Ready to Quit!

[~wren]

Why, maddog, I do believe you're right: this story *does* have a very happy ending!
Cheers for Jay!!

[jgurtler]

Yeah! As soon as I opened this up to read it, I thought. HEY ISN"T THIS JAY WHO JUST GOT  A WHACKY CONTRACT WITH THREE OFFERS!!!!!!

So. Good for you for not quitting.  

Hope for the rest of us still feeling desperate!!

janet

[Barbara Eveleth]

Yup!

[Pam]

I'm so glad my prediction came true...so, folks, if you're about to quit, something amazing is about to happen to you. DO NOT QUIT!!!  :

[maddog]

Because I'm sure Jay is very busy right now, I'll just link the post:

http://www.verlakay.com/boards/index.php?topic=15192.0

[Gail]

Thanks for bringing this one up again maddog. I'm interested in hearing Jay's thoughts too. Loved reading, and seeing the pics on your blog, about how you shared the "news"! These stories really can be so inspiring. We all think about quiting at some point, it's such a long hard haul in this biz. So glad to hear your success story Jay. The day you posted your "Good News", I changed my tag line to say "Never give Up"!

gail
who met you in LA, but you were wearing a wig and a dress, so I don't know if I'd recognize you again. 

[dwrites]

I think I'll start another "Ready to Quit" thread so I can get a two-book deal.  :

Fun reading Jay's comments again.

Diana

[lydap]

That's really amazing! And inspiring. And heartening. Wow! Come on, Jay. Can you even vaguely remember how you felt last January. I wish the time I decided to quit writing (which lasted about one week) had been followed nine months (hummm) later with an auction that increased the initial offer by 10. But I am heartened and inspired. :

[Jay]

Wow!  I am so thrilled that this has inspired other writers. :

I am still convinced that the first sale involves a whole lotta luck.  This manuscript, before it went to auction, was rejected by six or seven publishers.  That's enough to make some people give up entirely (with that manuscript, at least) or majorly revise...but I really thought (and so did my agent) that this particular book was just waiting for the right editor to find it.  Luckily, there were three editors who found it and got what I was trying to do.

I think part of the reason I felt at the end of my rope was that this manuscript had already won a couple of big awards.  I was just putting the finishing touches on it while also getting rejections on previous manuscripts.  I felt completely scared that this one would go the same away...letting down the different organizations that had given me so much encouragement.

Again, thanks for keeping my spirits up nine months ago...and I'm glad if I was able to do the same for you!

[Danette]

Oh my goodness Jay! I was just on your blog, it brought tears to my eyes-  good ones! Especially when you told your parents about the sale. How truly great for you. Your front teeth must be dry from all the smiling you're doing!! 

Danette 

[christrics]

Jay, thanks sooo much for the inspiration!! I'm about ready to QUIT this week, but you've given me hope to keep pushin' on!! :pencil:


 : - Christine -

[TracyH]

Jeez.  You are so glad you didn't quit!  I've got a long road ahead, but this thread will stay with me.

Tracy

[olmue]

Oh my goodness, reading this thread brought tears to my eyes! I'm so glad you kept going, Jay! And I'm so happy for you!

Repeat with me, everyone: We will not quit!

[Kristin]

This thread reminds me of one of my favorite writing quotes.  I even taped it to my computer monitor:

"A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit."

Kristin

[Amy Spitzley]

Well, I don't feel like quitting. I'm frustrated by my time issues and a few other things, but I actually think I'm quite good and WILL get published. (grin) And that's one of the most arrogant things I've ever said, but it's TRUE, damn it!
So does that mean I actually won't get published?!? I don't think I could handle that. This is the only thing I'm any good at, the one thing I do on purpose, the thing I believe in...and apparently the thing I can get the sappiest about. (sigh)
AMY
By the way, congrats again Jay!! (grin)

[Danette]

Go Amy, go Amy, shake your bootay like it's your birthday!!! That's right, we are allowed to say those things. I'm not sure why we have to feel weird saying them. We say them about other people right?

Danette 

[andracill]

AMEN!!

[Amy Spitzley]

Thanks you guys! Hey, does anyone else have trouble saying they're a writer in person? I mean, I can do it in writing. I felt okay posting what I did yesterday. (grin) But when I actually try to SAY it to someone it never comes out very confident.
"Oh, you're a writer? What do you write?"
ME--"Oh, um, ahhh...I'm trying to get young adult novels published, actually." I end up fussing with my hair, scuffing my toe on the ground, or shrugging my shoulders like I'm apologizing for something. (Sigh)
I can't seem to re-write that reaction somehow! (grin)
AMY

[Nan]

the one thing I do on purpose

Just wanted to pipe in how much I loved this line, Amy.   

