There's nothing quite as exciting as preparing a manuscript for submission to a publisher. The story has been edited to the nth degree, it has been beta-tested by other writers who write for similar markets, and I know it's in the best shape possible. Now it's ready to get 'out there' to the market I'm targeting on this occasion.

This market accepts submissions by email as well as regular 'snail mail'. My dilemma has been how to submit my manuscript as I don't really trust either submission format. I know, the technophobic dinosaur buried deep inside me has reared its ugly head again, but I can't help it. I have had a manuscript disappear in the snail mail, and it's hard to know whether the submission emails you send actually reach the person they are meant to reach.

Thankfully, my friends and colleagues in the Logan Writers Collective provided some reassuring comments about electronic submissions in response to my question about my dilemma. One great suggestion was to ensure I sent the submission with a Bcc (blind copy) to myself so that I could receive a copy of what was sent out. Well, I took that advice and my submission has winged its way to Sydney electronically a few minutes ago.

Tonight I have also been reminiscing about what it was like in the early days of my writing apprenticeship and how I had to submit work during the early 1990s when I first started to write seriously. The internet was not known to me in 1992 when I started making my first submissions and I rarely used email back then. If I wanted to speak to a writer friend, I rang them up! I was part of a big writing group for genre fiction and so thankfully, current submisison information was circulated through group hardcopy newsletters. At other times, I would seek submission info myself by mail, but it would take months to come back - if at all!

I started using email more in 1994 and by 1995 had discovered the internet! I could not believe the world that had been opened up to me by this resource. All of a sudden I could get submission information instantly from most of the publishers I was targeting. Manna from heaven! Things have improved greatly in the last 16 years. We really are in the middle of the information superhighway.

I have struggled a bit with social networking in the new Millennium, but that is just another challenge for the modern writer. Having met advocates of e-publishing recently, I feel more confident about exploring opportunities to have my work published for e-markets. My next big challenge is to buy an e-reader so I can start buying books to read on it, and I'm kind of hoping that Santa might find room in his sack for a Kindle for me this Christmas! I have left enough hints on my fridge for family to see...

All for now - keep on writing, and keep on believing in yourself and what you are aiming for in your life. Writing can take you anywhere, hence the name of my blog 'Oh, The Places You'll Go.' May your writing journeys be happy ones.