NYTimes Bestselling Author Brenda Novak on Discouragement

 I'm thrilled to introduce today's special guest, NY Times bestselling author Brenda Novak.  Many of you probably know Brenda from her most recent (and fabulous!) series, The Last Stand.  As well, Brenda is the founder of the Brenda Novak's Online Auction for Diabetes Research, that happens every May.  It's an exciting, amazing event that last year alone raised over $250,000.   So, welcome Brenda and thanks for being here!

Brenda Novak

It’s a new year, time to consider what we’ve accomplished in 2008 and set new goals for 2009. But that can be a daunting process–especially when that goal consists of a dream over which we may not have complete control. Getting published, for instance. Selling requires an awesome manuscript, which can be difficult enough to create, but it also takes savvy and a bit of luck—having that manuscript land on the desk of the right person at the right time. In almost every interview I’ve done since selling my first book (OF NOBLE BIRTH to HarperCollins ten years ago), I’ve been asked: What advice would you give others who are hoping to “break in?” 

My answer? Believe. If you truly believe in yourself and your talent, you will be motivated to actually sit down and write the book instead of only dreaming about it. You will be driven to seek out any help you may need (research or craft-related) to make it the best you can create. You will follow through with marketing ideas, and you won’t give up if you don’t sell immediately. Belief drives the entire engine—even through the rough spots. It battles discouragement, which is, according to Webster, “to deprive of courage or confidence.” How many army commanders would win a war, or how many coaches would win a game, if they deprived their army/team of courage and confidence? Now think about the fact that you are a commander of one. How do you treat yourself? Do you allow yourself to be deprived of courage and confidence? 

There is a tombstone in Britain that says: “In moments of discouragement, defeat, or even despair, there are always certain things to cling to. Little things usually: remembered laughter, the face of a sleeping child, a tree in the wind—in fact, any reminder of something deeply felt or dearly loved. No man is so poor as not to have many of these small candles. When they are lighted, darkness goes away—and a touch of wonder remains.” In order to be successful in this business, we must hang on to that wonder. How can we light a candle in someone else if there is no fire in us?

Consider the following:

***The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck was returned fourteen times, but it went on to win a Pulitzer Prize.

***Patrick Dennis said of his autobiographical novel Auntie Mame, “It circulated for five years through the halls of fifteen publishers and finally ended up with Vanguard Press, which, as you can see, is rather deep into the alphabet.”

***Mary Higgins Clark was rejected forty times before selling her first story. One editor wrote: “Your story is light, slight, and trite.” More than 30 million copies of her books are now in print.

***Before he wrote Roots, Alex Haley had received 200 rejections.

***John Grisham’s first novel, A Time to Kill, was declined by fifteen publishers and
some thirty agents. His novels have more than 60 million copies in print.

***Thirty-three publishers couldn’t digest Chicken Soup for the Soul, compiled by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, before it became a huge best-seller and spawned a series.

***Louis L’Amour received 200 rejections before he sold his first novel. During the last forty years, Bantam has shipped nearly 200 million of his 112 books, making him its biggest selling author.

***Eight years after his novel Steps won the National Book Award, Jerzy Kosinski permitted a writer to change his name and the title and send a manuscript of the novel to thirteen agents and fourteen publishers to test the plight of new writers. They all rejected it, including Random House, which had published it.
 
There you have it. You’ve probably heard it before, but let me remind you: every “no” brings you that much closer to a “yes. If you persevere. If you believe.

I have a son who loves basketball. He was the first sixth grader to make the middle school team (and he was young for a sixth grader). All the boys he played with were two, sometimes three years older and at least a foot taller. When the season first began, he’d take one or two shots a game and if he missed, he’d stop shooting. He didn’t want to fail, didn’t want the other guys to regret that he’d been chosen for the team. But he’s a natural born shooter. My husband (as well as the coach) recognized that and told him to shoot when he was open no matter how many times he missed. With that attitude, my son played just as much as the bigger boys, and he sometimes contributed as much as 25% of the team’s points. He didn’t get many lay-ups or rebounds, but he got a lot of steals and 3-pointers. In one game, he made all three of his three-point attempts. Afterward, his teammates were calling him Trey McGrady.

Like my son, we will miss 100% of the shots we don’t take. Guarding against failure results in failure. If you’re not failing at something, you’re not challenging yourself. William Feather said, “Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.”

Hang on and seek the many opportunities that are available to you. There’re more than you think, more than you’ll actually have time to take advantage of. My On-line Auction for Diabetes Research is a perfect example (my son suffers from this disease, hence my zealous involvement). You will find a gold mine of opportunity there. Many of the most influential editors and agents in the business are donating reads, critiques, telephone conferences, lunch or dinner at RWA national. A lot of multi-published authors are doing the same. Here’s a little feedback from those who’ve won such bids in the past.

“Having won a read of a proposal by Nancy Yost (Lowenstein-Yost Associates) in Brenda Novak’s Diabetes Auction, imagine my delight when Ms. Yost called me to discuss my work! It was so wonderful to be given a chance to speak with her and receive her valuable feedback. I know my book will be stronger because of her generous input. This would never have happened without the opportunity that Brenda’s auction gives unpublished writers.”
–S.E.

“Just to let you know, I sold to Melissa Jeglinski of Desire three weeks ago! My next manuscript is due in January. I didn’t sell as a direct result of an auction purchase, but the critiques I’ve received have been invaluable in helping to hone my writing skills. So THANK YOU!”
–Robyn Grady

“I won a critique from Harlequin editor Kathleen Scheibling, and it was worth every penny! I look forward to this year’s auction.”
–Donna Kowalczyk

–“I just wanted you to know that the critique I purchased during the JDRF auction you had last May was great. Roxanne Rustand gave me all kinds of suggestions on my writing, the market, the synopsis, the partial. She covered all the bases. Her line-by-line critique was thorough and helpful. I just can’t thank you or her enough for the opportunity.”
–Tessy Grillo

–The woman who won Paula Eyklehof’s read
(Paula is my own editor) for 2005 was invited out to lunch with her at the next RWA conference.

The auction isn’t the only way—not by a long shot. If you believe you can find all the opportunity you need elsewhere, but if you you’re interested in furthering your career while helping out with a great cause, please join me. Besides the reads, there will be over 1200 items to bid on, many of which you can’t find anywhere else. Check it out on my web site at www.brendanovak.com. The auction begins May 1st and runs through May 31st.

Here’s wishing you success beyond your wildest dreams!
Brenda Novak

Visit Brenda at her website, http://www.brendanovak.com to learn more about her and about the auction.

UPCOMING IN THE LAST STAND SERIES: