The Power of Persistence

Most successful writers will tell you that the road to success is lined with persistence. Yes, talent is important, but hard work is even more important. I've known this for a long time, but was reminded of this when I was looking over some articles I wrote for the News-Gazette a few years ago. One was an interview with one of my favorite children's authors who is one of the most gracious and generous people I know, Alice B. McGinty. Alice has written several children's picture books, including non-fiction books for elementary kids about Ghandi and Darwin, and my daughter's favorites, Eliza's Kindergarten Surprise and Eliza's Kindergarten Pet.

When I interviewed Alice for the article, she told me all about her career, and it was so inspiring. It was so inspiring that I wanted to share parts of it with you on WOW! because I think it will inspire you too. And I know that some of you are busy with your first weekend of NaNoWriMo, so you can use a little inspiration!

Here are some highlights from my talk with Alice:

• When Alice talks to children and adults about writing, she likes to "emphasize persistence. It took me many, many tries, and I didn't give up," she said. She is referring to the 13 years where she wrote and submitted picture book manuscripts to publishers before Dial Books For Young Readers finally accepted Ten Little Lambs for publication.
• When Alice first knew she wanted to write for children, she "didn't realize you could do it full time." She wrote a poem and a story for two children's magazines, but she wanted to focus on books. She started with a picture book manuscript about a child with disabilities, submitted it to publishers, and collected rejections. Then, she went to a book signing and asked the author for some advice about writing for children.
• The author told her to join SCBWI (www.scbwi.org). Alice followed the advice, which she believed started her on her career path. Through SCBWI, she learned it was easier to get a children's nonfiction book published. She wrote a manuscript about nutrition and sent it to Rosen Publishing, which she'd read was accepting manuscripts in an SCBWI Bulletin. Rosen Publishing's imprint, PowerKids Press, held onto the manuscript for a long time and sent it back with a note for revisions. This eventually turned into her first published book, Eating Right, for the educational market in 1997.
• Between 1997 and 2008, she wrote 35 books for the educational market!

If she would have given up after that first rejection, she would have never written all those educational books, gotten a literary agent, been an Illinois rep for SCBWI, or wrote several successful traditionally published picture books. She didn't give up after one rejection; actually, she didn't give up after many rejections and many years. Check out everything she is doing here. 

What I wanted to show you with this post is that persistence pays off. This is a real-life example of hard work leading to success. Whether it's finishing your manuscript this November, marketing your book, getting a story published in a literary journal, or getting a job as an editor--don't give up. 

Margo L. Dill is a writer, speaker, editor, instructor, and mom, living in St. Louis. You can find out more about her writing on her website here, her editing business here, and the classes she teaches for WOW! here.

Read More »

8 comments children's author, educational market, Inspiration, Margo L. Dill, News Gazette, persistence, rejections, SCBWI

If You Want To Succeed in Writing, You’ve Got to Play Ball!

Y’all know how much I like my sports, right? And with April comes baseball, which I’ve followed since I was a little girl watching on a 20 inch, black and white TV. I even played baseball with my three brothers and the neighborhood kids in the road next to my house. Every time a car came, we’d scramble to make the play before running to the side of the road to glare at the driver who had the nerve to interrupt our game.

Good times, for sure. But I recently came across this quote from Francis T. Vincent, Commissioner of Baseball (1989-92) and I realized that baseball was more than good times for me. It was downright instructional:

“Baseball teaches us, or has taught most of us, how to deal with failure. We learn at a very young age that failure is the norm in baseball and, precisely because we have failed, we hold in high regard those who fail less often – those who hit safely in one out of three chances and become star players. I also find it fascinating that baseball, alone in sport, considers errors to be part of the game, part of its rigorous truth.”

Think about it. A star hitter in the Major Leagues may bat .325. That means he only gets a hit 30% of the time; he fails 70% of the time! And what’s more, baseball keeps track of every error in every game. You might want to forget dropping the ball, making a wild throw, or missing the base, but that error is always there. Like Vincent said, the truth is in the stats forever. It sort of keeps one humble, doesn’t it?

