Finding Success As A Young Writer

There were so many industry forces that were outside of my control that could have buried this book. Even if it was the best book in the world, even if it was 10 times better than what it currently is, there are a variety of things that are completely outside of my control that could have just been like, sorry, no. If the book buyers at major regional bookstore chain said no. If the indie booksellers were like, oh, I don't know how I feel about this guy. All these things that have nothing to do with the quality of the thing that I make made could have tanked it. And that's where my mind was. That's. That's. That. That's where my focus was. Very vulnerable. Yeah. Extreme. Extremely. And then. So then when it comes out and you start seeing people in person. Right. And their reaction. Yeah. How did that feel? It made me feel like everything was worth it. I think my. My thing or my belief is that as long as what I'm building on is a strong foundation, with time, I will find the success that I need. So I'm like, listen, I'm taking over the world. The answer is, is it today? Is it tomorrow? Is it next week? Is it next month? When I think about the stories that I have to tell and specifically my goal of supporting young people in their mental health, I'm like, oh, I'm inevitable. You're not gonna stop me from being able to uplift these kids. I don't care how many meetings I gotta go through, I don't care how many gatekeepers I gotta sidestep. I don't care how many bound I got a pole vault over. I need every kid to look in the mirror and love what they see, because I know how painful it is to not have that. And every day that's what keeps me going. But what I needed to know was, weirdo is a tool that you're going to use to do that. Is it a strong tool? Is your sword sharp enough? Do they relate to it? Do they like it? Is it good? And as the reviews started coming in and I started getting those candid reactions from kids, I said, okay, I've won already. I'm not at the top of the mountain yet, but I've won already. Because the base book is good. As long as the base is good, I can build whatever I need to, no matter what you put in front of me.