I finally had my light bulb moment when a magazine editor spilled the beans. She
explained that in the publishing world, no one wants to publish someone who has never
been published. She explained that her job was on the line if she made a bad choice and
since an unpublished writer has NO track record of working with other magazines, it was
too risky for most editors to take the chance.
Tenacity is Key
It took me more than a year before I WORE DOWN those editors and finally got my first
piece published in a national magazine. That is another advantage of my time working with
horses because you learn to NEVER GIVE UP! Oddly enough, the minute I was
published, everyone suddenly wanted to buy the exact same articles I submitted to them a
year before that they previously turned down.
After publishing hundreds of magazine articles and securing two syndicated columns and
doing several national speaking engagements, the next logical step was to publish a book
so I would have something to sell at those speaking engagements.
I followed the traditional route and looked for a book publisher. It wasn't hard to find one
since I had a good track record of being published hundreds of times already and I was
writing on a topic that I knew inside and out. I was so thrilled that a big New York publishing
house was going to publish my first book.
I thought everything was perfect. After all, I had PROFESSIONALS in charge now and they
knew everything, and I wouldn't have to learn as I go because they were the EXPERTS. I
was looking forward to having them tell me exactly what to do and I was happy to do it.