Don't Give Up!

Today, I welcome author Melissa Boone. Melissa owns her own business but her true passion is writing.  Her children's ebook, Goat Cheese Grilled Cheese, is available for Kindle.  Her second book, Paranormal Encounters will soon be released via Amazon.com.  

Melissa loves still photography; her pictures can be purchased at www.NaturesOutdoorPhotography.com.  She had been "married to the same wonderful man for the past 24 years and have 5 children and will soon be a grandmother." Thanks, Melissa, for this inspiring post! 

If there is any advice you are willing to accept, I hope this is it: don’t give up.

Anything worth doing and doing right is not going to happen over night or in a moment's notice.  Okay, you may write the novel of the year over night or in a moment's notice but is it going to be a best seller or movie of the year that same day or the next?  Highly unlikely.  Would we like it to?  You bet.  But in all reality, for this to happen you would have to be related to Stephen King or Steven Spielberg. 

Now let’s be honest with ourselves.  You put together the best book you think that’s out there and then what?

That, my friend, is the question.

Where do you even begin?  Maybe send out a query or two, make a couple of phone calls and tell your friends but where is that going to get you?  Not far enough.

Be ready when opportunity knocks!

I have been trying to get published (other than the local newspaper) for fifteen years.  Yes, at first I would mail out queries by the dozen and if I didn’t hear anything for a couple of weeks I gave up.  I would do this on and off for years.  I even changed my writing style (big mistake) and strayed off of what I enjoyed writing because I thought what I was writing was not good enough.  But I was wrong and impatient.

Again, don’t give up.  Keep pushing your idea; don’t stop spreading the word of what you’ve accomplished.  Yes, writing the book is an accomplishment. It’s the first step, and you just need to keep pressing forward.  I never thought in my wildest dreams I would become published but in the end I followed my own advice and never gave up.

You don’t know what opportunity will come knocking on your door and be The One.  This is why you can not stop pursuing your dream.

Everyone’s open door is different but mine was stepping out of my unsocial shell and attending a seminar led by Ami Hendrickson. Because of her telling me (and the rest of the class) that if I put my book information as a signature in my email, found another outlet via the internet (like a blog) and would just be more vocal about who I am and what I’m doing, I would find myself farther than the day before.

I did.

And by doing the three things I just mentioned, I was offered a book signing and a radio interview as soon as my book is available.  Now I can’t say this happens this quickly for everyone but I will say the more you are willing to promote yourself and be willing to talk about what you are trying to accomplish, whether it’s a book, an article or some other type of writing project, the sooner you will see results.

I am now an author (yay!) of one ebook as well as a  soon-to-be-released paperback, with another in the works.  Now I have the know how and the confidence to know I’m able to accomplish what I so desire.

If you can only do one thing today do this; find a mirror, look at it, look at yourself and say, "Don’t Give Up!"