What if no one EVER Wants What I Write?

The possibility of this happening is greater than the alternate truth. In fact, writers have a greater chance of being rejected over and over than of being struck by the lightning bolt of success. As with any artistic profession, success in writing is a lot of luck, timing, and that serendipitous connection with someone who shares your vision. For some writers, success just flows; for others it’s a futile slog.
Are you a slogger? How do you deal with that deep inside your soul? Maybe you can compartmentalize and after lots of rejections, you just say “Okay” and move on to try again. Then again, you might be on the verge of packing it in, giving in to despair.
In telling my story, perhaps you will find a nugget of your own truth, a treasure of inspiration to keep you going, a way to look at your creation in a new way.
My trilogy, “The Secrets of the Moon Singer,” germinated over a span of 20+ years. The first book, The Crystal Clipper (see my Pubslush campaign page) was rejected by everyone I submitted it to. Frustrated, I tried to also be honest: “Maybe it’s not good enough yet...maybe I’m missing something...or maybe THEY are. So I put the book down for a while and worked on other projects: writing music, performing and working full time jobs. But, of course, I was compelled to write this trilogy, and even sketched out a sequel, The War Chamber, and made copious notes for the final adventure, The Wind Rose. All of them remained unfinished for years while I worked on other stories.
But let me backtrack to the “wagon train” days (yes I’m an old codger) when my main genre of writing was as a journalist. This was long before self-publishing, before digital media, when newspaper and magazine stories were written on a typewriter and sent to “press.” As a journalist, I had instant gratification: features placed “above the fold,” with my byline, picture, and recognition. I wrote on assignment and also pitched to editors, and was easily accepted. My first non-fiction book on the power of music was published by a New York house. My future was secured.
Not so fast. Fate had other plans.
One day I went to a crystal workshop and chose a “singer” crystal shaped like a sailboat. I used it for spiritual contemplation and wore it as a pendant around my neck. “You are to write children’s stories,” said that voice on high, as though the crystal spoke to me. Me? Children’s stories? I’ve read hundreds, but write them?
The crystal would not be denied. The first story came to me in a flash of inspiration during a power outage at my place of work in a software company. In three hours I had written an entire picture book in humorous verse, “Horace Won’t Sing,” about a little boy who was worried his parents wouldn’t love him if they knew he was a gasp! “Alien.” Almost got that one published. Soon after more picture books poured out of me. “The Prince who was a Piccolo,” about finding your true identity, had a music sound track and actors narrating the adorable story. Close, but no cigar. Next, a little spiritual book, called “Hubert in Heaven,” about a video game avatar accidentally transported to Heaven, was self-produced with an audio track and original music. Sold lots of those through a local church. But no publishing contract.

It wasn’t until Years later that a story popped into my head about that singer crystal. The entire vision of “The Secrets of the Moon Singer” trilogy flashed before my eyes and I painstakingly tried to get that vision on paper. The context was metaphysical, above my pay grade. Even though I delved into occult subjects and spiritual paths to enlightenment, and even though my music background informed me with the plotlines, I felt overwhelmed by the task, yet overjoyed by the assignment. I was determined to make that little crystal do its job.
For two years I wrote, rewrote and polished The Crystal Clipper, then wrote, rewrote and polished up the remaining two adventures. I had self-published a mystical trilogy for young people with no vampire sex, or flesh-eating demons, or teens killing for sport or survival. I then worried: “What chance do stories like that have in today’s market?” But I pressed on because I love the meaning of the stories: selfless heroism, a boy overcoming his disability, a family love story that breaks your heart. And subjects that fascinated me: reincarnation, soul travel, self-empowerment, spiritual illumination, music’s power.
Then a new worry popped up: “Would the deaf community embrace it (my hero is a deaf teen) or be insulted because I tread into an area I had no personal experience with?” But I queried a blogger of fiction for the deaf community and received a wonderful featured spot on her web site. I was honored.
But as time went on and I couldn’t make a dent with more than a few friends and family (and one person in Germany who bought two books in the trilogy), I thought well, maybe my stories are not for “the world” or even for this lifetime; maybe they are for my own growth as a writer, or for my spiritual growth. I am proud that I put the vision down on paper, created viable tales with a beginning, middle and end, self-published tangible products that I can sell. I am overjoyed. Or maybe...I’m just delusional.
Not content with my achievement, my Muses kept dancing around me: “Breathe new life into these stories. We’re here for you. The visual concepts are startling and cry out for illustrations!” Enter Pubslush.
And now here I am, with a crowdfunding campaign that tests my own faith. I’m delving into the world of social media that, heretofore, had no relevance in my life. What if I crash and burn? What if I embarrass myself by not meeting my goal? What shall I ever do? (I’ll let you know at the end of the campaign...I always have a Plan B.)
Ask yourself why you write? Are you compelled? Is it your calling? Do you have a story you are aching to tell the world? Are you writing “for the market” (you’d better be a fast writer, if you are)? Are you a writer for hire - getting assignments from a publisher and being paid a flat fee for the result? Does this satisfy you? Or do you long to follow your own creative path and take a chance that you will strike literary gold?
Go ahead then, pour your heart and soul into your work. Write and rewrite, edit and polish. Maybe it will suck. And maybe, just maybe, you will create something that you were meant to create, something that fulfills you as a person/artist/author; something that fulfills your destiny. Wow! How many people get a chance to do that - whether they sell one copy or millions? How many can say they have transcended the material world into the spiritual and metaphysical ether of divine self-actualization?
So, ask yourself, “Who will want what I write? Who will get it?” All you need is ONE PERSON who shares your vision!
YOU.