If being in the woods is used as euphemism for being in the dark, out of one's element, overwhelmed, then in many senses, I am still in the woods, particularly with regards to publishing.
The publishing forest is wild right now. It's like the mixed woods here where the Aspen grows high and dominates until they become to old. As they fall the Spruce and Pine grow up and take over. The evergreens were always there, growing slowly, waiting for their turn. Likewise the Aspen don't all fall at once. There become pockets dominated by the conifers, until you run into the next stretch of aspen. Wow, this a really good analogy! The traditional publishers are dominant. As long as they can stay alive, they will remain dominant, but already the small press and self-published have dominated a few very niche markets.
So here I am, a seed, which unlike normal seeds, gets to choose what it wants to be. Should I be another aspen, growing faster and taller through the traditional channels or do I want to be a spruce, building myself more slowly (not always true) but hoping to capture some extra sunlight as one of the big aspens fall. To date, I have always chosen spruce. They have the best chance in my market (erotica). However, my non-erotic fiction has always been less obvious. Particularly for the YA market, the aspen still rule. I haven't had any luck 'becoming' an aspen. I haven't managed to get any agents to look at me, and they are the only way into the big 6 now. That said, my spruce is growing very slowly, but very steadily, and as the mixed woods show, I can survive here. I can wait. I can grow.Yes, I am very much still in the woods.
