Perseverance Really Is Key

>Thanks for the encouragement. I'm getting lots of positive comments, but the end result is always the same: fun, well-written, original, yada, yada BUT their list is full or they don't quite represent this genre (despite the info on their websites). Gee, thanks. Sure, I've gotten some helpful feedback but then they come up with excuses about the tough market, etc…

Reading between the lines I think they mean to say they won't get RICH off my project. How do they know until they give me a chance? Let's hope the agents with my full sing a different tune–or at least invent a few new creative excuses.

>I feel HIGHLY encouraged reading stories such as these. I hope one day to add my own story of 'from woe to go' and encourage others to never give up on their dreams. Each day I feel like I'm getting closer to achieving my goals. It's a long, steep, slippery climb, but that doesn't make it any less enticing trying to reach the summit.

>Nice fill someone in on and this post helped me alot in my college assignement. Say thank you you on your information.

>I have a friend who persisted for TWENTY years. She wrote nine novels and didn't get anywhere. Then all of the sudden she won a novel contest, and the publisher bought four of her books! How's that for determination? When she told me about how long she'd been submotting for and how many novels she'd written, I almost had a heart attack. But I suppose, if you don't love to write, then you're not meant to be published. And if you love to write, you're going to keep writing no matter what, cause that's what keeps us writers ticking So, no, it doesn't discourage me, because I know that no matter what, I'm going to keep doing what makes me happy.

>Thank you for this post!

Every time I get rejected, my dear husband and mother will remind me of how many times JK Rowling got rejected, or any of the other writers that I love. I get in the can do frame of mind by thinking about their own stories.

>Great examples, Rachelle! I was always encouraged when I heard stories like that, and I still am!

>I feel encouraged and put off at the same time. I know its the same thing when i write a computer program – you think you've coded it right but then there are thousands of syntaxical and logical errors. The syntax one being the easiest to fix. I suppose both are case of debugging, decoding and building it up.

>Encouraged:-) Sometimes the "I've been at this TWENTY years and finally got my first contract" stories makes me gulp and wipe sweat off my brow. But I believe God has a timing for everything and everyone, and we weren't to know it in advance. If he wants me to wait, shudder, twenty years to get published, there isn't a thing I can do about it except keep obeying him (and pray that pretty please he have mercy on me a wee bit sooner than that!)

>Stories like that serve two purposes for me. One, they're a nice, big reality check. But two, they really encourage me. Now might not be my time, but if I persevere, someday will be IT. So yes, this was an awesome post and I'm SO, SO excited for Sandie and the others!!!

>Rachelle,
Thanks for mentioning my story, as well as for being the best agent ever. It is a long road, but the only way to reach the goal is to keep moving along.

>I'd just like to add what was written on one of Roald Dahl's school reports for English Composition:

"Vocabulary negligible; sentences malconstructed. He reminds me of a camel."

If it's meant to be, it will be!

>I don’t mean to take anything from these authors. I don’t really know the other two, but I can’t think of anyone who is more deserving of success than Richard Mabry. That being said, I don’t find stories like this particularly encouraging. It gives us an incomplete picture.

I really hate the word perseverance as it is applied here. The word implies that an author keeps doing what she is doing, believing that she will eventually see success. But Sandie Bricker didn’t persevere, she switched genres. The same is true of Richard Mabry, if I recall correctly. At a very high level we might call that perseverance, but that means that perseverance becomes a very weighted word involving change. What it doesn’t tell us is what changes we authors need to make to reach that next level and whether or not we will even be able to make the change that is needed. Then again, maybe some of us really do need to persevere, by standing behind our writing, believing it is good as is and waiting for other people to realize that we are right. But until we know where we stand, that is not an encouraging thought.

>Excellent, encouraging post! I always equate getting an agent/getting published to the lottery. The odds are slim, but you won't EVER win if you don't at least buy a ticket (submit queries, put yourself out there). The chances decrease from slim to 0%.

Thanks for the reminder about not giving up!!

>What I find interesting is the comment that "she followed her "writer GPS" to find the genre in which she could successfully break into publishing."

If I wanted to make a living writing and what I wrote didn't matter, I would probably write non-fiction.

It is easier to publish whatever the genre-of-the-day happens to be (Vampires? Horror?). Certain categories do sell consistently – YA, Romance and SciFi. I have nothing against those writers and wish them well, but that's not what I want to write.

>Both. It was encouraging me to keep plodding along and trying to improve my craft. It was discouraging because I tend to be impatient. I've been at this for 2 years now; shouldn't I be getting paid for some more of the stuff I write?

