perseverance

A hero is no braver than an ordinary man,  but he is braver five minutes longer.  Ralph Waldo Emerson

I've been thinking about why publishing a book has any prestige attached to it. There are millions of books and millions of authors out there and many unpublished writers. Most writers, even very gifted ones, don't achieve Steven King status. I just read a statistic from the Advanced Fiction Writing site that says 80% of all books sell less than 5,000 copies. Perhaps that's why so many published authors have regular jobs. Still, the prestige sticks. I think it must have something to do with personal perseverance.

If it's true that less than 1% of all books written are published, then publishing really is a miracle. In my case, it certainly is! If you'd told me last September I would now be working on book 2 in a 3-book contract I would have laughed the loudest and longest:) But when I look back at the last 47 years, most of which were spent writing, one little thread in my life remains unbroken. I was never the best or the brightest at anything but I just hung in there.

persevere: to persist in a state, enterprise, or undertaking in spite of counter influences, opposition, or discouragement

Real writers persevere. I think they are simply braver five minutes longer. So if you are writing and not yet published, keep going. Work as hard as you can for Him and then leave the rest to Him.

In the words of fellow Revell author, Virginia Smith: God has plans for your writing. And believe me, they're better than any plans you have for yourself. Let Him be in charge, and let Him delight you with what He has in store.