"It takes 10 years to be an overnight success."
My clock started 20 years ago...
One of my publishers posted this on Twitter a few days ago. It’s AI, based on the manuscript for HEARTLANDERS, coming in June. This is my best (and new favorite) novel of mine. It was personal in a lot of ways, and I got to do just about everything I wanted to with it.
Just being able to start an article with “One of my publishers…” is the kind of thing I’ve fantasized about for a huge amount of time throughout my career. I started writing creatively when I was eight and I pretty much never stopped. It’s been twenty years since I attended my first writers conference in Provo, and plenty of authors there have gone on to have great success (including James Dashner, who told us about this idea he had for amnesiac kids stuck in a maze…)
The story has always been the same from the successful ones: pound the pavement, keep your nose to the grindstone, never stop writing, and you’ll eventually get to where you want. The saying is “It takes ten years to become an overnight success.” Based on my math I should have succeeded two nights ago. I watched those guys take off and patiently waited my turn, putting in my ten years.
But that’s just a cute saying. The underlying principle remains true: it takes time, and when you finally get there, people will think it was instantaneous. Make of that what you will. I’ve written dozens of manuscripts and hundreds of blog articles, several short stories, and who knows what else—I’ve been at this a long time. The success took its time in getting here.
Last year, at the age of 40, I finally sold my first full manuscript that went to press. (Go read FOSSIL FORCE, it doesn’t matter how old you are, it’s awesome. I’m working on the sequels right now.) That was after selling a short story, The Last Flight of the Gargoyle, to the same publisher (Raconteur) for an anthology. Now I have HEARTLANDERS under contract with 40 North, and a third iron in the fire that I can’t discuss yet (contracts, etc.)
Cherry on top, a publisher who previously rejected my work has since introduced me to a large journalism outlet based on what I’ve been posting here on Substack. He didn’t have to do that, but apparently the stuff I’m doing on my own is a good fit for what this outlet wants. (Gotta be vague because nothing is official yet, just in discussions, but I’m extremely stoked right now.)
From the outside, it would look like “overnight success.” I have two publishers, soon to be three, and the potential for a fourth with an ongoing arrangement of content creation. And I need to finish Fossil Force 2. And this Substack is closing in on 200 subscribers. I’ve actually got two dollars to rub together based purely off my writing.
(Thank you guys, btw. I appreciate it and I hope you keep enjoying what I write.)
As I reflect on this, I think about all the long, exhausting years I’ve poured into the craft, and why I’ve kept up with it; the truth is, I just love to read and write. I have things I want to say, feelings I want to share, and ideas I want to discuss. This is how I do it. For a dumb trucker who dropped out of college twice, even having this many people read my work is pretty cool, and I also get to sell a few books here and there.
It didn’t happen overnight. But I don’t mind you thinking so. Just read the stuff and tell me what you think. Ultimately that’s the objective. Like I told Spearman and LawDog on YouTube a few months ago: “You’ve got to love the toil.”
It’s nice to see that toil start to pay off.
Thanks guys.