You can hear again and again the struggles of writers as they tried to get published. From J.K. Rowling living in a car and being a single mom, to Brandon Sanderson having written four or five book before being published. Stephen King talks about not being able to afford "the pink stuff" (amoxacillin) for his sick child in his book "On Writing." There are plenty of stories of "this author struggled to make it" to varying degrees.
The problem is, despite the stories it's hard to look at the author in question and not see where they are know.
Now I am sure we can find plenty of authors who also didn't have a hard time getting published. We just don't hear about them because what is interesting about "I wrote a book, sent it in and they loved it?" I would highly guess these authors are in the minority as the vast majority rack up rejection letter after rejection letter. I think part of the passage of becoming a known author is working hard despite rejection and moving forward.
This is the advice I'm sure you've heard again and again. Keep working, keep writing. You have to write over a million words before your writing is up to snuff. You need to hone your craft, you need to keep submitting, you need, you need, you need.
Sometimes "you need" is a daunting path to look down. It's even longer when you realize that even if you do get a book deal and published you still have another roll of the dice on whether or not people will buy your book, or if it will flop. There is every chance you will work your butt off, sacrifice time with family, and lose thousands of hours just to find out that your newly published book doesn't sell.
Dan Wells ("I Am Not a Serial Killer") posted a chart a couple month ago on how much published authors make. The reality of this chart is that about 1% of published authors make over six figures. Most make very little. (I tried to find the chart and couldn't) He had a chart for self published authors as well and the figures were about as encouraging. No one should become a published author in the hopes of being rich. In most cases it's a supplementary hobby.
I will make the argument that the charts may not have taken into account that I suspect most authors who get published write one book and quit. Or finish their trilogy and when it's not a break away give up. I highly suspect that 1% of authors sitting on larger incomes are people who just kept writing. Book, after book they ignored the fact that sales weren't amazing or that they didn't seem to be gaining traction. Then one day they realized they had grown a larger fan base, their books continued to be discovered and suddenly they were making money. This is suspect is the normal way being manage a career from writing. I think the very rare ones are those who write a book, or series and suddenly get discovered and are thrown into the lime-light.
Discouragement is normal. You need to have your downs to feel your ups. You need to have bad experiences to have the good. You will have good moments. Even your first rejection letter can be a good moment, you have to choose to make it so.
In the end you have two choices. Let discouragement win, throw in the towel, and walk away, or stand straight and keep on writing through the frustration.
The pen is in your hand.
Ben.
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