Patience & Self-Care: A Must-Have Guide for Emerging, Latinx, & BIPOC Writers Navigating the Submission Process
Difficult Roads Lead to Beautiful Destinations: Prioritizing your mental health during the submission or querying process will make you a more sane and stronger writer.
Being a new writer is hard, but being a Latinx, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) unpublished writer comes with some extra hardships. As a writer, submitting your work for publication is daunting and requires so much patience and perseverance. It's easy to feel overwhelmed, discouraged, and defeated even if we believe in our work during the submission process, but we have to make time to take care of our mental health and practice patience.
Remember the publishing industry is slow-moving. You wait months to hear back from publishers or literary agents and time moves like molasses when you're eagerly anticipating a response. But it’s all part of the process.
Publishers and agents receive numerous submissions, and it takes time to review each one carefully. If it helps, know you are not alone!
Take time to prioritize self-care during the emotionally draining submission process because the waiting game can have a serious impact on your mental health especially if like me you struggle with anxiety or depression.
How do you prioritize your mental health? Let me know on your favorite social!
Rejection is a part of the process, and it’s tough to hear your work isn't the right fit for a particular publication or agency. It's okay to feel disappointed but find coping strategies to help you manage your emotions and not let them consume you.
I practice self-care during the submission process by setting boundaries. For me, it's easy to get caught up in constantly checking your email for updates, but it quickly becomes overwhelming. So, I set aside specific times of the week to check for updates, and then disconnect. I spend time doing other things that make me happy like reading, working out, or vegging out to my favorite mystery show.
I also connect with other writers who are going through a similar experience on FB groups or Instagram. I’ve found a supportive venting community of writers all muddling our way through the submission or querying process. If you have a community of writers who understand the challenges, you feel less alone, and might even take some of the rejections less personally (JK!).
Taking a step back and focusing on the things I can control helps me manage my anxiety and spiraling tendencies. I can’t control whether or not a publisher or agent will accept my work, but I can control the quality of my writing and the effort I put into submitting my work.
By constantly working on my craft I make sure my work is the best it can be before submitting it.
Keep in mind rejection doesn't mean your work isn't good enough! If you are struggling with self-doubt consider joining a writing group, finding a critique partner, or hiring a book coach. A writing coach can help ease your worries and give you the writing help you need to get over questions.
Publishers and agents look for specific types of work that fit their publication or agency's style and brand, so keep submitting, and don't let rejection discourage you from chasing your writing dreams.
Happy Writing,
Raquel Garcia