Monday, March 5, 2012  The "Are You Published?" Question  You
know how it is. You're at the grocery store, the gym, your kid's
soccer game, a family reunion, and you run into someone you
haven't seen for a bit. They start asking about you, and you
mention that you're a writer. And then they say, "Oh! Very
nice." And then the dreaded question. "Have you been published?"
And if you say anything other than, "Why yes, actually, I have.
My most recent book was [name of book everyone's heard of]," you
get that look. The same one you figure you'd get if you had
said, "I decided to change careers. I think I'm going to make it
big as a hoola-hooping juggler."  And you want to somehow convey
that you are serious about this thing! This isn't some hobby.
This is something you work hard at! (Side note: If it IS just a
hobby, that's so totally cool. It just usually means you won't
say "I'm a writer" so much as "I like to write," which tends to
keep people from asking the Dreaded Question. Which is also
cool. ;))  Chances