Finding a Wider Audience
In a (rare) quiet moment last weekend, while the girls were otherwise occupied throwing rocks into the lake, I admitted to Bubba that I’m feeling a bit scattered, writing-wise. Following the Writer’s Boot Camp I took with Lisa Romeo in January, I was energized to work on my travel memoir. And then life crept in, slowly at the edges, and then more rapidly as water does when it finds a void, rushing to fill up every available space with carpools, after-school activities, and random, small writing projects.
Since then, I have submitted a few small pieces here and there for consideration, renewed my efforts to sell my original manuscript and all but abandoned the travel memoir to attract dust and yellow in the corner. A few rejections later, and I found myself questioning my path. Am I working on a larger project like the travel memoir or content to write blog posts and submit essays to magazines and writing contests? Can I do both?
I can’t say that I have a definitive answer, but I am reminded to be cautious of what I ask the Universe for because wishes are powerful. All of this is to say that upon returning home from our holiday at the lake, I found an email in my inbox requesting submissions to a website called BuddhaChick. I quickly located what I thought was the perfect essay for their upcoming issue and fired it off. Within hours I had confirmation that the editor liked the essay and will include it in their July 18 issue. My first instinct after hollering a mental “yahoo” was to spin into other writing opportunities – find more places to submit! And then I reminded myself to sit with this triumph and absorb how good it feels. Much more satisfying than rushing off, I must say (although harder to do).
This morning, I awoke, made my latte and sat down to check my email. The first message in line was one from the editor of BlogHer’s family section, letting me know that they will be featuring my previous blog post on the front page of that section starting this evening.
Abundance.
Again, I asked myself to just be in this moment. Bask in the feeling that my writing is being acknowledged on a new level and appreciated. Be grateful that my words will reach new and different audiences and create dialogue that ripples out farther than this blog.
If you haven’t checked out either of these sites, please do. They are rich in content and driven by women who believe in the power of the written word and harnessing the positive energy of women to make change and create awareness.
Woohoo! Congratulations! …and good for you.
I'm so happy for you, Kari! I hope these successes give you the energy and confidence to keep following a path you are clearly meant to travel ( and maybe even write a memoir about the journey).
Awesome Kari! Congrats!!!