A half-horrible day.
I don't normally write journal-type blog posts, but I feel like today is a lesson we can all learn from.
This morning I received a reply from a literary agent I'd been referred to by another literary agent. To get a personal reply from an agent is a huge deal for me, or any struggling author for that matter. I was a my desk at work, and read the email with a heart beating a hundred miles an hour in anticipation.
Basically, the agent thought my success in self-publishing was admirable, and that I should keep pursuing that. But the really horrible thing this agent mentioned was the reason why she was giving my book a pass. Here's what she said:
"This story is actually very close to a query letter that was making the round back in November. It was also a YA about a girl with fire abilities and a guy with ice abilities, though it took a more high-fantasy route than your idea. Regardless, I know the agency who signed this client will be out on submission with it soon, and this just feels too close, at least from where I sit."
You can imagine my complete and utter deflation as I sat at my desk and let those words sink in. Someone out there has written a book 'close' to mine. They have sent it to multiple agents, one of whom has signed it. This book is now being submitted to publishers and could possibly be released in stores soon.
For a moment, it felt like my series was over.
I rarely let things get to me in life. I don't worry too much, I move on because life is too short to waste time stressing. But this ... this really got to me. I jumped to the worst possible conclusion that no publisher would ever sign my book because it was too similar to 'blah blah blah' and Rouge would fade into the black hole of self-published books.
But ... a close friend of mine helped me realize few things.
1) The future isn't set in stone. Maybe this person's book has claimed the attention of an agent, but that's not the say it's going to be published.
2) I have a fan base, and this newbie author does not. People want to read my books. Over 500K reads on Wattpad and a successful crowdfunding campaign prove that. Not to mention the thousands of comments. Today I got "I've ONLY been reading this over every other book available!" and "Bb (best book) ever". I'm not trying to brag about it, this only cements the fact that my books are making people happy and eager to read.
3) Everyone faces mountains in their lives. JK Rowling went through 12 publishers. Stephen King wrote many books before he was successful. This is just another mountain.
4) When Twilight became popular, the paranormal genre blew up. I don't know how many vampire books I read at the time. If there's a book similir to mine out there ... why can't mine be published along with it?
5) I have faith in my story. I've made it this far. I can't let this knock me down. How could I expect to succeed if I let fear and doubt and negativity cloud my desire to live my dream of being a writer? It sounds cliche, but it's true. I won't let the fact that someone else has beat me to traditional publishing with a similar idea, or that they may have even read my book and stolen the premise bring me down.
Take it from someone who often can't see how much she's done with her life: if you have a dream, do not let anything stop you from fighting for it. Because things like this will try and stop you. You can chose to let it trap you forever, or you can break free from it and keep chasing that dream. Only those who fight for their ideal life deserve the chance to live it.
This morning I received a reply from a literary agent I'd been referred to by another literary agent. To get a personal reply from an agent is a huge deal for me, or any struggling author for that matter. I was a my desk at work, and read the email with a heart beating a hundred miles an hour in anticipation.
Basically, the agent thought my success in self-publishing was admirable, and that I should keep pursuing that. But the really horrible thing this agent mentioned was the reason why she was giving my book a pass. Here's what she said:
"This story is actually very close to a query letter that was making the round back in November. It was also a YA about a girl with fire abilities and a guy with ice abilities, though it took a more high-fantasy route than your idea. Regardless, I know the agency who signed this client will be out on submission with it soon, and this just feels too close, at least from where I sit."
You can imagine my complete and utter deflation as I sat at my desk and let those words sink in. Someone out there has written a book 'close' to mine. They have sent it to multiple agents, one of whom has signed it. This book is now being submitted to publishers and could possibly be released in stores soon.
For a moment, it felt like my series was over.
I rarely let things get to me in life. I don't worry too much, I move on because life is too short to waste time stressing. But this ... this really got to me. I jumped to the worst possible conclusion that no publisher would ever sign my book because it was too similar to 'blah blah blah' and Rouge would fade into the black hole of self-published books.
But ... a close friend of mine helped me realize few things.
1) The future isn't set in stone. Maybe this person's book has claimed the attention of an agent, but that's not the say it's going to be published.
2) I have a fan base, and this newbie author does not. People want to read my books. Over 500K reads on Wattpad and a successful crowdfunding campaign prove that. Not to mention the thousands of comments. Today I got "I've ONLY been reading this over every other book available!" and "Bb (best book) ever". I'm not trying to brag about it, this only cements the fact that my books are making people happy and eager to read.
3) Everyone faces mountains in their lives. JK Rowling went through 12 publishers. Stephen King wrote many books before he was successful. This is just another mountain.
4) When Twilight became popular, the paranormal genre blew up. I don't know how many vampire books I read at the time. If there's a book similir to mine out there ... why can't mine be published along with it?
5) I have faith in my story. I've made it this far. I can't let this knock me down. How could I expect to succeed if I let fear and doubt and negativity cloud my desire to live my dream of being a writer? It sounds cliche, but it's true. I won't let the fact that someone else has beat me to traditional publishing with a similar idea, or that they may have even read my book and stolen the premise bring me down.
Take it from someone who often can't see how much she's done with her life: if you have a dream, do not let anything stop you from fighting for it. Because things like this will try and stop you. You can chose to let it trap you forever, or you can break free from it and keep chasing that dream. Only those who fight for their ideal life deserve the chance to live it.
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