Monday, April 02, 2012

You want to know how depressed I am?

I am so depressed I've had to stop cleaning. That's how depressed I am. There's only so much misery a girl can cope with in one day.


It wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't raised my hopes. You see, I emailed them a few weeks ago to make sure they'd received the sample and the reply said it was currently being read. When I then didn't hear from them for a long time I took it as a positive sign. Hope only makes rejection worse.


So I'm thinking maybe I should give up on novel writing and do something I'm good at - but then I can't think what that might be.


But I suppose the world is full of very talented singers and actors, for example, many of whom should be famous but who have to make do with joining local amateur companies and knowing they're never going to make it big. Maybe it just seems easier for them to show off their ability than it is for writers. 


In a comment on the previous post Dr Stu suggests I console myself reading how many rejections JK Rowling had. It's a kind thought but I need to wallow for a bit. 


9 comments:

Leslie: said...

Ah well, I've always known I was born to be a princess, but all the positions were taken. So I have to just remind myself that I am at least the great grandaughter of a Scottish Lord.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous again!

Have you submitted This Time Next Year to smashwords.com; it can help you reach a much wider audience than Kindle alone. Check it out :)

Ann Marie said...

Why not come to Swansea and District Writers Circle with me? It's great to meet other writers, we encourage each other. We meet on the first Wednesday each month (except August) 7-9pm in the Civic Centre (a.k.a. County Hall). That means this Wednesday! We also have workshops in people's homes during the month and critique each others' work. It's very helpful.

Liz Hinds said...

I shall call you m'lady in future, leslie!

Thanks again, anonymous. I was fighting with smashwords as I didn't like they way they insisted on doing the formatting. But I will try again.

Are the workshops on Wednesdays too, ann?

Katney said...

Well, I still want to know about the next year in Aliss's life.

Don't stop. If you stop you will not have a chance of being noticed.

Kind of like the lottery. But with somewhat better odds.

My husband's Aunt Tid had an agent offer to represent her for her next book after she self published her historical novel. (She was 79 years old and the book had taken her twenty years--but you never know.)

Furtheron said...

But Liz you have found the modern day solution to this issue - self published e-books. Finish this other one and stick it out on Amazon.

You never know you might go viral and suddenly you'll be on BBC Breakfast introduced as the "Internet book sensation that is Liz Hinds - tell us Liz why didn't publishers take you seriously given you've just sold a million downloads in 3 hours from Amazon?"

But even if not you'll still be the same as those amateur singers and actors. I play open mic nights and hear some great songs - there are some stunning writers about - and then every now and then someone just brilliant with such a great voice takes the stage by storm but we all pack up our gear at the end of the night and go to a 9-5 job the next morning. There is no logic to it, honestly in my opinion what I see at those events is 1000 times better than the majority of what I hear coming out the radio or TV these days.

nick said...

Dr Stu is right. Just keep submitting. There are loads of writers who got published after umpteen rejections. Somewhere out there is the person who will say Yes.

Liz Hinds said...

There's hope for me yet then, katney!

I know, furtheron, it's just not quite the same as someone else having faith in your work. I agree about the undiscovered talent out there. It's frustrating when you see and hear so many who are better but haven't had the luck.

Maybe, nic, but when do you have to accept that they can't all be wrong?!

nick said...

Well, 12 publishers were wrong about J K Rowling....