Dealing with Rejection

Trying to make a living as a writer is a tough gig. It always has been. Sure, there are plenty of exceptions, John Grisham, Dan Brown, Sandra Brown, and JK Rowling. Even among "indie" authors, there are stars such as Hugh Howey, Joe Konrath, Bella Andre and HM Ward.

Before I tried my hand at fiction writing, I worked as a newspaper reporter. I was in the field for about a dozen years and never made more than $40,000 in a year. For the vast majority of my career, in fact, I made $20,000 - $25,000. I looked upward to journalists at the highest levels of the "game" at newspapers like the Detroit Free Press, Chicago Tribune and Washington Post. They made double or triple what I did.

After striving to reach their level for years, it became demoralizing and seemingly unattainable. So, I moved on. Now, I haven't exactly set the world on fire in terms of salary since then, but I am making more. Better yet, I don't have to live with the feeling that I'm somehow lacking, or that I'm not good enough to make it to the Big Leagues (to use a bad sports analogy).

The reason I say all of this is that I am fighting many of those same feelings of rejection and failure as a fiction writer.

To date, I've only published a short story and a pair of novellas. So, if you said I shouldn't even be thinking in terms of success and failure right now, you'd have a point. After all, there are very few one-hit wonders in indie publishing - Darcie Chan's Mill River Recluse comes to mind.

Okay, I know, I get it. I'd have a lot more to whine about if I had published a dozen novels and still only saw trickling sales. Still, at the moment, I feel a lot like I did years ago. Truthfully, I'm having a really hard time finding the motivation to write. 

It takes a big investment of time and energy to put a story together. I can deal with that, and I still enjoy the process of writing. It's the investment in hope that, perhaps, this will be the one that sets me on my way, I'm lamenting over.

Because I know, going in, the odds are steep. I know, despite my best efforts, my next "little darling" will likely languish somewhere around a million in Amazon's Kindle store after a few months of being on its virtual shelves.

There's a line from my favorite movie, The Shawshank Redemption, which seems apt here:

Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.

Anyway, I would really love to hear how you, my writing colleagues, deal with this issue from day to day. How do you push past it and keep churning the words out?

$10.27

In the grand scheme of things, $10.27 isn't a lot of money. It's enough to buy a decent lunch in most places or grab an expensive cup of coffee at Starbucks.

For me, though, $10.27 is a really big deal. It's the amount of my first royalty payment from Amazon.

It has been more than two years since I hit the publish button on first story. Since then, I've published two more and had one made into audiobook (which is where most of the "revenue" care from). I've learned a lot more about writing fiction and a bit about marketing said fiction.

While I may never reach the epic heights of some self-publishers - Hugh Howey and his excellent Wool series - I am having fun and that's what counts, right? Along the way, I've made a few new friends and supporters, like J.B. Chicoine. Writing fiction has opened a new world for me, and I don't plan on giving up on it anytime soon.

The check from Amazon isn't first time I've been paid as a writer. I worked as a news reporter for a little more than a decade and made my living (if you can call it that. My first check as a reporter was $185 for about 50 hours worth of work). Somehow, it feels more satisfying.

As a reporter, I was always writing other people's stories. I was covering governmental meetings or sports games and the material to write about was right there in front of me. It's a luxury fiction writers don't have. There's nothing but you and a blank screen, which can be pretty damn intimidating at times.

If you're a writer and reading this, first off, thank you. I'm wondering if you have some of the same feelings I have about earning money from your efforts? It's not why I write, and probably not the reason you write either, but I'm still interested to hear your thoughts.

When Life Gets In The Way Of Writing

Okay, then. So that’s what writing feels like. Hmmm, I kind of enjoy it.

After not pecking out a word in nearly two months, I started workingagain on In The Sunshine, my latest little foray into the world ofromance. For you writing types out there, it’s likely going to fallbetween 12,000 – 15,000 words at completion, a “novelette.” For therest of the world, it’s a short story.

A family trip Cocoa Beach, Florida, in May sparked the story idea. Istarted writing the story just about as soon as we got home. I madegreat process, about 8,000 words in less than a month. Then life gotin the way.

I interviewed for a job and actually landed it (started a week ago)!My mother, who is in her mid 70s, was also in and out of the hospitala few times with various ailments. Those elements combined with mynormal day-to-day life pulled me away from the keyboard. It was afrustrating period from a writing standpoint, but you’ve got to dowhat you’ve got to do.

I’ll admit I was nervous when I sat down and tried to kickstart thisproject. I reread what I had written and was relatively pleased. Afterthat, I started writing. I think I churned out about 500 words overthe course of an hour, before my kids started getting up. I wroteanother few hundred words this morning.

It’s going to take awhile to really get back in the flow. I have givenmyself a deadline of August 10 to finish the first draft. I’ve alreadygot an editor lined up and had originally intended to get the story tohim a month ago. He dropped me a note this morning wondering what theheck was going on.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to publishing the story. As short, I knowit’s not going to sell tons of copies and I’m not too worried aboutit. I haven’t published a story in almost two years, so it’s time toget of the shnide, as they say.

Enough about me. If you’re a writer reading this, tell me about yourcurrent Work in Progress. Where are you at with it and when do you seeyourself hitting the publishing button?

If you are a reader, what’s on your Kindle right now? If you’re aromance reader, are you open to shorter than novel-length work? Whatprice would you be willing to pay for a piece that’s about 50traditional pages in length?