Well, I did it. I pressed send and with that, my Amish romance novel proposal is on it’s way to my agent. Stomach all a-fluttery.

It’s a big deal for an author to send out a proposal. So much work has gone into it – the rough ideas have been shaped and honed and polished. Hours upon hours have gone into research. Then the thoughts have been spilled onto the page – words and sentences rearranged, spelling checked, grammar given the once-over.

What will your agent have to say about it? She won’t send it out if it’s not good – her reputation is on the line, too. And once she hits send and it takes flight to the acquisitions editors, what will they think? Of course, the hope is that they’ll love it and want to offer you a six-figure advance, knowing it will sell millions.

Oops – that’s a fantasy.

In reality, it will take weeks if not months to hear back. Waiting, waiting, waiting. It will go through several editors. No one may bite. The manuscript you, your critique partners, your first readers, and your agent thought was fantastic, a sure sell, sits in a drawer, gathering dust. Or these days, it sits on a flash drive, getting misplaced.

In the meantime? My plans are to take a couple of weeks and revamp my website and Facebook pages, paint my bedroom, and get caught up on several things I’ve left hanging.

Another idea is brewing in my mind. Before I know it, I won’t be able to resist it and I’ll be taking a trip to Milwaukee to research my next novel!

Readers & authors: what do you do when you’re in between projects?