Words!

Today I have achieved words, and it has felt great! My short story is coming along (which is good because I only have five days left). I will hopefully have it finished by tomorrow.

Favourite line for the day:

So they know that it is now me they deal with. Well what do they have to say to the woman whose father they have slaughtered and whose armies they now fight?


In other news, I have been thinking about ways in which I can incorporate what I love into what I do. I mean for a living. Being an author would be like a dream come true, but I am a realist (hahahahaha), and have read (extensively, it's one of my favourite ways to procrastinate) many agent and publishing industry advice blogs and articles, and have come across some pretty frightening stats.

From what I can tell, a busy agent receives around 10,000-15,000 queries a year. They take on around five new clients a year. Of those who are lucky enough to be published, maybe 5-15% earn enough from writing to live off their income. Nuff said. This is not to say that I won't try, but only that I will have realistic expectations.

So with this in mind, I ask myself, what can I do that will incorporate my love for books into my future career path? And I think, I could get into publishing.

So much easier said than done. No relevant industry experience (I work in a bank) and no relevant education (I have a degree in finance and economics). But now that the idea is in my head I can't let it go, and I know it's what I want to do. So I've done some research and found this. A diploma in publishing which sounds like an amazing and worthwhile course, and one of the only ways to get into the pubslishing industry in NZ, short of being family friends with the CEO of Penguin. But of course it is not as straight-forward as simply enrolling for the course.

It seems to be quite difficult to get into (2 applicants for each available position, strict entry criterea, etc etc) which is fine. But I don't want to get my hopes up only to find out in December that I am not one of the lucky applicants. Then also I would have to move to Wellington, along with Ollie and our cat. Find a place to live. Find tenants for our house. Get a part time job on top of a Monday to Frida, 9 to 5 course in order to continue to pay the home loan.

Ok do I sound like I'm whinging? Sorry.

I guess what it comes down to is: Do I want to do the course?
Yes

Then we will work it out (Ollie assures me this is true).

Who knew blogging could be so helpful in making big decisions :).

Till next time.
Sari