#384: Writing Well: Letting Rejection Work For You by Nika Maples

Welcome to Kingdom Writers where we help equip and empower Christian writers of all genres to share your unique gifts with the world. We're your hosts, C.J. and Shelley Hitz.

This podcast is filled with spiritual encouragement as well as prayers to help you overcome the resistance you face as a writer. Your story matters.

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Hey friends, this is Shelly Hitz, one of your hosts here at the Kingdom Writers Conference. And before we dive into this week's episode, which I know you're going to love, I wanted to let you know that registration is now open for our next Kingdom Writers Conference. This one is the prayer edition. It is going to be so good. It's a free one day conference to unlock the full potential of your writing and with the transformative power of prayer so that God can use your words to impact lives for eternity. This is going to be hosted on July 20th and if you are listening to this later, please still go to the link. You'll be able to get access. Come to kingdomwritersconference.com prayer and we cannot wait to meet with you and to see what God does through this conference. We have some amazing speakers lined up and it's all about how to integrate real quick writing into your spiritual life and specifically through prayer. And this I know it's going to be powerful because just in planning this conference we have had a lot of pushback and I've had more issues with this particular edition than any of the others and this is our sixth one. So I just think that, that the Lord is up to something and the enemy is trying to push back, but God will be victorious. And so come join us, invite your writing friends because this is going to be powerful and get registered. Get your free ticket@domathonwriters conference.com prayer and we will see you there. Welcome everyone to the Kingdom Writers Podcast. I'm one of your hosts here. Shelly hits and I am really excited. You're in for a treat today. I have N.A. maples here with me. Welcome N.A.

Oh, I'm glad to be here, Shelly. Thank you so much.

Yes, I met NA at a Revelation Wellness retreat and I like her. Her talk was my favorite, I just have to say. And then just the fact that she works with writer, I'm like, we've got to get you on the podcast. But she's an author's coach helping writers to live a beautiful and balanced life as an author. And she was actually a former Texas Teacher of the year, so congratulations on that. And she's authored six books of her own. And so today we're going to just talk a little bit about overcoming the fear of rejection. And I think as a creative, like we all at some point have that fear, whether it's reviews or, you know, publishing contracts or whatever it is like what people think of us. But just start off by telling us a little bit about why you wrote your first book.

Well, I always kind of wanted to be a writer. I'm pretty sure everyone who is listening to this podcast can identify with that, that feeling where early on in life, about second grade, I started loving to write. I did writerly things like poetry and wrote in journals all the time. I started entering contests or I was a high school yearbook editor. But the, the idea of writing a book could never really come to pass for me until I had a stroke when I was 20 years old. And the physical therapist asked me to give her some ideas for how we could incorporate. I mean, of course there are big walking goals, but then there are smaller daily life tasks goals when you're trying to regain ability in your upper body and in your hands. And I said, you know, I love writing, I would love it if you would get me a typewriter. And so she, yeah, so she actually there was a computer, an old computer that was in the physical therapy gym. And they said, well, we'll let you come to the gym after hours. I was in an inpatient hospital. Okay. And she, she said, we'll let you know. Come, come down the elevator after we all go home for the day and you can spend about an hour writing on the computer. And I started writing that first book with one finger that worked. And I, I just started writing. And what I wanted to do was just, I don't know, tell the story of God's faithfulness in my life. Just how he had seen me through this devastating crisis of having a stroke. So Shelly, I, I submitted it to about five. I didn't know anything, this was 1994, so I didn't know anything about how to get a literary agent. Didn't know you needed one. Didn't know how to approach a publisher. I just submitted this manuscript. When I finished it, it was just kind of the story of my life and what God had done. And I just submitted it to five publishers that I found in a book in the library. And so I, I, I got a rejection letter from all of them. I still have one of those letters. I may have two of those letters. And you know, I, I did not understand the.

Process. I didn't understand rejection as part of the process.

True.

