Your work has to be what you love. I’ve said that enough that you are all probably very tired of hearing it, but that doesn’t make the information any less relevant. The best piece of literature is going to be written by someone who is passionate about it. “It” being both literature in general and the specific topic the work is centered around. Granted, it also tends to be very enjoyable to read the work of someone who is experimenting with an idea they are interested in, the best work is going to be completed with and full of passion.

Passion is the biggest deal maker, and deal breaker, in this field. That is the big purpose of this post really; to discuss the truth of passion. Passion can give the world a work of art unequaled in its excellence, but without the proper means of distribution the world won’t know it. With your passion will come a very defensive nature regarding your work, and that is what can be our seller- or our killer.

When we attempt publication of our work, we have to find the real market for what we’re trying to sell. That is a very key element of publication. Your audience knows what they are looking for, and they know where to look. What is left to you is to first find the proper agent, company, self-publishing venue, whichever method works for you, to publish your masterpiece and put it out in the proper markets.

In this search you are very likely to meet the bane of an author’s existence; rejection. Whether pushing for a short story, poem or novel, you are more than likely going to meet the face of rejection. This is not necessarily going to be anything against you or your work. Perhaps the person you submitted to just doesn’t accept the genre you write in, or they were just full already. The list of possibilities is endless, but the biggest thing you have to keep in mind is that you just can not give up. If they give you feedback and ask you to make changes, make the changes- but if you do make changes you have to make sure that your work remains your work; you can’t let them take the essence that makes it unique and gives it the feeling you want it to have. But that will be another post.

Rejection is hard to handle, believe me I know from experience, but it happens to the best of us. One great example is Stephen King. In his book “On Writing” he talks about his history with rejection. He got so many that he began putting them on a nail on his wall. Eventually the nail got so full that he had to trade it out for a railroad spike. A railroad spike! And this is Stephen King we’re talking about! My point is that rejection does not mean we give up. Nothing justifies that. Now, I will be back with the other half of this post tonight. As always feedback is welcome.