch’ quotient) and my eyes glaze over as I go: ahhhhhh!

So you can see I just broke my own rule about mixing publishing with writing (see previous blog: “Publish? Perish?”).   Yes, now I have a tummy ache.

But does that mean I’ll quit following the publishing people on Twitter? Probably not.

I can’t seem to help myself. It’s like rubber-necking at an accident site. I just gotta do it, even though it gives me a bad case of the shakes…

I did say earlier that I think most writers are inherently masochists…