The other day I was reading agent Jennifer Jackson's blog and she had a great post asking writers why they keep submitting when the odds are so stacked against them. It was interesting and something I'd never thought about before. Certainly something no one has ever asked me. Her question intrigued me. She wanted comments and mine was "because there is always hope". But after thinking about it some more, it's more than that.
Like many writers out there, I have hundreds of rejections under my belt and, yes, I'm still receiving them. Even though I'm published with the fabulous, wonderful Samhain Publishing, I still want more. I want the carrot at the end of the string. I want the ring from the merry-go-round. I want to be able to support myself with my writing. So, why after hundreds of rejections am I still putting myself out there?
Because someone has to get that publishing contract and why not me?
Fourteen years ago, my husband walked into an auditorium to take a test for the local police department. He had just lost his job with the federal government due to cutbacks and we had a brand new baby. All his life he wanted to be a cop and when he walked into that auditorium to take that test there were nearly 400 other people there. For one position.
Instead of thinking the odds were stacked against him, he said to himself, "Someone has to get this job and it could just as easily be me as the person next to me."
He didn't let it get him down. He took his test, he finished all the other physical requirements--and he got the job.
He is why I keep submitting.
2 comments:
What a great story, Sharon! Wonderful inspiration.
My husband and I attended the World Sci-fi and Fantasy Con in Philly back in 2001. Editors and agents from the Sci-fi and Fantasy genre were very quick to say, "If you haven't been published yet, you never will be." That blanket statement made me so angry, my husband had to hold me down in my chair to keep me from standing up and lambasting the panel about their negitive comments. I feel the same way about the comment, "Why do you keep writing when the odds are against you." - for a writer there is only one correct answer: "Because I have to."
-Kat
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