So all I knew was Receiving five nos meant clearly, I'm. I'm not made for this. I was devastated. I put that manuscript in a drawer, and I never looked at it again. For years. For years. And then when I was 30. So that was when I was 20 years old, and I was so embarrassed to even think about a book. I mean, I was embarrassed when people would ask, weren't you writing a book? You know, I didn't want to talk about it. And I know some of your listeners feel that way. When someone asks them, they just feel such shame, such embarrassment that they haven't finished or that they finished and it didn't move forward. And that's just. It's just kind of part of the process, but we have to push through it. And so I became a public school teacher, and then when I was 31, so 11 years later, I became Texas Teacher of the Year, which you mentioned. Yeah, nice. When you're. When you're a state Teacher of the year, it's. It's so interesting. They're saying, you're one of the best teachers. Now leave the classroom. And so they pulled me out classroom to speak around the state and around surrounding states. So I traveled a lot, and I was a speaker, and every time I would speak, people would come up to me afterwards and they would say, where's your book? Don't you have a book? How can I find. Can I read your story? Well, I want to know more. And I was like, oh, my goodness, am I going to have to revisit that? But I didn't want to. But then I'll. I'll share that. The critical moment for me was one of my former students came back to kind of speak and encourage my current students. So I had taught him when he was in high school, and then he was a college athlete, and I invited him to come back and talk to my students for the day and kind of tell them what college was like. And he. He came back and he did that. At the end of the day, he said, Ms. Maples, didn't you want to be a writer? And here to have one of your students say, didn't you want to be a writer? I say, yeah. Oh, you know, like, never mind that. I mean, I'm happy being a teacher and blah, blah, blah. He said, it's time to do what you were born to do. Wow. And the moment he said that, I was. It was the Holy Spirit just flushed my face with this, knowing that he was right, that I was born to do this. So I pulled that manuscript out of the out of the drawer. I rewrote the whole thing. There was nothing of the former version of it that could have withstood any. That, you know, I had to rewrite the whole thing. And after that, I decided that's the version that needs to move forward.

Would you like me to kind of continue about how the next steps for that?

Well, first of all, just tell us what the title of that book is.

Oh, okay. Yeah. It's called 12 Clean Pages. Awesome.

Yeah. And I love the fact I was a physical therapist for 12 years in my previous career. So I love that you started with one finger. You know, our mutual friend Elisa Keaton talks about ability over vanity. And I think sometimes, like we say, oh, I can't do this because of this, this, this. And you could have made all the excuses in the. That time you took your one finger and you started typing. And then, you know, we all get stuck at different points. But someone spoke life into you. Right. And I think it's so important for us to speak life into one another. But yeah, share with us, like, what happened next.

Yeah. So again, I submitted it to. I, I still didn't understand the concept of a literary agent, which is so important if you want to go with traditional publishing. So I just sent it around again in its new form to publishers. And one publisher said, we would like, we'd like to move forward, but. And it was a very well known Christian publisher. It's like one of the dream publishing houses that someone would want. So when they said, we want this book, I was so excited. They said, but we want to cut it down from 71,000 words to about 30,000 words and make it a gift book. Wow. And I prayed about it and I felt like the Lord was saying no to self publish it. I. And I had told them, please give me three days to pray about this. They said, sure. So I prayed about it for three days and the Lord said, no, self publish it. So I said no to one of the biggest, most coveted publishing houses in the Christian industry. And when it went on to self publish my first book, and I've sold thousands and thousands of copies, and I know it was the right move. And my second and third book then were traditionally published. But for the first one, I chose self publishing. Yeah.

And I think it's important to listen to the Lord. Like, we talk about having business meetings with God, you know, where we're asking him, and that's what you did. Like, it would have, you know, for most people would just be like, well, isn't that a no brainer. This you've wanted, this is what you've been looking for. And yet the Lord said no. And yet he opened the door later. And you've been able to publish other books as well, but yeah, it's just sometimes I call it the twists and turns of life. God takes us down a path that may not always make sense, and yet he receives the glory for it. Now, you've published several books. You're no longer a classroom teacher, so talk to us a little bit about what you're doing now.

Yes, I really loved teaching students in school, but, you know, it was kind of felt like a season was ending and then a new season was beginning. And so I, I knew that God was leading me to teach adults and to coach adults. And so that started happening. In fact, our, our friend Elisa Keaton was one of the very first people that reached out to me and said, hey, I really like your, your style, communicating. Would you be a book coach for me? And I didn't even really know what that was at the time. I was like, I don't know what that is. I, I remember on our first call together on Zoom, I was like, okay, this is a noun and this is a verb. She looks so disappointed.

No, I mean, you know, really, that was my one finger attempt at coaching. Right. And we just have to do that. One finger attempt. Yeah. I thought, well, how do you start book coaching? This is a noun, this is a verb. Well, obviously that's not anything remotely what I do now. Right. That was my one finger attempt. If you're going to get stronger, if you're going to get more developed, you have to keep just trying. Put in the practice. Put in the practice. So I coached her on that book and then people just started reaching out to me. They, you know, another woman, a month later reached out. She said, I have a book contract with Moody Publishers, but I haven't written the book yet and it's due in four weeks. Yeah. She said, will you be my book coach? I was like, sure. That's what, apparently that's what I'm doing now. So I just moved forward and was coached her. We got that book in on time. It's a beautiful book. And on and on. People got started sending me people from around the world. So now I have a membership called Anointed Writers, where it's a hybrid of group coaching and one on one coaching. And I'm really seeing my clients make progress. Some of them traditionally published, some of them self published in the last three years. And it's really exciting. And I, I love it. I love helping people get their message to the kingdom. For the kingdom.

