After writing and revising, rewriting and editing, submitting and resubmitting, you might feel exhausted. And you have every right to want to take a break, sit back, and just wait. Maybe someone will publish your work, maybe they won't, but you're tired and you don't want to think about it any more.
But you still want to be published. You want to see your name in print. So, is there anything left that you can actually do? Your plot is completed, your characters are done for the moment, and your story is in the mail. Surely there's nothing left to do.
But there is. Keep writing. Move on. Come up with that next great story and get it down on paper. You've already done it once, so do it again. If you want to make a living as a writer, you have to keep writing, even when you think you're done. If you really can't find it in you to write another novel just yet, think about launching a career as a freelance writer. Being a professional writer can mean more than just writing novels.
Whatever you do, keep writing. Keep that pen sharp and ready to create the next great work.
If you've written your first novel and submitted it to a couple of publishers, you're might find yourself at a loss. What do you do now? You could do any number of things, really. You might choose to take a break and wait for the results of your queries. Maybe you'll sit in a chair and fret about the queries you sent out. but neither of these is very productive.
Instead, keep your work out there. Look up every publisher that specializes in the genre of your novel and submit more queries. If you're looking for an agent, fire off queries to as many as you can find. Keep at it until you've submitted to every publisher and agent with a publicly available address. If you don't keep your work out there, you'll never be a published author.
For those who've chosen to self-publish, you'll have to promote your work to get any sales at all. With the Internet, this has become easier, but it still requires effort. Promote your book on social networking sites, link exchanges, and anywhere else you can think of. You might also want to consider approaching your local bookstores about stocking the book. This is harder than it sounds, as many bookstores are reluctant to carry a self-published work. However, with a little persistence, you might be able to change their minds.
If you really believe in your book, keep it out there. If it's truly worth publishing, someone will publish it. And if it's well written and entertaining, people will buy it. But it's up to you to make sure your novel stays out there, getting attention and hopefully being noticed by the right people.
