All authors eventually go through what I call “White Flag Syndrome.” It looks something like this. You painstakingly write every day, but you’ve been struggling with it for too long. You wake up one morning completely discouraged. You’ve already discarded an earlier draft, and now once again the book’s direction seems completely lost. You decide to throw the book out, again. You no longer care about this book, or, for that matter, ever writing again.
Or maybe the first or second book is done and you have released it to the world, only to find that the critical acclaim didn’t come and no one seems interested. Your book only has three Amazon reviews, and the reviewers all suspiciously have the same last name as yourself.
Believe me, I understand; things haven’t gone as planned and your emotional tank is on “E” for Empty. I want to remind you of the promise I’m sure you made to yourself, you know the “I’m going to stop procrastinating, stop making excuses, and finally do it” promise, the “I will be noticed” promise, the “I will make a difference” promise. Writing, publishing and marketing your book takes renewing your resolve daily; it takes guts to pour fuel into your dream when you feel stuck.
So remember, even when you aren’t feeling motivation or inspiration, you can do it. When it seems like the finish line is drifting further away, you can do it. When your heart bottoms out every time a friend asks how your book is going, you can do it!
How do I know this? Easy! You’re already further along than 99.75% of all the other people in the world, just by starting your book or writing the first chapter or getting it posted to Amazon!
I know you can do it because I have personally seen authors time and time again break through White Flag Syndrome and go on to sell thousands of copies of their book, and I know you can do the same. Just keep trying, innovating and most importantly, never, never, never give up!
Keep writing, marketing and growing!
P.S. Just in case you don’t feel like taking my word for it, below are 4 image graphics we created to remind you of why you should never give up. Imagine if the authors mentioned below decided to give in to all the rejection!
