Overcoming My Fear

“Grandma, you should publish this!”  Cortland’s statement was profound, insistent and at once uplifting.

Having begun to write stories for my grandkids and others about seven years ago, it was the final push I needed to complete and publish “Getting Granny’s Goat.”  Hearing those words from a ten-year old boy (who has no problem expressing his honest feelings about anything) gave me the perspective from this age group I needed!  It took  a boy to tell me my story had value; a message to bring joy, and the potential to bridge a gap between family generations. Overcoming every writer’s fear of rejection was less daunting after my youngest “beta-reader” bolstered my courage.

The decision-making process was begun in June with promises to Ashley (my granddaughter and the inspiration for this book) that it would be a “real” book by Christmas, complete with pictures and pages she could turn.  Seriously questioning whether I could make good on my promises, and I began the endless searches for publishing options.  Holding on to faith, I suddenly found things populating in the search engines.

What I found in the search engines was both encouraging and frustrating.  You see, this grandma has a lot of stories in her ‘living journal’ and most of them involve struggle, hard work, and riches you can’t measure with a monetary value.  With an extremely limited budget, I knew my options boiled down to submit my manuscript with none of the pictures I promised her (the pictures that made this our story) and wait, wait, wait to be noticed; the other option . . . gut it up, learn everything I could – as fast as I could – and go for self-publishing.

First an eBook through Smashwords, and then . . . with the help and encouragement of my good friend and fellow author, Angela Bell Hoke (“A Whisper of Smoke”), I published “Getting Granny’s Goat, Grandpa’s Best Kept Secret” by way of a print on demand source, CreateSpace.  Yes, there were others to choose from, but without funding, they were out of my reach.

I took a risk.  That fear of rejection raised its ugly head more than once and I made some mistakes along the way.  But that’s what risk is all about, learning and growing and finding your voice, your passion, your calling.  More than likely I will take more risks as opportunity presents itself, and more than likely I’ll make some more mistakes.  It often takes failing again and again to finally reach success.

How about you?  What risks have you taken?  Are you ready to succeed through failing?

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!

Kathleen