There are those who say that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Which leads me to wonder, is being a writer insane? Or, rather, is trying to build a sustainable career out of writing insane? I self-published my book Hello Morning in 2014, and it was such an amazing feeling. To get to hold a physical copy of a book I'd worked on for years in my hands. To see other people reading it. To hear their feedback. To go on Amazon and see my book for sale. It was all incredible.
The book did not sell the way I hoped it would, but I learned a lot from the process. So I took what I learned, wrote another book and decided to submit this one to some agents, and try that route toward publishing. None of the agents I queried felt my project was right for them, but I got some good feedback along the way.
So, I wrote another book earlier this year called A World Between and after running it through a few rounds of edits, have begun the process of sending out query letters to agents and publishers. Everything I've heard back at this point has been a rejection. They have been the kindest, gentlest rejections, but they are rejections all the same. And so it occurred to me this morning that I might be insane.
I have been calling myself determined. Committed. Driven. I have been telling myself that in order to succeed on this path I must persevere, but at what point does perseverance become madness? If I take a step back, I can rationalize that I am probably not at that point given how early it is in my writing career, but where is that line in the sand? Is there a line in the sand? Or is a certain degree of insanity required to succeed?