Jacquelyn Dohoney

Friday, May 6, 2022

Hello again after a very long editing hiatus! While I wait for my current super creepy thriller to simmer before final edits, I thought I’d delve into a post about my most recent Twitter poll. I asked my followers which subject they wanted to see from me first, and realistic expectations in publishing won by a wide margin. So here we go!

First, let me preface by saying I am not, nor have I ever been agented or published. So while I can’t write with a full experience in publishing, I can offer realistic expectations as a business owner. Which, in my opinion, falls the same way. My husband and I own a tattoo studio that has been in business for going on 24 years. We’re extremely lucky to have the following we do. At the moment, we have 18,000+ followers on Instagram and 11,000+ followers on Facebook. Granted, this is not my personal social media, but I do admin for both of them. So why do I bother telling you about them?

My studio’s follower count is a direct correlation with realistic expectations. When I first took the social media over, we had maybe 1000 followers each. I expected that if I just posted pictures every couple of days, our followers would shoot through the roof instantly. Boy was I wrong! Two years went by, and my let-the-magic-happen method was not working. So I did some research. A LOT of research! Four years after that… I think you can see where I’m going with this. Our followers are completely organically grown. No bots, no purchased likes or follows. But it takes a ton of work daily. That was my first experience with realistic expectations in my business. The same can be applied to my career. I’ve been a professional body piercer for 6 years. What I once thought was easy (just take a needle and stick it in someone, right?) is SO much more than that! Any type of business is going to take a ton of work and realistic expectations. And like I have said before, you, my friends, are your own business.

So how do we get ourselves to have realistic expectations? It’s far easier said than done. In my writing career there have been some pretty low lows and some pretty high highs. You have to be realistic with yourself. You might have the greatest manuscript on earth, but someone out there just won’t want it. Ok, I’m going to put one of those rejection lists up that make most writers cringe. But I’ll admit it, seeing these numbers really just make me feel like I’m not such a loser. So here are some numbers that will make your head spin:

1. Stephen King: 30 rejections on his masterpiece Carrie
2. William Golding: 21 rejections on Lord of the Flies (my personal favorite required reading in high school)
3. Anne Frank: 15 rejections on The Diary of Anne Frank (SERIOUSLY?)
4. Beatrix Potter: Rejected so many times she had to self publish Peter Rabbit
5. Kathryn Stockett: 60 rejections for The Help  
6. Louis Lamour: 200 rejections for the king of westerns 

There are so many more, but I wanted to include a range of genres for better reference. I keep these lists in mind when my old friend imposter syndrome likes to show her rude little face. The reality is that you will get rejections. But the reality also is, it takes work to get published. And getting signed with an agent is no guarantee that your book will get published! After you go through edits on that manuscript you hold so dear to your heart, your agent will have to go through the same process on your behalf! Writing is like a whole extra job! And you have to expect that! It won’t come easy! No one busts out a perfect first draft manuscript and submits it and has agents swooning over it! Sorry to burst the proverbial bubble, but it’s just not realistic. What is realistic is that it will take time, hard work, dedication, basically all of your blood, sweat and a heavy duty amount of tears. But be gentle with yourself. Because nothing good ever came easy. 

And while you wait with me in those pits of despair we call the querying trenches, make sure you have a few of the following on hand: a fabulous support network, other writers in your circle that get what you’re going through and can pick you up when you’re down, and maybe a few pints of ice cream for when the trenches get really dirty.

*Note to self, go buy some more ice cream!

Thanks for reading guys! Let me know what you’d like me to blog about next!

Jackie