It's kinda like losing weight. After a few weeks of deprivation & hard work you expect to see all 60 additional pounds melted off. We all know where those expectations get us!

>Traci,

Interesting that you would mention the lottery. I almost mentioned the lottery, but from a completely different point of view. My thought was that mentioning successes like this is similar to the way state lotteries parade winners in front of the camera, implying that if people will win if they persevere and keep playing. There are occasional successes, but statistically, most people would be a lot better off if they would take the money they would have spent on the lottery and stuff it in their sock drawer. If a lottery player who spends a dollar a week on the lottery stops playing, that is the equivalent of winning $52 a year. Not, many lottery players can make that claim, but lottery officials conveniently forget to mention that fact and instead highlight the winners, which I feel is very much like our practice of mentioning writers who have overcome the odds and made it big while ignoring the many thousands of authors who will never get a traditional publishing contract, much less make a living from their writing.

>It encourages me! I've come to think of publishing as basically unattainable, so hearing that success can come after trying so long makes me want to try.

>I love love love writing success stories! They give me hope that my time will come. They strengthen my belief in the writing system when too many naysayers feel writing is doomed.

Writers face discouragement no matter where they are in their careers. Unpublished writers yearn for that agent representation and book contract. Published authors long for more contracts and stronger sales numbers.

Writers need to keep learning and striving to make their next books better than the first ones.

Great post, Rachelle! Thanks for sharing.

>Had I known when I first began writing that it would take over ten years to find an agent and sign a book deal, I may have given up. Then again, I may have felt a certain comfort in knowing there was indeed an end to the search, even if that end was in fact the beginning of something else. That's why these stories are so important, and why I disagree with Timothy. Equating success via traditional publishing with winning the lottery implies there is only luck involved. Nothing could be further from the truth.

>If you're a writer, perseverance is not an option, it's a requirement. What's the alternative? Quit. Don't do that. Find a way to write and grow as a writer at the same time. Don't just pound on doors, spend time in a conscious effort to get better. And work on more than one project at a time, even as you are generating dozens of ideas for projects up ahead.

Be persistent, polite, professional and patient, like Richard has been. It's been wonderful to watch his story unfold.

>Thanks for the encouragement. Hearing success stories helps a lot. Especially on the particularly difficult days.

>Understandably your article helped me truly much in my college assignment. Hats incorrect to you send, will look ahead for more cognate articles without delay as its sole of my pet subject-matter to read.

>Encourage, they are wonderful stories.

>Hearing stories like this makes me curious. About my own character, and my future.

I'd need a mirror, and a crystal ball to avoid discouragement.

Maybe a Magic 8 ball will do some sort of trick if not THE trick.

>If I were young, which I am not, I would be much more sanguine about the concept of perseverance. The difference in attitude one has when his time window is large is much different from the one he has when the window is small.

Changing genres to fit the times and moods of the readers is something that is onerous to me. Writing is an art, not a cookbook formula, and if one really believes in what he is writing and writes from his gut, what comes out is not always what the public wants to read at the time. This does not mean that I think the public should immediately decide to read what I have written, but it does mean that if I am going to remain true to myself, I may have to wait until the clock ticks over into a time when readers want to read the books I write, and that could be longer than the time allotted to me.

>I'm totally encouraged when I hear stories of success after long years of trying.

Great post.

>and* working at the coffee shop

>Thanks for that Rachelle, stories like that are a real motivator. Sometimes the goal looks so far away to me, but it's good to know others have kept going and succeeded.
The hard part for me is breaking the 'I want it now' short-term-gratification we're all used to these days.

>lottery? and perseverance?

A group of 28 workers went together buying lottery tickets for years.
Finally, one week a worker said, "We'll never win, Count me out." He didn't pay his $2…and that very week the other 27 became millionares. He had $0 because he quit. This is a true story–I know some of the people.
As for me, I don't spend $ on lottery. We should all be deeply dedicated to laying up treasures in Heaven, rather than on Earth.

>I think it's encouraging to know that other struggle in their writing/publishing careers. It shows us that what we are experiencing is normal in this profession. And like any profession, it takes time and hard work to advance.

>Ok, it sort of discourages me! I'm such an impatient person that it worries me that I would have to wait several years to see success, or that I might be writing the wrong books. I have no idea if I'm writing the wrong books and which genre I should concentrate on! I feel like I'm floating out there with hardly any advice except my own. Eep.

