I remember reading an article by a very successful author who said he got rejected and rejected and rejected, so he went indie. He self published, and book after book didn’t sell. He eventually had about six indie titles not selling and was about to give up, but he hung on and kept struggling forward. His next book did well and the next one did even better, and he was soon writing full time and never looked back.
And I sat there thinking, what if he’d have given up after that fifth book! Or the fourth!
He is living the dream because he stayed strong when it wasn’t easy.
Can you do that?
Thoughts?
Dan Alatorre 
We definitely have to keep the dream alive by trying, continuously!
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Keep the dream alive. I like that.
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🙂 mine is 17 years old and still alive and well!!!!
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There you go.
Doesn’t matter whether it’s one year old or 17 430, we are all learning as we go. Progress. That’s all I want. Eventually we learn enough and things start to happen.
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True words Dan!
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That gives me hope that the struggles are worth it. I’m determined not to give up!
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I know. It can get frustrating, but we have to press on.
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I just wrote a whole blog on my thought process on this. It’ll be up in a few weeks. But I will distill for you, here….
The thing is, talent, ability to write, whatever you call it, is such a small part of being a successful author. Keeping on in the lean times, that’s where the rubber meets the road.
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True, t., about that “small part”, as far as the big publishing houses are concerned, but today there are more opportunities for self promotion and publishing and marketing that aggressive writers can build upon more easily. So, I would agree perseverance is a big key if one wants to make writing his main goal, and Dan’s success is a great example of same, but there’s no success without talent and ability. Those ingredients are still paramount.
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Would you say then that someone who works marketing aggressively but is still not successful is not talented nor a good writer?
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I’m saying big houses are hard to crack for today’s unknown writers, even when a writer markets aggressively and has ability and talent. But it can happen; a friend of mine persevered to publication this way through an agent and spent a lot of money to get there. Editors still edit and recognize talent, but they are expensive, and big houses are so closed to the unknown. A big house will publish a known tennis player, if she/he has an interesting story and has talent as a writer, or the money to hire a writer.
I’m also saying there are better, less expensive ways to publish today — self-publication, promotion with an anthology, perhaps, which we just did with Dan.
Self-publishing can be a viable alternative — even a crevice through which a writer can enter a big house. The self-publisher can earn credits, so to speak, bring a talented, previously unpublished writer’s existence to the big house. Try the crevices! I believe talent and ability will come through in the end.
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Try everything.
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I think it’s a balance. I think somebody who’s a really good marketer can probably sell a book that’s mediocre or worse, and somebody who is an excellent writer but can’t do any marketing, they’re going to struggle. There are always exceptions but writing is only a part of the overall equation. You have to be able to market, whether you publish traditionally or not. And I like to believe that talent is still a big part of the equation!
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If you don’t have the chops to stick with it no matter what, no one will ever know if you have talent. smiles.
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That’s what drives me.
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You’ll know. And the truth will set you free! 🙂
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Yes but it’s a combination. Somebody who is a great writer who can’t submit their work to an agent because they’re too shy, they might as well not write. I mean, they will enjoy it but to be unread is to not exist for most writers.
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But we must write, for that is what carries us through the day!
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That’s why I suck. Too much talent.
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bwaahahhhaa
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I often think, Dan, that people who write are compelled to write even if their books don’t do well. It is in the blood.
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I think so, too.
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Absolutely! And sometimes it’s the writing that is enough for them!
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I love writing as much as I love painting or a nice glass of Chianti. It’s so healing for me. It’s what keeps me alive. It’s something I could never stop doing, even if I went blind.
I no longer write for me though, or for fame, or to be noticed among men. I write for a Higher Power that I call Abba Father. Not trying to sound religious…Not that I wouldn’t welcome fame or wealth or validation for my work, because I would. I do.
I’m validated every time I get a letter or card in the mail or a quick email expressing how I shuffled words together in such a way that they can forgive their absent father or heal from sexual assault ,low self esteem, or feeling invisible .
The power of words is incredible!
We can make ppl feel wonderful, scared, anxious, weepy, angry and so on.
A wise quote says, “ faith without works is dead.”
So, yes, we have to keep working and sending out our babies in hopes that one day someone will say, “ hey that’s one good lookin kid!” 😁
And so we wait, but give up? Never! There’s so much more to this thing called author.
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Yes there is. Thank you!
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