There's a J In there… Somewhere!

I spent so much time growing up being told what to do, how to be a ‘success’, how to be accepted. I would do what I’m told to do.

I find the same as an adult. I get told that, to get the success & results I desire, I just do xyz.

So I do that. I follow all the steps and yes, I do the work. But something is still missing and I simply don’t get chosen. I have no idea what I’m doing wrong.

I got a Facebook memory today that I had submitted a picture book to a publisher… five years ago! To date, I have had no response from them, so I assume they didn’t want it. This has happened with so many of my stories. I follow the steps I’m told to follow. I write the story and edit it, working it over and over again. I invest money in the process so I can have a manuscript that publishers will love. Then I submit it to publishers. I also attend conferences and webinars to learn what needs to be done. Then, I hear nothing…

I have written stories that would fit the brief of what the publishers want, what they put on their websites that they want. And I hear nothing.

However, when I self-publish the stories and others buy them, they love them!

Sometimes I think that I really don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I’ve never been popular or part of the inner circle (and I feel there is one in just about every aspect of life, including publishing), even though I try my hardest and keep doing what I’m told.

Yet, it doesn’t work.

I keep floating through life, with people not seeming to see or notice me, and I don’t know what I’m supposed to have done wrong.

So many people tell me I’ve done nothing wrong, but some days, it doesn’t feel that way…