I've excerpted the snippet below from our Pro Write workshop "Freelancing Secrets". I've had several queries this week about writing for publication, if you're nervous about it too, this may help. :-)
Secret One: Be brave: no one is judging you
The first freelancing secret is bravery. You must send your work out into the wide world. Many brilliant writers are too shy to do this. They're self-conscious. They think that people will read their work and say nasty things about them. They fail to realize what they will discover when they become published, and that is that people are busy, and that no one is judging you. Magazines receive hundreds of submissions every week. So do book publishers. It's extremely difficult to capture anyone's attention. They don't have the time to judge you. They'll skim your work asking; "Can I use this?"
The solution to shyness? Send out your work. At first you will need to grit your teeth. Over time, it becomes easy.
Everyone to whom you send your work has a million and one concerns of their own. They're not looking to judge your work. Quite the contrary. They're hoping that your work can help them to do their job. If they're a magazine editor, they're hoping they can find a distinctive new voice for their publication, or that they can find something to fill the hole a contributor left when he didn’t send in his material on time. If they're a book acquisitions editor, they're hoping to find a book that will hit the bestseller lists and make their career. They're grateful to you for sending them your work. Even if they can’t use your work.
