I was inspired by this post on The Debutante Ball to write about the rest of my publishing journey. The prequel, if you will. I wrote a book way back in 2005. I got an agent. The book went out on submission – and didn’t sell. Ever. To anyone. My agent dropped me . And I cried. I thought that was the end of the dream I’d had since I learned to read. I told myself – well, at least I tried. And I stopped writing for a long time.
If I had only known then what I know now I wouldn’t have stopped writing, and I wouldn’t have felt like such a failure. Because this story is so much more common than you may think.
But I did eventually start writing again – in a different genre – older and wiser about not just publishing, but everything. And after everything I wrote about in my last post, this book sold! And you know what? I’m glad now that that first book didn’t go anywhere. It wasn’t ready. I wasn’t ready. Rejection (many many many rejections) gave me perspective and a thicker skin. And it taught me so much about myself. Mostly, that I made this happen. Me. And it’s not how many times you fall down, it’s how many times you get back up.
Great story. A real example of not giving up on your dreams, and on making them happen.
If you allow it, there is always something to be learned from failure. I am glad you gave yourself that opportunity Cheryl!! You should be very proud!