Tears in the soil

“If I can dissuade you from doing it, you wouldn’t have been successful anyway.” 

In a workshop called Book Proposal Bootcamp, publishing agent Ted Weinstein said something to this effect (in a lighthearted manner). At the beginning of his talk, he stated that his goal was to “make everyone really depressed” about the publishing industry. His goal is discourage people from trying to publish a book, so that those who really want it will shine through. 

Obviously, success comes in all shapes and sizes. There are many personal definitions of success—but the sentiment remains. Any sustained success will encounter hardships, dips, roadblocks, failures. In order to defeat those, a bullish I’m-going-to-do-it-anyway sort of mentality is necessary. Thus, if a level-headed, intelligent person can dissuade you from starting, maybe it’s true. Maybe you don’t yet have it in you to face these challenges. 

The real question to consider, however, is not “do I have what it takes?” The real question we all consider, every single day, in almost every decision is this: “will the payoff be worth it?” In order to find sustained success in the publishing industry (or any creative industry), there will be costs. Those costs will be high. We want to know if our sacrifices will pay off. We want to know if the pain will be worth it.

How generous then, for an industry expert to let you know about the pain you’ll face I advance, so you can decide to quit before you sink too many tears into the soil. But for those who see the cost, and still think it worth it? Then yes. You do have what it takes.