This link was tweeted a few times this week in my twitter stream, and I didn’t read it the first few times. Why? I do not have an agent. What did I care about someone that couldn’t sell with an agent? I don’t even have that! Then, eventually I clicked on the link and I am glad I did.
Though some of what Ms. Redwine writes about does not apply to me, there was one paragraph that really struck me as exactly something I have been unable to articulate for a very long time. In response to others selling around her while she wasn’t, she writes… “It wasn’t that I couldn’t be happy for others. I was. How could I not celebrate when I knew how hard the journey could be? It was that I felt like I was missing something crucial. Overlooking some important ingredient that would transform me from the girl who couldn’t sell a book to one who finally had a contract.”
How many times have I been happy for someone who after lots of hard work has sold? Plenty, but there’s always a sharp little jab that went with it. It wasn’t exactly jealousy and it definitely wasn’t begrudging this person their success, but I couldn’t put into words what it WAS. So, I just assumed I was a petty, jealous person.
But, no! This is it! It might be a selfish feeling, but it is the feeling I get when someone around me sells. What am I doing wrong? I do not begrudge anyone success. It only makes me wonder what I am missing and why I can’t succeed.
Ms. Redwine’s advice to keep writing isn’t anything you haven’t heard before, but I love to see practical examples of people who struggled. Who wrote more than one book before they sold. Who took time to find their place.
Nicole Helm 