Just like anyone who has entered adulthood, I too entered the writing field starry-eyed and expecting huge success immediately.
That did not happen.
It wasn't only about entering with huge dreams, it was about taking something you care about deeply with you into a world where everyone is judgmental. In this case, it was my first novel which I thought was written with a lot of heart and soul.
I loved it and that meant everyone would love it.
I never considered that there might be people out there who didn't think it was their cup of tea.
My first rejection was an icy splash on my dreams. I couldn't believe I wasn't accepted straight away. Thankfully, my first rejection was actually a nice little email rather than a generalised form letter that I received later on by several publishers.
My writing wasn't good enough and I needed to work on my craft but I didn't see it that way, then.
Two rejection emails later, I received my first contract. Before I could sign it though, the publisher sent a letter informing their authors that they were folding.
Another setback.
That is when I learned my other lesson: you cannot talk about your failures with everyone. I had received a setback, talked about it with someone who ended up putting me down.
It took me some time to pull myself up again and bolstered with renewed confidence, I sent a query again.
I was immediately accepted by Club Lighthouse Publishing and thus began my journey with them.
Today, I occasionally do some editing work for them as well. It's great to be part of a team that believes in the dreams of authors, many who have stars in their eyes.
But it hasn't been all roses.
Things change, people change, trends change.
It's becoming harder to promote your work when you are competing with practically the whole world who has access to self-publishing tools.
Kindle Publishing has made it easier to get your book out there, but has made it harder for you to stand out. You are literally competing with the whole world now.
Apart from that, there has been push backs and set backs. Sometimes personal issues stopped me from moving forward, other times I simply didn't make good use of opportunities.
I remember when as a student of The Writer's Bureau, I was told that while talent takes prominence, luck plays a factor too.
And as luck would have it, I wasn't having the best luck where my personal and professional life was concerned.
Eventually, I had to go back to start and try again.
But the one thing I experienced, shockingly, was a barely concealed racism. It was done all in a polite and neat package, of course.
The first time it was with an editor of another publishing company. I could believe the remarks that were left on my manuscript during the review and I wondered if perhaps my editor was inebriated when she wrote them considering her politeness when we first began working on the manuscript.
I had to complain and thought the matter was the end of it when I was assigned another editor. I thought the senior editor had taken my side.
Two months later, I was released from my contracts.
It was a major setback considering I had made some progress in my career because of them.
I hadn't expected this disguised racism to interfere with my projected path in writing.
I was shocked but also felt slightly humiliated by it.
I recalled how as a student, I had asked my tutor from The Writer's Bureau if I should use a pseudonym. She encouraged me to use my own name as she found it beautiful. Her words.
I began to wonder if I should use a pseudonym to now. My name gave evidence of my heritage. I wasn't embarassed of it but in that one moment, when a racist comment was made, I did consider changing the name I put out for my works.
That thought was fleeting and I decided to keep my name as it was for my works. I am proud of who I am.
It wasn't until recently when I experienced this "cleverly disguised racism" again. This time it wasn't a publisher but I was asked to contribute without revealing my name.
I didn't feel anger or humiliation. I was disappointed that after all this time, there is that bit of racism that still lingers. There are people out there who doesn't see my work and judge me for it.
They judge me based on my name.
Unfortunately, nothing can be done about that. It's something that has to be taken in stride and then move on to better opportunities.
Fortunately, there are people out there who can look past gender, ethnicity, age, etc, and judge your work instead.
You may not always be appreciated. Nobody is perfect, after all and your work may not be everyone's cup of tea.
But it is definitely someone's cup of tea. Persistence is always the key.
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