Authors, Writers, Publishers, and Book Readers

Do you ever get discouraged?

So, I'm relatively new to the writing business. I started out as an English and writing teacher /Instructor, and I just jumped right in, head first. I own a small writing business and focus on editing, proofreading, writing critiques, review, resumes, etc.

I also started generating contacts and accepted my first client as a literary agent. She will be published in the fall!

My first book is also coming out in the fall, but my co-author and I opted to self-publish, which is ironic considering I represent authors.

In the short time I've been involved in publishing, here's what I've learned:

1. If you haven't already published, then it's VERY difficult to GET published.

2. Don't expect most agents/acquisiton editors/publishing companies to even acknowledge that you sent a query.

3. There are a MILLION self-publishing companies that offer the "best price." Very few will actually help you sell books.

So the question that I have for all of you accomplished authors is this: Do you ever get discouraged? How do you fight the frustration?

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Permalink Reply by Callie Leah on July 28, 2011 at 8:07pm

Truthfully, every author gets discouraged every now and again. I deal with it myself by remembering why I started writing in the first place.

Ever since I was little, I would create fantasies in my head, and when I started to really read books, I admired and cherished every word I saw. I started to think how amazing it would be to have someone admire me like I admired my favorite authors, and since my head swam with ideas for my fantasies every second, I started writing them down. I eventually joined up with my best friend and we started writing together.

Then I moved 14 hours away from the one who compelled me to do my best when it came to writing. I didn't write for months.

Then I started thinking about how much fun writing had been, and how good a few of my concepts had actually been. My friend and I started e-mailing each other, and I thought about how she would react if she knew I quit writing. I knew she'd still be my friend, but I also knew she would be disappointed in me.

So that's how I see it. The one person who's always been there for me keeps me going. She's done so much for me, and to let her down would kill me inside. So sure, every now and then I feel like giving up, but I never do, because I know one day she'll read my books to her kids, and I'll read hers to mine, and we can both feel proud of what we did when we were younger and how we kept going. :)

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Permalink Reply by K. L. Parry on July 28, 2011 at 10:04pm

You bet! I think fighting off discouragement is part of the game. I've blogged about it. But what has kept me going is the support from those that have acutally read my novel. There is no better encouragement than when some tells you they were moved to tears or that you made them laugh. So, I just try to remind myself that what I have written deserves to be read and is worthy of my every effort. K.L.Parry