Goodreads asked Dean Cycon:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Dean Cycon DO NOT GIVE UP!! When I started writing seriously I read that it takes about seven years for a writer to develop their style, get good technique, etc. That nearly put me off for good. But I kept pecking away, as a hobby, because I enjoy the creative process, thinking I might create something through which my grandchildren (someday) might know who I was and what I believed. I wrote a non fiction book that did surprisingly well. I wrote my first full length historical fiction and got rejected by seventy agents (although I had several full ms. requests and other near-misses). Wailed about the injustice of it all and began my second novel. After another seventy misses I approached small, independent publishers directly and got four out of six offers. My first novel comes out in June! And the publisher has looked at that first novel and said they are interested. Then I looked at the calendar and realized it had been seven years since I started...

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