Yes. Yes. And what do you think? Like if somebody is looking for help from you, what is your sweet spot? What do you really, what are you really good at?

I'm, I am excellent at non fiction. So if you're writing a fiction book, I might not be the, the right person to reach out to, but if you're writing a fiction book, such as curriculum for, for Bible study or Bible study workbook, or a Christian lifestyle book, or a memoir, any kind of those books, God has really anointed me to organize books that organize content. So when I see a non fiction concept, it's like puzzle pieces just come together in my mind. And I, I admit it now. I used to say, well, I guess I'm kind of good at that. I've seen over and over, it's almost like this, that when you, when you recognize an anointing, you know, I don't know how I did that. You know, there are times when you think, I don't know how, that's how I feel when I'm get in the zone. I'll just look at a text and I'll say, hey, why don't you rewrite the table of contents this way? Why don't you outline the book this way? Why don't you shift the concept?

You know, just the other day a student of mine, a client of mine, had an idea for a book. She's been feeling this for ages. She's wanted to write on this particular topic and I just helped her tweak it. I said, what if you look at that, that the lens of that topic and just tweak it to be aimed toward marriage, you know, blessing and developing your marriage and, and cultivating your marriage. And it was like light bulbs went off for her. She said, how did you do that? I said, I don't know. I just looked at your content and I saw that it was leaning toward marriage. But you didn't see it. Yeah. And, and God just kind of highlighted that for me with the Holy Spirit. And it resonated with her. So anyone who needs help with organizing their book and having the confidence to put it out there, getting, staying on track and being accountable, you know, accountable in a fun and, and comfortable way, just keep reminding people, keep going. There's not the kind of accountability like where you feel like you're on, on the spotlight. Right. Like, hey, I mean, I'm in this with you. Let's go. Keep going. If you Dust yourself off and pick, pick your book back up again.

Yeah, I love that. Because God's given each of us gifts in the body of Christ. And like when sometimes someone's stuck, maybe that's exactly what they need is someone from the outside looking at their table of contents or their manuscript or their book idea and just giving them some other perspectives. And so you've been coaching writers for how long now would you say?

Three years.

Three years, yeah.

So go ahead, go ahead, ask your question.

Yeah. So over that three years, what are some things that you've learned and that you've gleaned from coaching writers more closely?

Like that I've seen that everyone kind of, everyone kind of makes the same general mistakes and everyone has the same general fears. So the mistakes that people make is. And I did it too. You think, oh, my book would be great for everyone.

Right?

That's just not, I mean, it's not true if you think of, think about it this way. So I'm single, I've never been married and I don't have kids. So one of my clients wrote a book called Navigating Motherhood. And it's a 12 week study of motherhood. It's a fabulous book. It's funny, it's, you know, poignant and. But it's for mothers. And if she had thought, well, my book's for everyone. Well, it's not really for fathers and it's not really for a single woman who's doesn't have kids. So you have, you have to look at it that way. And even though.

Even though I'm not her ideal audience, I love that book. I have read it more than once. I have given it to people too. But here's the thing. If she had written with me in mind, she wouldn't have hit her target of mothers, right? So when you try to appeal to everyone, your book will be flat and meaningless. It will be watered down and no one will want it. But if you really aim at the person who stands to benefit most, you're not leaving anyone out. You're just aiming for the person who stands to benefit most. Then guess what? Your book will be so powerful that all those extraneous people, all those fringe people that maybe do not match the profile of your ideal reader, they're gonna love your book too. Just like I love her book for mothers. But if, again, if she had written for everyone, she would have attracted no one. So she had to get very specific. So even if you're writing a general Christian memoir, ask yourself who stands to benefit most from this. Is it someone who has a. An illness or diagnosis? Is it someone who just lost their job? Is it someone who is, you know, an empty nester? You never know. But. So that's one of the general mistakes that I've learned. We have to start at square one with just about every writer that comes into my coaching program. Who are you writing to? And let's get specific about that. And then. So this is one of the general mistakes, but then also the, the general fears are just like, constantly wondering, is it any good? Is it any good? Is it any good? This is what I say about that. We keep wanting an outside voice to tell us whether our writing is good. So we're hoping that, like, maybe a publisher will tell us that it's good or that a reader or that a literary agent will tell us that it's good. And so we sit around waiting to be chosen by someone else. But the thing is, with a writer, you're called by God when you're called to be a writer. And by the way, your calling feels like, I really think I want to do this. That's all it feels like. It's not like a burning bush necessarily. It's just this longing here. It's, it's, It's a burning in your heart. Yeah. It just won't let you go. And you're like, I just can't stop thinking about a book, writing a book. So if you're called to be a writer, then God called you a writer. And you have to.

