A Benefit Of Persistence

I’ve written about not giving up, about finishing strong, running the good race, and taking care of yourself and others, especially kids.  Today, I want to tackle not giving up from a different angle and providing you with a reason why persistence makes sense.  There really is A Benefit Of Persistence.

Some of you know, and many of you don’t know, that I’m a writer.  My particular interest, besides this blog is thriller fiction.  My particular slant is that many of my characters are kids and the adults who want to help them, rescue them, and protect them from other adults who aren’t so nice.  Not so nice is being very polite.  I’ve been working on a storyline with this slant for over two years and it has developed into a series.

After a lot of revision and edits and more revision and even more edits, it came time to seek an agent.  I did my research.  I crafted and honed a query letter.  I sent it to those agents who worked with the thriller, suspense, crime genre, following their guidelines.

And . . .

One rejection after another.  Lots of rejections.  Tons of rejections.  Enough rejections to wallpaper a small room in my house.  There were many agents who never answered, stating ahead of time that they would only respond if interested.  I get that, because they are busy.  Very busy.  One agent in particular, was really rude and nasty in his response and I have to admit it hurt a little.  Okay, it hurt a lot.

The whole process of trying to find an agent took a little over a year.  And then, thankfully, Stacey Donaghy, of the Donaghy Literary Group, took me on.  She has been more than patient, more than supportive, and has worked tirelessly on my behalf.  At times, she has been a mentor, a friend, a confidante, and a shoulder to lean on.  So thankful for her.

But even with Stacey’s efforts, with her due diligence, her persistence, I received more rejections.  If I added the publisher rejections to the pile of agent rejections, I think we could paper two small rooms in my house.

As time went on, I saw that a writer received a deal with a publishing company, and another writer received a deal, and even multiple writers received deals for multiple books.  I asked myself over and over, “How come them and not me?” 

There were times I felt that it wasn’t supposed to be for me.  There were times I felt that nothing was going happen with my story.  There were times I felt so down and so discouraged.  There were times I felt like giving up, calling it a day, placing my story so high up on my shelf that no one would find it and that I would, hopefully, forget about it in time.

But . . .

I didn’t give up.  I still had a belief in myself that I could write.  There was something about it all that I felt that I had spent so much time, put in so many nights, and so many days, that surely someone, somewhere would find a ‘home’ for it, and that at some point and at some time, it would all pay off.

And it did!

True Visions Publications contacted me and they really liked my trilogy: Stolen Lives, Shattered Lives, and Splintered Lives.  But they had a suggestion.  A really good suggestion. 

Their suggestion was that I should write a prequel to introduce myself to readers and to introduce my readers to my trilogy.  I liked that suggestion and began immediately.  So as I write this, the prequel, Taking Lives, is taking shape.  I like it.  I really like it a lot.

And early this week, I signed a contract with them for a four book deal.  My first book, the prequel, Taking Lives, comes out this summer.  Of course I want tons of people, millions of people to read it and the trilogy.  But honestly, yes really honestly?  I’m happy, really happy that I didn’t give up.  That I stayed true to myself, believed in myself.  That my belief in myself paid off. 

I’m one example . . . just one example out of many . . . of A Benefit Of Persistence.  I do believe that if it’s meant to be, it will be.  If it’s meant to happen, it will happen.  So if this helps you to stay on your path, great.  If this helps you to stay the course, excellent.  If this helps you to get back up on your feet after being knocked down for the zillionth time, wonderful. Because in the end, there is a benefit to believing in yourself.  There is a benefit to listening to those who gently, and even not so gently, correct you and caution you and provide wonderful words of wisdom and guidance.  And more importantly, there is a benefit to picking yourself up one more time . . . ten more times . . . a hundred more times . . . a thousand more times.  There is A Benefit Of Persistence.  Something to think 
about . . .