Why You SHOULD Get Your Hopes Up About Your Publishing Plan

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When you start writing you have BIG DREAMS. Then you freak yourself out.

Don’t.

Get those hopes up!

The sky is the limit with publishing right now, and the ball is in your court. Surprisingly, this is as true for traditional publishing as well as self-publishing.

Back in the day, if you wanted to go into traditional publishing, you created a book proposal and then waited by the mail box (Google it if you’re too young to know what that is) to find out if you got picked.

Now, there’s always something you can do.

These days, traditional publishers are looking for the same stuff as anyone who self-publishes:

  • Write a fabulous book
  • Grow your platform and audience
  • Have a promotion plan
  • Connect with your industry

This is how you make your big publishing dreams come true, no matter what form those dreams take.  It’s true of fiction and non-fiction, traditional and self-publishing. There's always something you can do. 

Many of us may have gotten the message “Don’t Get Your Hopes Up,” at a young age. It's a dead-end fear-based thought. The crux of this phrase is that if you’re disappointed, you might not be able to recover.  

Resilience in the face of rejection is one of the most import traits you can develop to be successful, and it begins by simply knowing you can handle what’s ahead. Although anything is possible, it may not happen right away. So, if you can handle that, you can handle anything.

Here are 5 tips for cultivating resilience in your writing journey.

1. Make Sure Your Vision is Greater Than the Set Backs.

What do you want from this book? Why are you publishing it? If the reasons behind the book are more important than the obstacles, you will overcome. Guaranteed. However if you don't have a clear "why" behind this book, you may be more tempted to give it up. 

2.Consciously Counteract Negativity Bias

Pain attracts attention. Our brains are wired to concentrate on pain, and avoid it at all costs. Unfortunately hyper-analyzing it doesn't allow you to be resilient. You have to use inner strength to draw your attention away from the pain and focus on new possibilities. 

3. Treat Yourself with Compassion

Why are we so hard on ourselves? Do we fear we won't learn the lesson if we don't beat ourselves up? Of course the opposite is true. The more we wrap our problems in love, the faster we heal and seek out new opportunities.  

4. Drink water, take a walk, move your body

Here's the mind body connection. When you take on a big goal, you're moving through it physically and emotionally. The more you wash out the physical stress, and keep yourself in motion, the faster you'll be able to get over the tough stuff.

5. Always know your next right action

It's easier NOT to dwell on the setbacks when you have something new to focus on. Keep yourself moving forward by planning your next steps. 

I'd like to replace the tenet "Don't get your hopes up," with David Orr´s quote, "Hope is a verb with it's shirtsleeves rolled up." No where is this more viable than with writing because there's always something you can do. Even when I've competed in markets with a 0.1% acceptance rate, I knew the only thing holding me back was an unwillingness to do the work. 

I always tell my clients to GET THOSE HOPES UP! Write one more draft, explore one more publisher, send one more e-mail. With writing, nothing can stop you but yourself.