Authors Must Never Give Up

 

Dear Writers: 

Don’t Ever Give Up! 

That is your mantra. Well, it should be. 

F rejection and the gate-keeping critics who think they know best. You keep writing — and marketing — and with a resilience and determination that parallels your talent. Assuming you are a good writer, you will break through if you also market yourself hard. 

There are many, many people who were told that something was impossible, improbable, unachievable, and beyond their means. And these so-called authorities were proven wrong, over and over again.  

People are rejected all of the time. Not pretty enough. Not strong enough. Not fast enough. Not smart enough. Not funny or talented enough.  Not young enough. Too much this, too little that. Screw all of them!  

We all know of people who overcame the odds to succeed.  

* How many times do we hear of people who filed for bankruptcy only for them to turn around and launch a multi-million-dollar business? 

* How many people who got divorced from a loser spouse went on to start a happy family with someone else? 

* How many domestic abuse or rape victims were told they won’t love again, only to be proven wrong? 

* How many alcoholics or drug addicts were given up on because sobriety initially eluded them — only to see amazing turnarounds? 

* How many times do we hear someone was told they will never walk again or be able to do something, only to come back stronger than many others? 

* How many people were told they have little time left to live, only to stick around for years? 

* How many women were told they would never be able to conceive children — and then do? 

How many people are told they can’t, they shouldn’t, they won’t … and those people prove their critics or the experts wrong? You may be one of those people.  

As a writer you must persevere, thicken your skin, and push through criticism, silence, and closed doors. You can meet a challenge and excel beyond the odds. Never give up on yourself!  

Here are a few examples of others who were rejected and discarded but who came back to become phenomenal successes:  

Baywatch

The show was cancelled after its first season on NBC, but survived through syndication and later became the most-watched television series in the world, with a weekly audience of over 1.1 billion viewers — despite consistently negative critical reviews.  

TV Academy Hall-of-Famer Norman Lear

ABC-TV punted twice on a chance to launch ratings blockbuster All in the Family, ceding an Emmy-winning classic from writing genius Norman Lear to CBS-TV. Lear’s shows went on to dominate and redefine TV sitcoms in the 1970s and 1980s.  

Best-Seller Chicken Soup for the Soul

Motivational speakers Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen collaborated on the first Chicken Soup for the Soul book, compiling inspirational, true stories they had heard from their audience members. Many of the stories came from members of the audience of their inspirational talks. The book was rejected by major publishers in New York but accepted by a small, self-help publisher in Florida called HCI. After 144 rejections, someone said yes.  The Chicken Soup for the Soul book series of over 275 titles has sold more than 110 million copies in the U.S. and Canada. Chicken Soup for the Soul books have been translated into 43 languages, have been published in over 100 countries, and have sold more than 500 million copies worldwide.  

NBA Hall-of-Famer Michael Jordan

He retired with the NBA's highest-scoring average. He won two three-peat championships within eight years. These are just a few of Michael Jordan's incredible achievements as a professional basketball player. What makes all of this even more remarkable is the fact that he was cut from his high school varsity basketball team during his sophomore year.  

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg

The entrepreneur started his financial data distribution business just one day after he was fired from the Salomon Brothers investment bank, where he held several positions over the course of his 15 years with the company. He is now worth around $100,000,000,000.  

President Abraham Lincoln

He lost his run for Congress in 1843 and again in 1848. He lost his bid to become a U.S. Senator in 1855. He ran for Vice President of the U.S. in 1856 and lost. He again ran for the U.S. Senate in 1859 and lost yet again. But, he was elected president twice, and freed the slaves after winning the Civil War.  

See a pattern? You can overcome your loss, setback, or missed opportunity. Never give up. Success comes to the persistent.

 

Need Book Marketing Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors promote their story, sell their book, and grow their brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

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About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on LinkedIn. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2023. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This award-winning blog has generated over 3.4 million pageviews. With 4,600+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and two jobs at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America, and has spoken at ASJA, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. He has been featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald. For more information, please consult: www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum.