Writers need many things – time, a pinch of talent, something to write with and so on. It helps if they enjoy writing too. In fact, for many people, writing is its own reward, but if you want more than that, if you want to make money writing or to become successful, you need something else. You need to be persistent. To quote from one of my favourite films, GALAXY QUEST, never give up, never surrender.
Every writer has times when the words don’t flow as easily as they should, or everything they send to editors and publishers comes bouncing back. Faced with a mountain of rejection letters, it’s very easy to stop trying. I know many very talented writers who will never get their books published because they have simply stopped sending their manuscripts out to publishers. They gave up.
I have come very close to this myself, and not just once, but now I’ve learned my lesson. That great story that was turned down three times might sell to the fourth person I send it to, but it won’t see unless I keep sending it out. I have sold stories at the sixth attempt, sometimes literally years after first writing them. If I think the idea is good, I will keep trying until I either succeed or run out of places to send the story.
Talent on its own is no guarantee of success.
Many talented authors wrote books that were turned down dozens of times before they found a publisher. Catch 22, Watership Down, even Harry Potter. None of those books sold easily. The authors could easily have given up, but they didn’t.
So if you want to earn money as a writer. If you want to be successful, there’s one thing you really need, and that’s persistence.
Blessings.
Sincerely,
-Liane Schmidt.