>As I was reading the post, I was thinking to myself- I don't know whether these stories are encouraging or discouraging to me. So,I laughed when I read your final question. But, I'll say encouraging. I believe in perseverance and timing.

>Oh, yeah! I must admit, these posts are absolutely my favorites. We all need to hear stories like these. I have to come to the realization that I have a lot of work to do and so much more to learn. For someone like me, I deeply crave those "instant gratification" moments. Then I remind myself, over and over what my fiance reminds me often. "If it were easy, everyone would be doing it."

Stories like these remind me to not take your emails so personal. I do need to learn the craft more.

Thank you so much.

>Yes, I am encouraged by stories like this. Maybe my writing isn't ready, or my book isn't right for the current market. But hearing these stories makes me think that rejection now doesn't mean rejection forever.

>Thank you for this blog. I personally find it encouraging to know that some authors didn't get the contract on the first book or try. It's nice to know if I don't make it this year, I can try again the following year, and the following year…

>Stories of belated success reinforce my faith in the "write until it's right" philosophy — the right manuscript, the right time, the right agent, the right publisher, etc. I keep trying to improve my writing, knowing that I need to do my part to be ready for when God's timing brings everything together, however long that may take.

>I find these perseverance tales soooo inspirational. It's the stories where someone finds an agent on their first query and signs a book deal a month after that that I find tougher to take.

>It is probably true that I found the post encouraging because I am thirty years old. If I were on the other side of fifty–and had been steadily working since my thirties–I may have found it depressing. Whoever said, "If I were young, I'd have a more sanguine attitude" was probably speaking for many people in his situation.

>As someone just getting started in this realm, I find this encouraging. We're such a fast-paced, fast-food society that sometimes it seems like you might miss your opportunity or miss your prime. I know I'm not ready and have a lot of work to do to get there. This lets me know that perseverance over time is just fine!

>Totally encouraged by this post. Thanks. You have good timing for me, since I've been telling myself for several weeks something very similar.

I certainly hope it doesn't take me ten or twenty more years, but even if it does, stories like this remind me to keep the faith. It'll come.

>Overall, encouraged. The learning and continuous improvement should be a satisfying accomplishment by itself. The goal of publication too easily becomes the consuming end-all, and rejection — 10 years of rejection — doesn't sound fun. If we focus on what drives us to write instead, then the idea that we can continue to do what we love, getting better all the time, and someday may even make a career of it, well, that's definitely winning the trifecta.

>Like the others, I find these stories encouraging. It's easy to descend daily into darkness and despair, especially when all those around you seem to get contracts and you're still working on the same ms. for the past five years. I've always believed perseverance is the key, so I keep hanging in there. Thanks for validating!

>Hmm, hard to look at someone else's journey and success (or "failure") and link it to my own journey . . . at least in the book business!

However, I can say that dreams do come true–maybe the dream is morphed from how one first thinks it will happen, but if one is willing to reach out to what's there before them, and work hard, and be disciplined, then many times the end result is success(and success is of course a relative word!).

I wasn't able to begin writing seriously for publication (and I started with short stories, essays) until I hit my mid-forties. It had been a dream for much much longer than that, but sometimes life takes you on other journey's first. Had my first book published at 52 last year. It's never too late. Now I'll have 3 books out by fall of this year – two of which will be published in this year. A lot of years were wasted and I'm not wasting any more of them. I want more things to happen in my career, so I'll keep working hard.

So, everyone: Be open to things that maybe aren't exactly what you first envisioned as "success." Work hard. Be very disciplined. Try this and then try that. Mostly, don't let bitter feelings or angst or anger or jealousy get in the way of your own goals – someone else's success is not a measure of your own. Being supportive of others opens instead of closes.

And et cetera!

>These stories are encouraging.
I've written my first draft because I love the topic and I feel good when I'm working on it.
I hope it gets published and I'll work toward that, but the satisfaction, for me, is in doing what I love.

>Yes, these are inspiring stories. I'm a little glad I don't know the future and how long it might take me to finally "arrive." If I knew for a fact that there would be twenty more years, I might be tempted to give up now. Instead, I keep telling myself that this MAY be the year. But, if it isn't, I will keep polishing, learning, changing and persevering!

Thanks!

>I'm new to your blog and love the encouragement. I've persevered in my pursuit to being published while raising my family as well as twenty years of caregiving. Whenever 'life' gets in the way it's columns like yours that push me to continue reaching for my dream. I'll get there because I won't give up and one day it'll be my time to shine.