Eyes on the Prize! Never say Never! Get 'er Done! It's Your Monday Fortune Cookie, 2/24/14

THEY SAY YOU ARE STUBBORN; YOU CALL IT PERSISTENCE.

 SNARKY RESPONSE: And sometimes it's just called not knowing any better.

They say you are stubborn; you call it persistence.

Despite the snark, I love this fortune. Anyone who has taken the bit in their mouth and pursued something to the end despite the naysayers has to be right there with me.

For folks who stick to their guns regarding dreams and goals, stubborn is the mortar that holds your efforts together. Anyone who's pulled out a hundred rows of knitting to correct one dropped stitch, anyone who has hauled themselves out of bed at the crack of dawn to put in a couple of miles, anyone who has corrected that bit of paint, clay, or pastel until they captured their subject knows that it's really stubbornness that pushes them through.

For writers, this is what keeps us sending out that novel, essay, or poem over and over until it finds a home. Even if, in the end, that home is in something you produce on your own. You wanted to get those words into print and by George, you were going to see it happen.

If it was easy, everyone who wrote would be published. Mini-Snark:No, wait! Thanks to some online publishing services, everyone CAN, but there is the matter of quality versus quantity.

The key, for me, is to have made the effort to produce the best possible writing you can, polish it until it gleams, and then put it out there. I see no reason why you can't sidestep the publisher route and publish on your own, just make sure that it's worthy of your time and effort as well as the time and effort, not to mention the cash, of your reader.

Persistence is a nice word, a pleasant word, a 'politically-correct/motivational speaker' word, but for true - 'stick-to-it'ness (how would you write that phrase?) - I'm putting my money on Stubborn.

What have you been Stubborn about lately?

A Fable for Read An E-Book Week, March 3 - 9, 2013

A fable...(or at least my attempt at one)

Once upon a time, a different form of publishing was launched upon an unsuspecting world and the Traditionalists in the publishing industry said, "it'll never catch on." Readers came to the Traditionalists for their daily reads and authors sought validation of their worth in the form of the rare jewel, The Contract. However, the authors who saw opportunities in this brave new world of Epublishing weathered scornful looks and hurtful words as they took their shot and staked their claims on this new vista. And the readers took notice.

The mighty publishers in their castles, high above their authors and readers, looked down on the constantly shifting sands of this newly discovered land and pronounced it "unstable and destined to failure." And yet, the pioneer Epublishers and authors held firm to their beliefs, discovering and discarding until they began to establish a headland, a foundation on which to build. And build they did, story by story, book by book, success by success until they not only carved out a place for themselves, but began to encroach upon the less carefully tended perimeters of the Traditionalists lands, where the disenfranchised lived in daily supplication to the great and mighty Traditionalists. And the readers read.

These neglected edges, these hopeful authors who could not gain the ear of the mighty, found acceptance among the brave pioneers and the world of Epublishing broadened daily. At long last, the Traditionalists, hearing the mighty roar of change, realized they would have to discover a way to reclaim their lost footholds on the public and began their own Epublishing houses. The Epublishers and authors watched the Traditionalists adapting to their new formats and knew their faith had been vindicated.

And the readers rejoiced.

Celebrate Epublishing and Read An E-Book this week!

Thank you to my epublisher, The Wild Rose Press for giving my novellas, Collector's Item and The Festival of the Flowers: The Courtesan and the Scholar a home!

I hope YOU'LL consider giving them a home on your ereader as well!