So the moment I read that quote, I knew I’d share it with you. Because of course, baseball and writing are pretty darn similar, starting with the lingo:

When we want to sell an article or get an agent to sign us, we make a pitch.

If we want to succeed, we understand it’s a numbers game. We know that we have to throw lots of pitches out into the world for that one successful hit.

And failure is basically the norm when it comes to writing, too. Gosh, I’ve failed way more than I’ve succeeded! Any writer who’s managed to get a body of work published has racked up a ton of rejections.

Speaking of which, we hold on to those rejections. It’s our statistic of honor, proof that we’ve put ourselves out there. And when we succeed, we can look back on those rejections with a Ha! Take that, you lousy rejections! But deep down, we know: those rejections are our part of a writer’s truth. Without the rejections, there would be no success, and that’s mighty humbling.

So thank you, baseball, for getting me prepared for a writing career. It’s nice to know I haven’t wasted my time, enjoying one of my favorite sports. And it's not too late for you. Play ball, friends, and keep writing!

Cathy C. Hall will happily sit in the stands on the hottest day of the summer and cheer on her Atlanta Braves. She doesn't get much writing done once baseball season starts and wonders if there's a connection...

Read More »

10 comments Atlanta Braves, baseball, Cathy C. Hall, rejections, writing advice

Friday Speak Out!: On Persistence

by Jan English Leary

It’s not sexy, it doesn’t call attention to itself, it’s not included in talks on craft, but I think that persistence is one of the most important tools a writer can develop. I’m not the fastest, the most talented, or the most confident writer in the room, but I am more persistent than most. All the talent in the world means nothing without persistence. How many writers give up after a few rejections, shoving the story into the real or virtual drawer, deciding not to try anymore? In many cases, the story needs one more draft or one more journal. Part of persistence of course involves a critical eye, the drive to keep polishing and learning, to see the story through more revision. Without that, persistence is just premature and presumptuous. But once the story has reached that point, the next challenge occurs.

When I started submitting stories for publication, it was before the Internet, before Submittable and Submissions Managers. These were the days of hard copies, SASEs, manila envelopes and stamps. I picked up copies of The Writer’s Market and I scoured bookstores for journals that interested me. It was time-consuming and costly. I waited for the mail every day, and often I would receive the first page of my story with a scrap of paper and a printed-out rejection. I lived for the ones with a tiny bit of encouragement: the editor’s initials, a quick note “Came close”, “We admire your talent”, “Keep us in mind.” Those words kept me going. I sent out stories like paper bombs, a bit everywhere. I slowly began to receive acceptances although my rejections continue to outweigh my acceptances by a wide margin. One of my stories was rejected 95 times before it was accepted, but I was very happy with that acceptance. Another journal gave me no encouragement for eight submissions and accepted the ninth one. What if I’d given up on that journal?

I’m not sure what need compels me to ask for acceptance in the face of so much rejection. I believe in my work, I want it to be chosen and read, I want to be part of the world of writers, but I hate asking for favors in person, hate putting people out, hate being on the line this way. As a child, when charged with going door to door to sell candy for school, I failed miserably, and I begged my parents to buy a few boxes so I wouldn’t show up with nothing. It’s not in me to do this in person. But electronically, I am fearless.

It’s low stakes, submitting from the safety and quiet of my home. Sitting in bed, wearing slippers. No one can see me. I’ve tried to develop a one-in/two-out policy. For every rejection during the regular submissions season, I send out two stories. Life is short; reporting time is long. And nothing is gained without persistence.

* * *

photo credit John Leary

Jan English Leary's short fiction has appeared in Pleiades, The Literary Review, The Minnesota Review, Carve Magazine, Long Story, Short Literary Journal and other publications. She has received three Illinois Arts Council Awards and taught fiction writing at Francis W. Parker School and Northwestern University. Her first novel, Thicker Than Blood, was released by Fomite in 2015. Skating on the Vertical, just released by Fomite, is her first collection of short stories. She lives in Chicago with her husband, John, an artist and former teacher. More information http://janenglishleary.com/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Would you like to participate in Friday "Speak Out!"? Email your short posts (under 500 words) about women and writing to: marcia[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Read More »

6 comments Friday Speak Out, Jan English Leary, persistence, persistence in submitting writing, rejections

Making Lemonade Out of 100 Query Rejections

Hi. I’m Beth. Over 100 literary agents rejected my last query letter.

