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Perseverance is everything! 6/19/2014 12:18:19 AM
If you never give up you can't be defeated! What do the following authors all have in common? Apart of course from all in their own way being quite brilliant and hugely successful!
John Grisham, Frank Herbert, Joseph Heller, John Le Carre, J.K. Rowling, Stephen King
Well they all suffered massive rejection, multiple times from Publishers and Agents. It hardly seems credible but I assure you it is true. Obviously, they persisted and eventually, sometimes after fifteen or twenty rejections, they finally saw their book in print.
Had they been publishing today, would they have given up sending their manuscripts to traditional publishers after a few rejections and self-published? I’d love to be able to ask them but my guess is at least some of them would have gone down the Indie route.
The fact they did finally get published shows the self-belief they each had to continue sending off their manuscript despite the increasing pile of rejections.
I would make two points based on the story of these authors.
Firstly, as with many things in life, we need to believe in ourselves. I advise you to grow a thick skin if you want to be a writer. Yes there will be rejections and some bad reviews but if you never give up then you can’t be defeated!
Secondly, I am sure there are a good number of brilliant books written by great Indie authors, which just need to be shown the light of day to receive the recognition they deserve. In fact I have read at least a couple such books.
Perseverance and attitude is everything. I was uncomfortable calling myself an author after I published my first book, somehow thinking I wasn’t deserving of the title with my limited sales success. Then I thought further and realised a footballer calls himself a footballer whether he plays in the Premiership or the lowest leagues. Like any footballer we want to improve our skills and hopefully climb up the leagues.
I am proud to call myself an author. I hope one day to have a best seller. I realise the realities of publishing and I am not delusional but I will not let any inner doubts hold me back and like the famous publishers above, I won’t give up!
