Ask and You Shall Receive?

This is my weakness. Suppose I always knew and previously believed it made me stronger. After all, I’d rarely, if ever, ask my parents for anything. My mother couldn’t afford much, aside from her love and attentive ears. My father has never been particularly interested in my life. I went to college at 17 and left college for New York City when I was 21. There were no nets. If I failed in New York …

Luckily, the city caught me, shinning her pretty promises. I believed, and this attitude carried me through.

Many jobs and a few apartments later, I still haven’t mastered the art of asking. Which brings me to today. After several creative pursuits, writing fiction won! I have a novella published with Leap Books, Shine imprint, an ebook. My publisher says they’ll print the book—if sales are high enough—in the autumn sometime. I’m still waiting on the news. Do I ask, again?

There are so many questions in this business and without an agent, I often feel like I’m flopping and flailing out here. I’ll keep writing, the only thing I (still) have control over. Lost in the excitement of my stories keeps my heart beating with passion and life. It fills me with creative control. Many other creative pursuits, I’ve dabbled in depended on others. Hence, the asking would be paramount. If I pursued Jazz singing, I have to ask musicians to join and barter their payment.

I need to figure out how to erase this little glitch in my thinking.

Authors have to ask for a lot of things. None of which I’m very good at. I’m always ready to jump in when someone else needs help. That’s’ easy. We ask people to read our books, we beg for reviews, we single out successful authors and ask for book blurbs. In a few minutes I’ll update my query list, and perhaps nudge (ask) if they’ve read my submission.  So many questions!

As authors, we have to exercise this muscle, a lot. Does it get any easier?

If you have any fabulous techniques, please share in the comments.