Anna DeStefano's Blog

Everyone knows publishing is a tough nut to crack, never more so than in today’s tight markets. And everyone knows it takes a lot of hard work to get a manuscript contracted. That there will be some tough breaks to weather before it’s your turn to shine.

But what if you’re already working hard, and you have been for a while? What if you’ve learned a lot, and you’re producing good work, and your fellow writers love your stories and keep telling you your soooooo close? Yet the rejection letters keep coming. Maybe an editor or agent even likes your voice, they think you have a bright future ahead–but this or that story just isn’t right for them. Good luck with your career. So sorry wecouldn’t pick you up this time, but keep at it.

Keep at it? You’re exhausted, you’ve been at it for so long. What’s the point, you might be asking, if there’s no guarantee–no formula to follow to earn what many who started before and after you have achieved? In the end, is it finally going to be worth it? Or will you still be stumbling around years from now, no closer to your victory than ever?

If you’ve been asking yourself these questions, let me offer a bit of a reality check. (more…)

Authors worry. A lot. About what they’re writing. About what they’re not writing. About what they’ve just written and whether or not it will sell. Will they ever sell? Will they ever write anything they think is good enough to even submit???

Sometimes the worry helps motivate us. Sometimes, it keeps us from moving forward. And sometimes, when it gets really bad, worry becomes the reason we say we have to quit this way of life. We just can’t take it anymore. Those are the times I hope you remember this: How much we worry about whether our dreams will come true, is directly proportional to how important those dreams are to us. (more…)

I wanted to spend this post exploring a very, “I’m okay, you’re okay,” notion that has forever changed my perspective on the world of publishing. So here it is, the thought of the day: If you want personal success, if you want to master how you react to this industry’s ups and downs, you have to get busy supporting others.

I’m not talking about the kind of support you give an organization or just your close, personal buddies. This is something deeper. A personal choice. Your mind-set, if you will, as you look at the world around you. How do you feel when someone else wins the prize you really wanted to win, snags the publishing contract you’d kill for, or scores the literary agent to end all agents? How does this affect your energy, your perspective of the industry, and your confidence in your own work? (more…)