You are awesome. I mean that in a completely honest way. You, composer of sentences, sender of query letters, super-writer extraordinaire, are awesome.

Before I continue telling you how amazing you are, let me give you some background into why I’m saying this.

I’m very new at Shimmer, having started a mere two (or is it three?) months ago. First and foremost, I’m a writer. In fact, I think most of the staff at Shimmer are writers, which brings me to the first reason why you, personally, are awesome.

1. We think you are awesome because we love writers. We are writers, after all, and even though publishing can be an incredibly competitive atmosphere, at the end of the day, we are all on the same side. Especially writers, who commiserate through rejections, help one another with gnarly plot problems, offer a helping hand or a shoulder to cry on, and tell you when to gut your story (or blog post) of clichés.

The other thing you should know about me is that I work. In particular, I work part-time and attend university the rest of the time, so I’m basically reading slush whenever I can sneak it in. When I write, it’s either very late at night or very early in the morning. And this brings me to the second reason why you are awesome.

2. We think you are awesome because you are writing, editing, and submitting your stories when you probably have fifty billion other things you need to be doing at any given point in time. Let’s face it: life is not kind to artistic types, and time is in short supply. The fact that you’re making time for your art is truly awe-inspiring. After all, there are plenty of wishers and wannabe writers, but what separates them from you is that you are out there working towards your goals.

The last thing you should know about me is that I love slush. I love it tons. Every single letter is like opening a present. Of course, sometimes you get socks instead of the latest Nintendo game – but that’s not to say that I indiscriminately dislike socks. No, there are definitely some days when I’d love to get a present consisting of nice, thick, Dumbledorean socks. (The Christmas after I moved up to the wintry north comes to mind.) So even if, one day, a story filled with metaphorical socks doesn’t strike my fancy, a couple weeks down the road, I could find a sock-filled story and adore it.

And this brings me to my last reason why you are awesome.

3. We think you are awesome because you send the query letters. Being on submission is an incredibly nerve-wracking process. I know I’ve been there. Most of us have, as a matter of fact, been in the same shoes as you’re wearing right now. They’re tough shoes to wear. They pinch your toes. You take the risk and put yourselves out there, essentially letting a bunch of strangers pass judgment on a piece of art that’s intensely personal. That is an admirable thing you are  doing, my friend. Keep up the good work.

You are awesome.