THE LITTLE BROWN BOOK OF LITERARY DEATH

Over Sunday morning coffee, I took the time to peruse what I used to love-hating-ly refer to as THE LITTLE BROWN BOOK OF LITERARY DEATH. It's a 4" x 7" record book, bound in brown faux leather-look cover stock with a nice, black cloth binding, purchased at Staples ($5.95) Inside it I record what and to whom I submit work, and the outcome of said submissions.

Due to rejection after rejection, this record book became thus known as the LITTLE BROWN BOOK..blah blah blah... It was my nail. To understand that statement, you'd have to have read "Big Steve" King's On Writing- or know the story of the nail. You see, Big Steve (as I so very lovingly refer to him) nailed this spike in the wall over his desk onto which he would spear rejection notices. This was at the beginning of his writing career. The jist of what he was telling us (writers) was: the rejections are part of the process. To get the acceptances, you godda get da rejections. Hense, the LITTLE BROWN BOOK.

I am pleased to say it is now simply the LITTLE BROWN BOOK without the soul-crushing moniker OF LITERARY DEATH, thanks to several contest wins (and a couple thousand dollars), and the sale of a story (and request for another- nice!) Also, a very nice letter from a literary magazine that loved my story and intended to publish it- but the magazine folded. Unfortunately, this is happening to far too many lit mags.

Still, I did a quick inventory:

Currently twenty-one magazine submissions, and four contest submissions.

My point is: YOU HAVE TO SUBMIT YOUR WORK. No matter how disheartening the rejections are, how many friends and family cluck their tongues and look at you like you have an incurable disease, no matter how many times people tell you "it's nice" that you write, but you're really a dreamer, aren't you???

I have news for you. It's the dreamers of the world who make things happen, for themselves and others. Without dreams, we're pretty much lumps of unformed clay just waiting for the Giant Foot of Fate to come along and squish us into pancakes.

I used to be a person who pined and longed for "good stuff" to happen to me. I'm no longer that person. I'm a person who dreams and and takes the steps to make good things happen.

Join me, won't you? SUBMIT YOUR WORK. DREAM. BIG. LIVE LARGE. SMILE A LOT. HUG OTHER WRITERS.

In Dev-Speak, it's all good.