BEWARE of Lions and Tigers and Bears

Warning: Be very careful of letting your excitement of getting something written cloud your view and make you fall prey to Lion and Tigers and Bears.

It would be such a perfect world, if everyone was honest and treated everyone with respect and we all smiled, and no one ever gave off a bad smell. Alas, some have searched for a Utopia and never found it. It reminds me of the statement, if you are a church-going-person, find the perfect church and join it and it is no longer perfect.

To those who are longing to get something published so badly, beware of the "Lions, Tigers, and Bears." They are out there. They promise to publish your work no matter what.

You finally find someone that wants to see your manuscript. You send it in and wait, but what is this? They do not take months to reply. They contact you imediately and tell you that they do not have to send your manuscript through the usual process. They want it. They offer to publish your book.

You are so excited. (Understandable) You send it in. You have been told that the manuscript will go to a review committee. "Bam"..."Shazam"..."Wam"...You pass the committee with flying colors.

You are told that they like it. But...it needs to be edited. Now, that is not uncommon. But...it should NEVER cost you to have the work edited by a publisher.

You are told that unless you have had a PROFESSIONAL editor that THEY approve, you must pay to have them edit the book.

So many excited people pay by the hundreds and who knows maybe thousands. The book gets published and costs an arm and a leg and almost a pint of blood to purchase. On top of that, the book stores will not buy it.

Oh, I almost forgot. People that treat you like this never give you an address. Some never give you a phone number, or if you call, they are always busy. You can not visit them. For some strange reason, they keep moving around the country or something.

You are stuck with purchasing your own books. You are stuck with doing your own marketing. (Let's face it, you do have to sell yourself, but not like this.)

You spend day after day going from store to store. You show your book. You give the rehearsed spill. You wait. You cross your fingers. You stop breathing for a moment. Then, the store manager shakes his head sadly and says something that becomes clouded and unintelligible for a moment.

The truth sinks in. You want to cry. Maybe you do cry.

Even if it seems this way, it is NOT the end of the world. Learn something very valuable and get back to writing. Stop running around trying to peddel your book and write. You will drive yourself crazy going from place to place to place.

Use this as fuel for the fire to do something amazing that will make ALL publishers want you. Chalk it up to a lesson learned.

Discover your voice. Discover what makes YOU unique.

You might have been wounded, but you are not down. You might have taken some shrapnel, but limp or no limp, you will make it.

You are a writer. Be a writer. Take yourself seriously. Become who you are destined to become. Remember how movies love to have the hero down and out. We get all "teary" as he realizes that he must rise and be the leader. He pulls himself up, grabs his armor, and rushes into battle.

There are Lions and Tigers and Bears out there. But, there is no place like home. Home is where your heart is and if you are a true writer, it comes from the heart.

I am making myself get all teared-up and emotional. Isn't it wonderful to be able to do what we do? What a wonderful world! GO FOR IT!