How to deal with defeat

I spent much of 2019 working on "The Book." It was a blockbuster concept—in fact, when I told my agent about it, she immediately said, “That’s a movie.” From subject to scope, this was different from my other novels—and as someone who loves a challenge, that excited me. This story, I believed, would take my career to the next level.

But as I was writing, I had a sneaking suspicion that something was … well, not quite right. Was it that it was taking longer than usual to write? (I usually finish a first draft in three to four months; this one took more than seven.) Was it because it wasn’t as witty as my other books? Or maybe it was just that I was writing in third person, when I usually write in first. But because I couldn’t put my finger on what was wrong, I kept going.

After a thorough edit, I sent the draft to my agent, who sent it to my publisher, who promptly said: Nope.

As you can imagine, I was deeply disappointed. Now, I had options. I could have tried to sell the draft to another publisher. I could’ve hired a developmental editor to help me make it wittier and shinier and all the things it wasn’t, then brought it back to my publisher. I could have self-published, maybe even under a pen name. But after much thought, I decided to let it go and start my next novel ... which my publisher quickly bought based on a one-page synopsis in a two-book deal. Talk about an unexpected rebound.

When I told a friend about the draft in my (virtual) drawer, she asked if I was upset that I'd wasted all that time writing a book that never went anywhere. As I told her, no work is ever wasted. That experience showed me how resilient I am—and how important it is to listen to my intuition. It reignited my passion for telling wry, life-affirming stories, and now I’m writing a novel that I believe is my best yet.

But most importantly, that unsold book reminded me that what looks like failure is actually the path to success.