It took comedy-mystery writer Sandra Balzo six years to get her first novel published. In an interview at About.com she was asked how she kept faith in herself during that time.
"I'm not sure I DID still have faith in myself as a writer -- at least during part of that time. Happily, though, other people did," she said.
She formed a writers group and got their input for rewriting the novel and wrote a short story that won an award and eventually got an offer for her novel, "Uncommon Grounds."
She says, "When the book came out, it got great reviews, and my publisher went back to press three times. An agent I knew from the mystery circle congratulated me and took me on as a client. We've been together ever since."
She also revealed that every time she got a comment from an editor or agent she would change the manuscript, until it got to the point where it didn't even feel like hers anymore. Then she went back to trusting her own instincts and rewrote it again the way she wanted to. That was the version that sold.
The take-aways:
* Be patient.
* Have friends who believe in you. If you can't find any locally, find them online.
* Get feedback--but listen to your own intuition and don't make changes that don't feel right.
(To get my free report, "Seven Things that Stop You From Writing and How to Overcome Them," click here: http://goo.gl/bWjb)
