Stay the Course

It’s inevitable. The road to publication won’t always be smooth sailing. I went through three illustrators alone for my new Little Ray series. There will be delays and cancelled contracts. What do you do when throwing in the towel seems so much easier? When the finish line seems to be moving further and further away?

Catch your breath. When you’re feeling frustrated, sometimes stepping away and taking a break is necessary to clear your mind and replenish your energy levels. It helps you to keep things in perspective. It will be easier to see what seems like an insurmountable challenge and break it into manageable chunks that can be tackled one at a time.

Focus on your goal. Keep the big picture in sight. Every journey has its ups and downs. You have to determine if the goal is important enough for to you to keep pressing forward. When you’re faced with obstacles, determine if these are insignificant and signal a need to adjust a current strategy or if you need to make a significant change to your overall plan. For example, when my Mother’s Day book boxes wasn’t as successful as I thought they would be, I decided to focus on a new product.

Find a coach or mentor. If you are a new author it is possible that some of the difficulties that you are encountering may be due to inexperience. Get advice from someone who has been successful at publishing. They would be able to help you to find possible solutions and provide direction on how best to proceed.

When you have a book that you have poured your heart and soul into, nothing is more disheartening than feeling stuck. Before you decide to call it quits - take a break, focus on your goals - rethink your strategies, and find a coach/mentor. This is the perfect opportunity for you to learn new strategies and systems to help you to publish successfully. Stay the course.