Sharing stories, voicing my frustrations and finally- allowing myself to open up enough to share my work with someone other than a faceless agent's e-mail address has been incredibly liberating and constructive! There are so many people out there that are feeling what I'm feeling and facing the dilemmas that I am facing.
Every single person that I've networked with so far has been incredibly gracious and giving of themselves. It's wonderful to know that someone is willing to sacrifice their free time to read my first chapter for the fifth time or take a look at the query letter that keeps me up at night. And in turn, I find that I am more giving of myself and my time in the same manner.
Sites such as Authonomy or Rallystorm (see my links) are invaluable and the community of people who frequent them are amazing! So, I'd like to give a huge 'kudos' to the creators of those sites, Harper Collins Publishers who created Authonomy to give writers a voice and a chance to stand out amongst their peers, and Patrick McDonald who created Querytracker for authors seeking agents, and Rallystorm, a site dedicated to providing a platform to anyone looking to network with others for any reason under the sun!
So, no matter what you do... whether you're a writer, a baker, a teacher, a reader, a student, a fireman, or WHATEVER, know that there's an entire planet waiting at your keyboard to support you and share the experience!
-Mandy