Sharing this takes a great deal of courage. For a long time, I was too ashamed to admit it to anyone. One-hundred is a large number and, since I desperately want to be a successful author, admitting what I saw as an embarrassing defeat has proven difficult.

Two years after the last rejection, however, I’ve come to find the helpful side of that experience.  I hope you can learn from my mistakes.

My first piece of advice is to send out letters in small batches - about ten at a time. This will prove difficult, as you’ll have the intense desire to send the letter to every single agent on the planet, and then plant yourself in front of your inbox to see the requests flow in, but be patient. If you get ten rejections, it’s time to revise your letter. I learned this lesson the hard way after sending out fifty letters and getting fifty rejections. After revising my letter, I started receiving requests; but, sadly, I’d missed my chance with the first fifty agents.

This leads me to my next suggestion: get feedback from a professional. Early. And in any way possible. If you don’t have the money, try entering contests! Agents frequently offer contests to win a free query critique. Going straight to the source is an important lesson to remember. I finally spent a little money to have a professional look over my query, and it paid off with a partial request within the week.

Sending queries can open doors. While I never did get that offer of representation, I had several agents tell me to send them any future work, as they liked my writing style. The more agents who see your letter, the better. Sure, it might result in more rejection, but it could also give you an “in” for your next manuscript.

Now that I’ve sent out over 100 queries, I have an incredible spreadsheet of agents who represent my genre of choice to use for my next novel. Maybe they didn’t pan out initially, but I’ve reduced my workload for the next book, so it wasn’t a total loss. Creating a detailed spreadsheet, with the agent’s names, addresses, emails and query preferences is a great way to make the best out of rejections.

Receiving one-hundred query rejections was a learning experience, and I’ve chosen to make it a good one. Instead of drafting an email back to the agent telling them they’ve missed the next great American novel and then deleting it because you know it will get you nowhere, try finding the rainbow in your rejections. Use them to make a little lemonade. As painful as they are, they can be a tool for learning.

Bethany Masone Harar is an author, teacher, and blogger, who does her best to turn reluctant readers into voracious, book-reading nerds. Check out her blog here.

Read More »

5 comments Harar, literary agents, publication, query, query contests, query letters, rejections, representation, WOW, writing

Friday Speak Out!: Slow and Steady?

by Sara Codair

I’ve always hated the phrase “Slow and Steady Wins the Race.” During my brief stints with competitive sports, I was a sprinter. I loved diving in the water and pushing myself to the max. I tired quickly, so I was often placed in shorter races. I’d win the 50-yard free style, but never the 200 IM. I swam the last leg of the relay, closing the distance between me and the other swimmers before climbing out of the water to stuff my exhausted face with cookies.

My impatience and sprinter mentality have been both a gift and a curse in my excursion into wild world of writing and publishing.

When it comes to first drafts, the sprinter mentality is my strength. My brain works fast and doesn’t stay focused long. If I have a story in my head, I sit down and let my fingers type at light speed until the first draft is done.

I get in trouble with revision. Once I clean up my draft and revise a couple times, I want to send it out to every publication. I have to fight with myself because experience has taught me that when I let a draft rest then return to it, I see things related to both content and grammar that were invisible to me earlier. With every rejection, I find myself wondering “Did I send that one too soon? Would it have gotten accepted it I have revised it a fifth time?”

The numbers tell me the answer is probably “no,” but there is enough doubt to make me wait a little longer. Sometimes I send things out prematurely, but more and more, I am waiting until I know the piece is truly done.

The sprinter mentality is great when I am submitting to places that accept simultaneous submissions. I’ll write a cover that just needs minor adaptations for the different publications, troll the Submission Grinder, and fire off one submission after another, only pausing long enough to make sure everything is following the proper guidelines. Most of my acceptances have been simultaneous submissions.

The waiting kills me. I avoid certain publications because their response time is too slow and opting for ones who promise to get back to writers promptly, like Clarkes World, Shimmer and Fantasy & Science Fiction.

