WHEN DO YOU QUIT

Someone asked me yesterday "When do you quit?" She was talking about looking for a publisher. She got a rejection. Can you imagine? ONE rejection? I stifled a laugh and shook my head. I said to her, "You've got to be kidding. You are ready to quit because you got one rejection?" She nodded and continued. "I must not be a writer." When I read other people's blogs and realize they started writing ten years ago, five years ago, or maybe even a year ago, they are published because they didn't give up. A very dear friend of mine, a published writer herself, Linore Rose Burkard, said; "Think of your book like a key. You have to find the right door to open with that key." You spend hours of your day, writing, researching, picking other writers brains, trying to get the scene right. You spend time developing characters. I fall in love with my characters and I miss them terribly when I finish a manuscript. Finally back to my friend. I said, "one rejection is an invitation." She looked puzzled, so I continued. "Each time you get a rejection, that's an invitation to send another query." She raised an eyebrow. "So when do you quit?" She continued. When you find the right publisher.