It’s NOT FAIR! :(:(:(

My mother instilled in me a very strong sense of fair play and it has been one of the biggest stumbling blocks of my life.

I constantly whine about the fairness. In so many situations.

Why do athletes make a fortune when many of our young military families live on food stamps?

Why do some kids just naturally have athletic ability, and others are resigned to cleaning up the field following the game?

Why can celebrities write books (usually someone else writes it) and get published immediately just for name recognition?

And on and on and on…

The best bit of advice I ever received after my mom’s good words was: Life isn’t fair.

God doesn’t promise us the brass ring a thousand times. Shucks, He doesn’t guarantee we’ll ever catch it.

The same rule applies to authors. Life isn’t fair. The industry isn’t fair. Editors aren’t fair. Agents aren’t fair.

Do they set out to be ogres and meanies? No. Well, this one doesn’t as I'm sure most don't. But the fact is: every book doesn’t fit what I’m looking for. It might be the best book ever written, and I’ll spend the rest of my life kicking myself for not signing it, but the fact of the matter is I wasn’t looking for that particular type of book.

Which means one thing: someone else IS looking for that book.

Do the best writers become bestselling authors? Authors at all?

Not necessarily. But the prize goes to those who never give up.

PERSEVERANCE!

You might fill dozens of book binders with rejections. You might be told “no” hundreds, yes, hundreds of time. You might get the most insignificant note scribbled on your query letter, or a short form letter to your email. And they all say “NO!”

BUT, IT ONLY TAKES ONE YES to turn things around.

Just one compared to all of the Nos.

Are you willing to keep writing? Are you willing to continue sending queries? Are you looking to see what they want sent? Are you waiting patiently to hear?

PERSEVERANCE!

PERSEVERANCE!

PERSEVERANCE!