Congratulations are in order – your labor of love, that nine-months wait ( or perhaps shorter? or longer!) is over and the baby is finally out. Epic. Absolutely well done. You’ve crossed over into those uncharted territories that perhaps ninety percent of “writers” out there haven’t. And for this, you deserve to celebrate. So first order of business, get those sparkling bubblies out. Grab that cork-opener, dial in your close buddies, family and feel good about it.

The Elite Club. Trust me, writing THE END takes a lot of courage and sweat and blood…[ Yeah I heard you screaming, Guts & Glory..include that.]. Nobody gets it right the first time shooting from the gate. Not unless you’re some kind of divine cross between Brandon Sanderson & Joe Abercrombie. Which am assuming you’re definitely not, right?

Heard of the saying – if you love something, set it free, right? That is exactly what you need to be doing now. Take a break and distance yourself from your finished novel. Give it a couple of days. Or even a week.

The WIP Mindset.  As an author, believe that you are the God. Let there be light. Where there is light, there would be shadows. So let there be Monsters. All of this in your book. And so it continues. Always believe that your book is going to be a work-in-progress. You’ll be recreating your entire world, killing off that good-looking hunk who refused to grow some balls and a brain, adding in a cripple with a heart of gold who would lead the armies to glory. And there would professional editors cutting and sniping your book, helping it get in the best shape possible before the big bad world of wolves devour the book. So the End is never truly the end, huh?

Your Baby. Your Call. So if you’re asking me, how many times would I have to do a rewrite, the answer varies from person to person. and hey since you ain’t Brandon Abercrombie, the safest answer is probably as many as it takes. A great article from Writer’s Digest talks about a basic process, putting method to the madness. (Psst..Psst – is a great idea to subscribe to Writer’s Digest mails. Got a lot of gold there!) But you need to recall at the end of the day, it is your baby. you get to call the shots. The clay is still soft, so you decide what shape it takes. Get shaping, get on to that wheel.

And most importantly, before you go bat-shit crazy compiling the list of publishers here in India still open to unsolicited submissions ( which are Many btw!! More on this later), a list of literary agents; whom to hound by spraying them with emails and queries, jot down itineraries of literature fests where you can basically stalk and then bludgeon commissioning editors of top publishing houses with your manuscript until they relent and agree to publish your mardi-gras of literary genius : Remember…. to take things slow. You’re in the game for a long innings not for just this first book of yours but as an author – who’s slowly building his world. Of Words. And otherwise in the real world.

For now, go crazy doing the jhatka-matkas to the ‘Lungi Dance‘ till you drop. Sleep. And then wake up fresh to tackle the world again.