With the fail rate so high, should I even bother?

No one told you it was going to be easy to publish your book but I bet you didn't know it was going to be this hard. You've finished your book. You've edited and edited and edited. You've written the best synopsis and cover letter you can. Okay, enough procrastinating. You send it on to Literary Agents and Publishers. And then you wait. And wait. And wait.

Most agents and publishers state on their websites that it may take anywhere up to three months for them to get back to you. Some are longer. What some of them don't say is that if they decide the book isn't right for them, they won't even bother to contact you at all. So you wait, hoping that the lack of contact means they're just busy. But in your heart, hope begins to wither away. All you need is some feedback. Do I need to work on certain parts? Should I work on my characters? Is it just that the book doesn't fit into their current requirements? Is it any good at all? All of these questions run wildly around in your head, bumping into each other and shoving each other out of the way when other questions pop up. It's maddening and it's painful and it's demoralising. What do I do now? Do I send it on to other publishers or do I just toss it?

There are many avenues to publishing your book. There are traditional publishers. There are publishers who require a contribution. Or you could self publish. After doing your research, you'll find one of these options right for you. But one thing you have to remember is to believe in yourself.

Wisdom comes to us in the most unlikeliest of sources, a lot of times it comes through failure. When you hit rock bottom, remember this ... while you're struggling, rock bottom can be a great foundation on which to grow and build. For me, I'm not worried that I'll never be successful. I'm worried that I won't fail from time to time because a person who picks themselves off the floor and keeps going is the person who will continue to grow and improve.

In my youth, I was always told to blend. Be beige. Average is okay. But over the past few years, I've ignored those words. I've refused to listen to them. I tell myself every day to shoot for the stars. That good enough is NOT good enough. If you can do better, be the best.

What you do is you stand tall. And you keep on standing. No matter what, you never give up. Do what you can today because tomorrow may be worse. But you never give up! Anything is possible.