Leave the opinions of the 99 to go after the opinion of the 1. That's what Jesus did for you. He left the 99 and he went after the 1 that was you. You were lost and now you're found. So can't we do the same for him? Leave the opinions of the 99. Doesn't matter what a. What your mother says. It doesn't matter what your best friend says. Doesn't matter what a publisher, letter, agent say. Leave the opinions of the 99 and go after the opinion of the one called you a writer. No one else can call you anything different. So it's good because he says you are good. Do the practice. Your first draft will be your worst draft. So. So what? Just do the practice. Do it again and again and again and know that he will be faithful. It's 1 Thessalonians 5. 24. He who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

Amen. I, I would just say, preach it. Preach it. Because we've been working with writers for over 12 years now. And yeah, I, I agree those same points over and over. And just so much of the self doubt or the fear and the fear of man, but also, you know, like you, you've been talking about the fear of rejection or, you know, different things, but ultimately God has called us, right? And that's, he's going to, he's going to provide what we need. Well, as we wrap up, I mean, we could talk for a long time, but what is the best advice you have specifically for Kingdom writers? And just from your experience.

Okay, here's my best advice for you. And instead of making decisions based on what you've seen in the past, make decisions based on what you see in the future.

So most Christians don't realize that is the exercise of faith. And Hebrews 11:1 says, without faith, it's impossible to please God. So if we want to please God, we have to, we have to exercise faith. So we cannot look to our past for evidence of future success. That's not where that evidence is. If you keep looking to your past, you're going to see failures and you're going to see, you know, false starts. That's fine because that's just all part of the process. But if we think that means something about the future, we're wrong about that. We have to say, God, I can't see the future, but I can see in the spirit what you've called me to. So I'm just going to move forward. I, I have a coach that I love dearly. I truly believe that everyone needs coach. I mean, if I, no one had ever taught me that before, but you need that, that teacher to come alongside you and disciple you in whatever you set your heart to do. So, so my coach said to me, said, na, if you were walking up to the grocery store to one of those automated doors, and if you stopped 10ft away from the door, would it open for you? I said, no. He said, you got to get closer, right? You got to keep moving and then the door opens. I said, that's right. I never thought of that before. And that's, that's what it is with your writing career friends. You know, you're not going to be able to stand far away and, and hope that an opportunity opens. You're going to have to keep moving closer while it looks closed, Move closer while it's closed, Move closer while it's closed. And it will open.

It will open when the time is right.

That's so good. Yeah, I just, I love that. And I love that it's a visual because every time we go to walk towards one of those doors. Now think about this, right? Think about this illustration that Nika just shared with you, that you have to keep walking, you have to keep moving forward. And my friend Shay vine says God can't direct a parked car. And so I love that. And would you just pray over us as we close?

Absolutely, yes. Awesome.

Heavenly father, you are the author of life. Yeah, I, you know, I love God that you have given us so many visuals of your heart. You say you're a. You're like a farmer, you're the lord of the harvest. And, and you're a writer. You're a writer. You write your word on our hearts. Yeah. And we feel that daily. So, God, I pray a blessing over everyone who's being both a farmer and a writer. We're made in your image, God, and we are planting seeds, trusting that you meant what you said when you said, don't give up, keep planting seeds, don't become weary and doing good, for at the proper time, you'll reap a harvest if you don't give up. So I pray a blessing over every person listening to this episode that you will give them words and give them words abundantly and that you will open doors for them that no man can shut. In Jesus name, amen.

Amen. Thank you so much. Na. If someone wants to connect with you or work with you, what's the best way for them to find you?

Well, every month I offer a workshop, a five day workshop for authors called the bless your book workshop. And if. If anyone on this call wants to just get rid of the fear of rejection and start building the confidence they need to write, publish, and market their amazing book, just go to bless YourBook.com and get a ticket to next month's.

Workshop and meet me and interact with me and I'll get to coach you live on the workshop and that will be where we could begin.

Yeah, I love that. I love alliterations so that. Bless your book.

Good.

Well, I hope that you'll connect with her. And what's the website for that?

Bless YourBook.com. okay.

Yeah, easy to remember. Bless YourBook.com. go check it out, get some help. Nika is the real deal and she's. She's walked through life, you know, she's had the ups and the downs and yet has seen God just do so much. So thank you for being here, Nika. I appreciate it.

My pleasure. Thank you.

Thank you all for listening and I will talk to you next time.

Bye.

Bye.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Kingdom Writers. We believe that you, as a Christian writer, have a specific role to play in the Kingdom of Heaven to impact lives for eternity.

And because of this, we choose to pour out our lives into encouraging writers like you to not only tell your stories, but to take the courageous step of self publishing your stories in books that will outlive you and leave behind a powerful legacy. This Podcast this podcast is sponsored by Christian Book Academy, where we help you give birth to your books. We invite you to join our community of Kingdom Writers.