[Danette]

You are not alone Amy. I recently went with my mom to a big community reunion for the neighborhood where I grew up. People were going on and on about what they've done and what they are now doing. I never opened my mouth once to say what I do or am trying like heck to do. My mother was upset that I never mentioned it. She couldn't understand it and well, neither can I. Who knows what that's all about. I guess when I have a book in hand I'll just pull it out and BAM say, "This, this is what I do people!"

Sigh ....

Danette  

[Jaclyn Dolamore]

I know what you mean, too, Amy.  When I'm among company I think will understand the writing thing, I can talk about it, but around just anybody, I'm like, "Well, I'm kind of a writer."  "What do you write?"  "Um...like...teen books."  (Here I shrug like "I know THAT sounds dumb.)  "Published?"  "No..."

So then, I'd like to not talk about it, but people always ask if I'm going to school, as a conversation starter, and I'm not, nor have I ever, and I don't want them to think I'm just a slacker.  But then being an unpublished writer of teen books sounds so lame!  What to do, what to do...

[Sully]

Jay,

What an inspiring story! I just came out of quitting mode and I feel great. I quit for 10 months and it has really rejuvinated me. Time, gave me a great perspective on my work as I looked over what I could start submitting again.  I was taking for granted so many "almosts" I have had and had lost confidence in my work. Now I have this strong feeling that I will be published. I have a couple of new stories I am working on and have sent back out some of my older babies.

*"Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake somebody," Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Mary

[Gail]

I feel like this whole process is such a rollercoaster ride. (Which is think is exactly what this thread and Jay's story is all about!) At times I think I'm really am good! This is all I want to do. This is what I have to do. And other times I wonder how long I can continue before something happens. (Get's accected.) I know we do this because we want to write or illustrate, but ultimately I want my book on a self! I want it in a kids hands. I want it to be around long after I'm gone. And that's why we don't quit.

Amy as far as telling people what I do, I don't have a problem with it anymore. I make no excuses. I write and illustrate. I don't explain if I'm published or not. If someone asks what books I've written I'll tell them a little about a book and then say that it's currently at a major publishing house being read for consideration. (And if you want to really impress them say a house in NY or drop a name if they'd recognize it.) I also found since I have a website (illustration) it tends to validate my title when people ask. They can see my work. It' real. Published or not...yet!

gail

[Amy Spitzley]

Glad you're on the same page as me, guys--that's some bad writerly humor for you!--and Gail, I'll try to get there. (grin) I know it's nothing to be ashamed of, of course, but it feels like there's so much that just can't be explained quickly, you know?
AMY
And thanks, Nan--that line has the added benefit of being totally true!! (grin)

[Gail]

Amy give it a try, it's really easy. Plus it makes you feel better about yourself too.

gail

[Amy Spitzley]

I'll give it a try, Gail, but I think it'll get a little easier when I have something REALLY worth bragging about! (grin) I have to admit, though, that saying I have two agents looking at one of my novels does sound pretty nice. (grin) It's a fairly recent development, so I haven't had a chance to use it much, and the times I have I've generally downplayed it..."It's just one of the first steps..." but maybe I can work on that, too. (grin)
AMY

[AnnH]

One thing I do from time to time is work on fillers or greeting card ideas.  The pay is not great, but getting a little check now and then does wonders.    I usually work on that sort of thing between drafts of a book, to let the book manuscript "simmer" for a bit, so it doesn't take away from my main focus. 

Also, before I ever sold a manuscript (a greeting card was my first sale, later a short story), I would say I was "working on" a novel.  That circumvented the "are you published?" question.    Once I was published, it was so much fun to say "yes" when someone asked if I was published, because I think most people are expecting to hear "no."

Everyone starts out not having sold anything. Persistence is really the key.

So, Happy writing!

[Pippa]

You better brace yourself because whenever I or any of my friends have been on the verge of quitting, something amazing has happened to us. I was about to quit right before I got my first contract with Charlesbridge. One of my friends was about to quit before she got her first contract with a great publisher. Another friend was about to quit before they got their first contract with huge publisher. Another two were about to quit and are now both on the verge of signing with agents (one won a HUGE award!)

Wow!  This is spooky. Do you think maybe there's a benevolent cosmic entity out there that knows they can't mess with our fragile psychies forever, and that eventually the TIME comes to put us out of our misery?

Wahoo!!! Get ready everyone.   


Pippa

[cdb]

Hello Jay,
Sorry to hear of your rejection.  Besides, you and I know our writing is wonderful;  sometimes we must just rely on the knowing I suppose. Wishing I could ease your disappointment, knowing that I can't, I will just wish for you the best tomorrow.
cdb

[Anne Marie]

cdb,

I think you've only gotten half the story:

http://www.verlakay.com/boards/index.php?topic=15192.0

AM