| February 2012 The Anticrastination Tip Sheet From Rita Emmett Author of The Procrastinator's Handbook, The Clutter-Busting Handbook ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Quotes for Rejection True success is overcoming the fear
of being unsuccessful. - Paul Sweeney Rejection, Dejection & Authors -- Oh My! Have you ever put off something because you just could not bear the thought of rejection? Maybe starting a business or trying out for something or a million other dreams? Well, here is my Rejection Message for Authors. Even if you never wanted to write a book, see if any of it applies to you. This is for you if you have a book in your heart but put off doing anything about it. Doesn't matter if you are thinking of starting it, if you are in the middle of writing it, or if you have finally completed it. This is for you. If you are procrastinating because you are afraid of rejection, you are giving rejection way too much power. You probably know this already, but just in case you don't -- here is the first part of my author -message: The world is going to go out of its way to discourage you. Get ready for rejection. A while ago, we were on the phone with our son Dave. He lives in Arizona with his wife and family, and was just starting to write a novel that sounded so exciting. He was sharing some of his concerns --- maybe we can call them fears --- when he blurted out, "You know, I can't take rejection." I interrupted him with, "Listen Dave, forget that in the past you believed you can't take rejection. You are a strong guy, so from this day forward, tell yourself that it's OK to hate rejection, but yes, you can take it and it won't kill you. Because, Dave, when you write, you are opening yourself to rejection." And that message applies to all writers. You not only face rejection slips from publishers, agents, magazines or anyone else you submit to. You will be shocked and astonished at how people who love you AND people who don't even know you will inform you --- with great assumed authority that:
And rejection happened to Dave. His book got rejected. And it happened again….and again…. and again. But goofy guy that he is, he kept polishing his writing, even started a second book, created a very cool website (https://sites.google.com/site/dmkarder/), kept working, kept learning, started a blog, offered all kinds of helpful info on his blog, kept writing, kept submitting, and …….. kept getting rejected. Now here is the next part of this message to you who have a book in your heart. It is an encouraging thought for those days you are down, dejected, rejected and hanging on to hope by a spider-web-thread. Imagine what it would be like the very first time you see your book in a book store. Here's my very-first-time story. I was in a bookstore in Chicago, when a book fell off a shelf and landed at my feet. A woman facing me and I both bent to pick it up -- almost bumping heads -- and as I came up, I saw about fifteen feet behind her was a huge display of MY BOOK. On a round table was a copy of the cover for The Procrastinator's Handbook that was about 18 inches high, with stacks of my book surrounding it. My heart flipped and I gasped. The woman facing me looked startled and said, "What's wrong. Are you OK?" I pointed and sort of yelled, "That's my book!" She turned to look behind her and said, The Procrastinator's Handbook. You know, that's my book too. I've been putting off buying a birthday present for 3 months, and the birthday was yesterday so I ….. " "No, no" I interrupted her, "I mean I WROTE that book". She turned and looked again, and said, "You wanna' know who REALLY wrote the book on procrastination? My husband. He…." So I grabbed her by the arm and propelled her over to the display. Almost hysterically, I blurted, "See the name? The author? Rita Emmett? That's me. That's my name. That's my book….. in a book store…. on display." Tears in my eyes, I was choking up. She looked astonished. "You're the author??" Then she put her hands on her hips and said, "Well, waddya know. What are the odds of ever meeting an author in a bookstore!!" And she hugged me. Much later, it dawned on me that the odds are really pretty good. That's where a lot of us hang out. So there's the whole message. Yes, people will reject you and try to discourage you from your dreams. But instead of letting it get you down, lift yourself up by focusing on the final goal. What would if be like to go into a bookstore and see your book on a shelf? Don't listen to the doomsday people. Listen to your heart. Oh… wait a minute…. there's one more part to this. Last week, a publisher
sent Dave a contract to publish his book, From the Ashes, an Action Packed,
Fantasy Western by David M. Karder. Yeah -- that's the perfect ending to this message. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Hi Rita, When I'm home I often think about your tip "If it takes less than a minute then do it right away." I must have read that in The Clutter-busting Handbook that I just started. It works so well. Seriously I wonder why we put off things like that sometimes. Anyways I still have a lot of work do to in my apartment now and it's not so much about procrastination but more clutter-busting so I look forward to tackling this next part of the job hand in hand with that book. Thank you for your help and keep up the good job! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Thank you for all your brilliant ideas. We are continuing the contest for another month. As you know, I LOVE stories. Do you have a story about people leaving
stuff behind (not only through death, but also through divorce, kids leaving
home & leaving things behind, or any way that you have experienced.) HOW
DID YOU HANDLE IT (OR WISH YOU HAD HANDLED IT). Send us your story. I might want to share your ideas in the Tip Sheet so let me know if I can use your name or not. Just hit reply to send me your stories. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* No trees were destroyed in the sending of this message, |