The rejections come quick and hard, but this is where I see personal growth. I don’t climb out of the pool for a cookie break. I keep swimming. I revise my story and send it elsewhere.

I’ve had a few swift acceptances to unpaid markets, but the ones I had to wait for are the ones that pay. It took nearly a month to be accepted for Centum Press’ 100 Voices anthology and 149 days to find out I was in the WOW Top 10. I’ve learned that versatility is key. My sprinter mentality is great for finishing first drafts, but it takes a slow, steady persistence to get published.

* * *

Sara Codair writes because her brain is overcrowded with stories. If she doesn’t get them out, she fears her head will explode. When she isn’t making things up, she is either teaching college students how to write essays, digging in her garden or just enjoying the beauty of nature. Her short stories have appeared in or are forthcoming from Women On Writing, Foliate Oak, Centum Press, Sick Lit Magazine, Fantasy Crossing and Mash Stories. You can find her online at https://saracodair.com/.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Would you like to participate in Friday "Speak Out!"? Email your short posts (under 500 words) about women and writing to: marcia[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Read More »

2 comments acceptances, first drafts, Friday Speak Out, impatience, rejections, revision, Sara Codair, writing and submitting

Friday Speak Out!: The Odd Couple: Finding a Writing Partner, Guest Post by Elizabeth Pagel-Hogan

My writing partner is my opposite. But I wouldn't trade her in for the world.

I didn't know I needed a writing partner when I first started writing professionally full time. I thought I needed to go it alone, learn from my own mistakes, and push myself hard. But after my first failed attempt at NaNoWriMo, and a big stack of rejections grew, I decided to try a new approach. I requested a writing mentor for my second NaNoWriMo attempt and my writing has never been better.

My writing partner takes her time before sending queries, I am the one who hits send immediately. She has changed my impulsive querying in a good way. She helps me read through the query before I send and find that last typo I've overlooked.

My writing partner doesn't believe anything. She is a doubter, but I am a believer. She makes me ask deeper questions as to why someone would want to read this article, what the real interest point is, who the real target audience is. pushes me to think queries through before sending.

My writing partner doesn't mind cutting out big sections during the editing process. I cling to my darlings. "Don't worry, you'll make more words," she says ruthlessly. So I edit and revise and in the end I'm happier with the result.

We meet once a week and report our successes and failures to each other. We bounce headline ideas and story arcs off each other. We share writing by others that we love and writing that we hate. We are becoming better writers because we support each other, but also because we don't write or think the same way. But there is one thing that we do share: a growing pile of acceptances.

* * *

Elizabeth Pagel-Hogan is a writing mom on the run. She lives in Pittsburgh, PA with her husband and three boys. Elizabeth is a professional writer and works with businesses and non-profits and has published three books available at her site http://www.onesweetwriter.com/store/. She volunteers with her local PTO, major road races, and advocates for gun safety. Elizabeth is a lifelong runner and amateur triathlete, a mediocre cook and devout coffee lover and blogs about trying it all at TryItandYouMay.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Would you like to participate in Friday "Speak Out!"? Email your short posts (under 500 words) about women and writing to: marcia[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Read More »

3 comments Elizabeth Pagel-Hogan, Friday Speak Out, mentorship, rejections, writing partner, writing revisions

Friday Speak Out!: Requested Material, Guest Post by Beth Cato

As I prepared for my first writers' conference back in 2008, I encountered a tip: buy a rubber stamp that says "Requested Material." That way, when you're sending out expected manuscripts and contracts, the agent or editor knows you're not part of the slush. I didn't have a single publication to my name, but my brain swirled with happy dreams. I had a finished novel that I knew--absolutely knew--was going to snare an agent during my pitch session. I had to be ready.

In a matter of hours, I ordered myself a custom, self-inking stamp for "Requested Material." I'd get to use that thing in no time. Right?

I attended the conference. I had two requests for the partial of my novel--yay! Publishing contract, here I come! However, the agents wanted the submissions by email. I was happy to save some money, but it also meant my brand new stamp didn't get used. Ah well. They'd need my signature eventually.

Months passed. The agents never responded. The reality of the whole writing life set in. There were no shortcuts. No stamping opportunities, either.

