Since beginning my path as a novelist, I faced a lot of hurdles. It took eighteen years before I began earning money as a fiction author. I could have been successful much earlier, but several times I gave up on myself. I took advice from people who only looked at the practical side of life. They didn’t strive beyond their comfort zones. They didn't see the point of me writing manuscript after manuscript and not getting paid for all the hours I spent typing at a computer, alone by myself. So those people became voices in my head that slowly, over time sapped my passion to continue. I quit climbing the mountain to my dream. I focused on working other jobs that actually paid a salary. I was making money, but inside a part of me felt empty, and it was only when I got back into writing in my mid thirties and pursuing my real dream--being a published author--that I was happy again. My dream stood before me like a giant mountain, so daunting I feared I could never reach the summit, but I started climbing anyway.
I had the fortune of meeting bestselling author Robert Crais at a book signing. He had just landed a huge Hollywood movie deal for his novel Hostage which stars Bruce Willis. I told Robert Crais that I was writing a novel and I wanted to be sitting where he was one day. He looked up from autographing a book and told me, “Then I’ll give you some advice. Never give up.” Those words stuck with me. I have since rephrased the motto to: “Never give up. Keep taking steps until you reach your goal. No matter what, stay persistent.” We can spend our whole lives making excuses, or we can start taking action now and just make it happen.
So I had a dream fueled by plenty of desire, but I still needed direction. I first listed my values. I asked myself, “What do I want most? What’s most important to me about my dream career?” I listed my values in simple words like: achievement, fun, seeing my books on bookstore shelves, sharing my writing with readers, receiving advances and royalty checks, hanging out with other writers, writing a bestselling novel, etc. And then I listed those values in order of importance. Prioritizing your values is key, because it causes your mind to focus on what’s most important to you. You feel an emotional boost. It empowers you and stokes your inner fire. Then as you begin taking steps toward doing what you love, you take the most important steps first.
Once I had my values listed, I had a new sense of purpose. A vision I could work toward. It was like filling my engine with rocket fuel. I was ready to blast off to a career that was more aligned with my truth. I posted my values on a wall so I’d see them every day. Then I wrote out specific goals, and chunked them down into small daily “action steps” I could accomplish easily. I continued writing, pushing myself daily, weekly, monthly to complete my manuscript. I read books on my craft and took classes so I could get better at it. I read books about other people’s success stories so I could believe that I could accomplish my goals, too. And I read about the publishing business. As a writer seeking to publish my novel with a major NY publisher, I needed a literary agent. I submitted query letters to countless agents over the span of ten years and received only rejection letters. At the time I felt like a failure, but I wasn’t. “Rejection,” as I later learned, is just a guiding post. Rejection guided me away from the wrong paths—the wrong people to do business with. In my vision, my literary agent was passionate about representing me and my books. Rejection is where a lot of people give up. I say, “Never give up. Keep taking steps until you reach your goal. No matter what, stay persistent.”
I eventually self-published my first novel, just to get it out there on the market. More important, to make being an author more real for me. Being your own publisher can be a very time-consuming venture. It was also a huge financial investment. It’s not necessarily the path for all writers, because it requires a business sense and entrepreneurial spirit. It’s also a very high risk of ever seeing a profit. If you don’t mind taking risks and hard work, then I recommend self-publishing as an alternative to getting a book to the market. For me, self-publishing is how I jump-started my career.
Within nine months my novel went from polished manuscript to a soft-cover book I could hold in my hands. Through great marketing efforts in tandem with a publicist I hired, the book sold relatively well. I began to do book signings and realized I had achieved one of my goals: to be like Robert Crais, the author autographing books. It was an awesome feeling.
When you pursue your dream 100%, there can be wonderful surprises that happen along the way. My WWII novel Shadows in the Mist hit number one on Amazon.com’s Bestselling Mystery and Thrillers list, stayed there a couple hours, beating out Dan Brown’s DaVinci Code. That was very surreal, let me tell you, and a victory I would have never experienced had I given up.
Self-publishing turned out to be a great way to launch my career, but it was always just a path toward my bigger dream of landing a book deal with a major NY publisher. I continued to pursue literary agents and eventually found an agent who catapulted my career to the next level. She sold Shadows in the Mist to Berkley/Penguin in New York for a mass paperback deal, as well as to a publisher in Germany. In 2010, a German version of my novel (titled SCHATTEN IM NEBEL) will release in Europe. Within two years of self-publishing I became an international author. What was once a passionate hobby has finally become a career I take seriously. When you focus on your dream daily, you get there little by little. In fact, that has become a mantra in my head: “Little by little, little by little, little by little …”
We all have a calling. A life purpose. A reason we came onto this planet. What brings you joy? What do you dream of doing as your career? We can spend our days living mundane lives or we can do what gives us joy. My calling is novel writing and inspiring others to pursue their dreams. Life can be so joyful when you are doing what you love.
We all have a calling. A life purpose. A reason we came onto this planet. What brings you joy? What do you dream of doing as your career? We can spend our days living mundane lives or we can do what gives us joy. My calling is novel writing and inspiring others to pursue their dreams. Life can be so joyful when you are doing what you love.
So if you're pursuing a dream that isn't paying you the big bucks just yet, keep going for it. Even if it’s just a hobby on the side. You may not see the top of the mountain right now, but keep climbing, one step at a time. Little by little. Focus a few hours each week on your dream career. Commit your weekends to it. You can accomplish anything with time and persistence. And when you reach the summit you can just smile to yourself and say, "I went for it, and I made it happen, and now I can do anything." Whatever your dream is, start taking steps toward it now and make it happen.
I also coach writers to be successful, and I'm available for one-on-one personal coaching. Contact me at Brian@BrianMoreland.com. On Facebook look up “Author Brian Moreland” and feel free to join my two groups, “Horror Shadows in the Mist” and “Coaching for Writers.”
