Keep On Keeping On

Recently I've missed writing these entries about The Writing Life. I've certainly thought of things to write but I've been on an airplane or consumed with something else which hasn't allowed me to write these entries.

If you watch the news or read the newspapers (as I do), it's easy to grow discouraged about the events of the world and your small sphere of influence over them. As you face different roadblocks for your writing how do you handle it? Do you see those roadblocks as halting your progress or as one more thing that you don't have to try? Are these challenges obstacles or opportunities? It's a matter of perspective.

I'm as human as the next person in this area but here's what I attempt to do when I face challenges to my writing life. Instead of wallowing in self-pitting and discouragement (which is the easy route), instead I focus on what I can do and where I can write and work on that material. I've recently been reviewing some CDs from Mega Book Marketing University and heard the stories of Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield as they were trying to find a publisher for the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. Today there are about 150 million copies of those books in print. Yet those books were rejected 144 times.

In the face of such rejection, Jack and Mark learned to handle each rejection and say to each other, "Next." They had eliminated another publisher so what was next? Imagine what would have happened to them if they had given up with the 140th rejection?

These men had big dreams and goals for their writing and their words. When a little publisher in Florida, HCI Communications published their books, they asked their publisher about his projections for the book. The publisher gave them a small expectation for sales and they instantly responded, "Well, that's not our goal."

The publisher asked them, "What's your goal?"

Mark said, "We want to sell a million and a half books in the first year." Their publisher laughed! Have you ever had anyone laugh at your goal? In the face of such laughter, Mark and Jack continued working and promoting their Chicken Soup books. I believe it was 15 months until they met that goal but they did meet it--and have gone way beyond it.

I love what the Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:20 and in the contemporary Message translation, it says, "God can do anything, you know--far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us."

I've got big dreams and plans for the future and some of them are wild but they do not happen if I keep the material stuck in my computer or in my desk drawer. It only happens as I’m out in the marketplace of ideas. I'd encourage you to keep on keeping on.

For your encouragement, I put together a new article about how to open new markets with affiliate marketing. I hope it will help some of you. And if you have no interest in affiliate marketing, do keep on learning your craft and submitting your materials. And when you face rejection or disappointment, instead of wallowing in the negative feelings instead speak the word, "Next!" Press on.