In despair, I trunked the novel. I devoted myself to short stories instead. Rejections trickled in. Then--finally--an acceptance, for a nonfiction story to a big publisher! I printed out my contract. Tears filled my eyes when I used that "Requested Material" stamp for the first time.

It's silly, really, that using a rubber stamp can mean so much, but it did. It was validation after a ton of rejections. My work was requested, expected--respected. Sure, I wasn't using the stamp to fulfill my ultimate goal of a novel contract, but this acceptance would boost the skinny bio paragraph in my query letters.

I kept writing and submitting my work. The stamp gained a sheen of dust, but every few months, I'd pull it out for another short story contract. I wrote another novel. The angels sang in chorus the day I signed with a literary agent. I kept working. Months passed. I slogged through another novel. Meanwhile, the rubber stamp was being used on a more regular basis for story contracts.

Then, it finally happened.

The journey took five years. Five years, hundreds of rejections, and more tears than I can count.

On July 4th of this year, I signed my novel contract with a big six publisher. And you better believe that I had that rubber stamp on hand and ready to go. Vivid red ink emblazoned the front and back of that priority mail envelope, the words there for all the world to see: "Requested Material."

Maybe the infrequent use was a good thing, as the ink is still as bold as when I bought it. Fine by me. I hope to get plenty more use out of that stamp in the years to come.

* * *

 

Beth Cato's stories can be found in Nature, Flash Fiction Online and Daily Science Fiction. HarperCollins Voyager will release her steampunk novel THE CLOCKWORK DAGGER in late 2014. She's originally from Hanford, California, but now resides in Arizona with her husband and son. Her fiction, poetry, and tasty cookie recipes can be found at http://www.bethcato.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Would you like to participate in Friday "Speak Out!"? Email your short posts (under 500 words) about women and writing to: marcia[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Read More »

9 comments becoming published, Beth Cato, contracts, Friday Speak Out, rejections, success stories

Remembering Rejections

On The Muffin, we've posted about rejections before. As a writer, you've probably heard all the standard rejection advice: personal rejections are good, a rejection is at least a response, and everybody gets rejected.

That's what I want to focus on today--during Thanksgiving week--

Everybody gets rejected!

I received an e-mail over the weekend, reminding me of this fact, and I thought it would be great to share it with my fellow women writers as a reminder not to give up, not to see one rejection as the end of your career. Look at this list:

Dune by Frank Herbert – 13 rejections

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – 14 rejections

Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis – 17 rejections

Jonathan Livingston Seagull – 18 rejections

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle – 29 rejections

Carrie by Stephen King – over 30 rejections

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell – 38 rejections

A Time to Kill by John Grisham – 45 rejections

Louis L’Amour, author of over 100 western novels – over 300 rejections before publishing his first book

John Creasy, author of 564 mystery novels – 743 rejections before publishing his first book

Ray Bradbury, author of over 100 science fiction novels and stories – around 800 rejections before selling his first story

The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter – rejected so universally the author decided to self-publish the book

So, when you open your mailbox and see the thin envelope OR open the e-mail and see, "Thank you for your submission but. . .", remember this list, don't give up hope, and be thankful that you can go back to the drawing board.

Happy Writing!
Margo Dill
http://margodill.com/blog/
Read These Books and Use Them

Read More »

3 comments Margo Dill, Rejection Letters, rejections, writing inspiration

Friday Speakout: Will the Truth Really Set You Free?, Guest Post by Michelle Dwyer

Will the Truth Really Set You Free?

by Michelle Dwyer

I’ve wiped out many a box of tissues because of rejection. Rejection. Those emails with the subject line that reads: Re: Submission. Like most writers, I open the file with a sliver of hope, in the off-chance, that it is a yes. Who am I kidding? Before long, my mind starts telling me that I suck.

But now I know: That is simply not the case. Through critique groups and personal connections with other authors, I realize that the rejections are coming from my nonfiction work. Why? My niche rests in writing for a casual audience, not the starched suits that want to know about the latest in anti-virus technology or stock options.

For some reason, I felt the need to submit work to the business world, as if its approval made me good. However, after receiving feedback, I did some self-analysis (Maslow would be proud), and discovered that when I write my nonfiction pieces, I’m simply not passionate about them. They don’t evoke the emotions that my fiction stories have always done.

I love romance, chance happenings, personal growth, and sex. The stories, characters, and climaxes (pardon the pun), that come from my heart bring me to life, and allow me to create the wonder that is fiction.

So how did I end up writing about investing in the manufacturing industry and not about two people making love on the kitchen table? Answer: A warped sense of success. I saw others excel with their nonfiction work, and by golly, I was determined to be like them. How come their works were selected and not mine? For a brief time, I thought they were better than me.

It took some validation from peers for me to understand that I shine at fiction, and that I need to ease up on nonfiction. “But I’m an MBA,” I used to tell myself. “I must write articles that tell the truth.”

No. My MBA will come in handy with the business side of publishing, but my knack for creating a good story will always give me peace.

Don’t get me wrong, aspiring writers (and I am still very much aspiring) need to keep trying and never give up. I just think that all of us have a forte. Mine is creative writing. And now that I know my own truth, I will submit nonfiction pieces every now and then, while trying to hone the craft. But I won’t cry a river when I get rejected.

And now I can go back to working on my novels and other short stories. The ones I’ve neglected due to my misplaced effort at finding validity through real-life.

Who knows? I might just get an offer.


Michelle studied writing in high school and longed to become an author. But circumstances arose, causing her to join the military instead. However, she never gave up. She enrolled in writing school, finished her first crime novel, and will achieve her MBA this fall. She writes as Krymzen Hall at http://www.helium.com/users/421563/show_articles

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Would you like to participate in Friday "Speak Out!"? Email your short posts (under 500 words) about women and writing to: marcia[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Read More »

3 comments creative writing, fiction, Friday Speak Out, Michelle Dwyer, rejections

Your Cinderella Story Can Come True

When you were a little girl, did you ever dream about being Cinderella? You know, playing and singing with the mice and the birds, finding your Prince Charming, and showing those ugly stepsisters that you really were the special one. I know I did--I wanted my own fairy godmother, too. "Bippity-Boppity-Boo!"

Last month, a teacher friend asked me to come and talk to her students about what a "real" writer does. One question she wanted me to answer was, "How much do you write that actually never gets published?" Boy, she was asking the right person! So, while preparing my talk, I decided to include information about how many rejections I had received and how many of my picture book stories were still searching for a home, and so on. But would fourth graders be impressed with my statistics? So, I wanted to find the perfect Cinderella story to wow them and show them that you should never give up on your words.

J.K. Rowling has a great Cinderella story, and she would be somebody that the kids knew had been wildly successful. The story is that J.K. Rowling was a single mom, living on state benefits while she wrote the first Harry Potter manuscript. She got her idea in 1990, wrote for five years (sketching out the other six books, too), and a publisher finally accepted it in 1996 after being turned down by several large publishing companies because the book was too complex for kids! She did have an agent that believed in her--so even with an agent, the rumor is she was rejected 12 times by publishing companies. And you know the rest of this Cinderella story--she is now reported to be worth over 1 billion dollars.

When J.K. Rowling sat in coffee shops writing her novel, do you think she thought she would see Harry Potter on the big screen some day? Really? Sure, we all dream, but we also know that it's tough work. Here are her words explaining this time (from an interview on-line): "I had lots of rejections. But I expected everyone to reject me, so I was already braced for failure. However, I loved Harry so much that I just wanted to get him into print whatever the cost in emotional energy," she said. (From Accio Quote! website)

So, what does all this Harry Potter and Cinderella stuff have to do with you? Well, you really could be the next Cinderella story, couldn't you? With hard work, perseverance, and determination, you could see your beloved characters charming millions of readers. Believe it! And remember. . ."A dream is a wish that your heart makes. . ." (from Cinderella)

Happy writing!
Margo Dill
http://www.margodill.com/
Read These Books and Use Them! (blog)
photo by Raymond Brown http://www.flickr.com/

Read More »

1 comment Cinderella story, J.K. Rowling, perseverance, rejections, set writing goals