Like all of us who take this writing for publication life seriously, Robin Johns Grant has had her share of ups and downs, but she's looking to the right source for help. -- Sandy
Robin: I confess. My name is Robin Johns Grant and I suffer from
publishing envy.
I pursued a traditional publishing contract literally for
decades, and that’s when the envy first started to creep in. While I submitted
and suffered rejection and waited, I read about newbie authors who seemed to
land contracts with no effort at all.
Then the self-publishing explosion came along to level the
playing field, and I truly believe God
guided me to go indie. I came out with my first novel, Summer’s Winter, in January.
For a while, it was a blast. No, I wasn’t selling thousands
or making lots of money, but I seemed to be developing momentum, and I was
getting endorsements and great reviews. I was out there! Published! And then…
Even as I learned about marketing and increased my efforts, sales
tanked. I feel stuck again. It’s hard not to feel like a failure.
Meanwhile, I read stories
like Colleen Hoover’s. She self-published and put very little money or
effort into it. She simply decided to
publish a book so she could give copies to her family. Then a popular blogger
reviewed her book, she started selling like crazy. And two years later, she has
had five NYT best-sellers and two books optioned for movies!
And here I go again…publishing envy.
Does it ever seem to you that when God wants to communicate
with you, He sends you the same Bible verse or story from all different
directions? As I’ve been experiencing my slump, over and over God has sent me
the story of Elijah on Mount Carmel. You know, Elijah going against the
prophets of Baal to see which one could call upon their god to bring down fire
from Heaven and ignite the wood on the altar? (SPOILER ALERT: Our God wins!)
It really excites me that God is sending me this story even
as I’m praying about igniting my writing career. I mean, fire from Heaven would
be like what happened to Colleen Hoover, right? Instant gratification and
success. Yes!
God even told Elijah to soak the altar three times with
water, so the success would be even more amazing. So maybe He’s just soaking my
writing career to show His glory even more when the success comes…
His glory.
This is where I need to stop myself and get real. Elijah did
not win Prophet Idol on Mount Carmel, bring himself fame and fortune and a
movie deal. The whole competition was not about Elijah—it was about bringing
glory to God. Actually, for Elijah, brought about death threats and exhaustion,
even depression, all in the service of the Lord.
I call myself writing and publishing in service to the Lord.
So maybe instead of revving me up and promising me that I, too, can be
successful and famous—with very little effort! Fire from Heaven!—God is
reminding me why I write. Reminding me that at times, however we serve him, it
may be exhausting and discouraging. But that just as he did with Elijah, he’ll
renew us and comfort us and get us going again. (SPOILER ALERT: God takes care
of Elijah in a totally cool, supernatural way. It involves ravens.)
Do you ever feel that "publishing envy" when looking at what other writers are accomplishing?
~~~~~
ROBIN JOHNS
GRANT has been writing for most of her life. While waiting for her
writing to pay off, she wrote and edited university publications; managed an
office for a team of private investigators; and worked as a university
financial aid counselor. She also did a lot of crazy fan stuff and developed
fascinations with books and movies like Harry
Potter and Star Wars, which
helped her dream up Jeanine and Jamie for Summer's
Winter.