by Corey Finkle

I wrote my first PB manuscript in 1999, and got my first publishing deal a mere twenty years later. I spent those two decades writing, attending critique groups, going to conferences, the whole shebang. And every time I interacted with a published author, I looked on them with a kind of awe. Somehow, these people were able to rise above it all. Were they better than I was, or did they know a secret to getting published that I hadn’t figured out yet?

Now that I’m on the other side, I can report that the answer to the above question is yes, there IS a secret to getting published. In fact, there’s an entire checklist of things you can absolutely do, right now, to propel yourself forward on the path to publication. That’s the good news.

The bad news is, at some point along that path, you need to get a lucky break. There’s no two ways about it.

Literally every author you know or have ever heard of, from Doctor Seuss to Mo Willems, had a moment in their lives when someone looked on their work in the right way, at the right time. I’m no exception. Here’s mine:

In 2015, I was having a great year. By July, I had five agents and a publisher considering my work, which had gotten into their hands through querying, paid critiques at writers’ conferences, and even a Twitter event. But by Thanksgiving, every single one of them had passed. I was so despondent by this that I vowed to take six months off querying so I could focus on my writing full-time. That led me to sign up for the Whispering Pines writers retreat, where at the first dinner I sat (entirely by accident) next to one of the VIP speakers. He was a senior editor for a major publishing house, and we soon discovered that we had also graduated from the same college one year apart, and had over thirty friends in common, despite having never met ourselves. At his request, after the event I sent him a manuscript (that I had developed from a Storystorm idea), and one week after he read it, I had three offers of representation (though my first sale wouldn’t come for another three years after that). Pretty lucky, right?

I am 100% positive that every published writer has a story like this, even if they don’t know it. They might not have recognized their lucky break when it happened (or shook hands with it like in my case), but at some point in their past, someone took a chance on them when they didn’t have to. It’s not as romantic as “meant to be,” but it’s the truth.

But here’s the trick: “getting lucky” is not entirely about luck.

Park View Middle School sign: "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity"

Years ago, I got a job offer out of the blue. When I told my aunt (a career counselor with her own published book!) about it, I marveled about how lucky this had been. She pushed back that, instead of luck, I should think of it as “planned happenstance.” In other words, meeting the man who offered me that job was luck, for sure, but I had been READY for that moment, due to my education and experience to that point.

My having personal ties to a publisher was absolutely a singular moment that propelled my writing career forward, but consider this: I had been writing picture books for over fifteen years, participating in critique groups, attending conferences, getting professional assessments of my work, even being part of events like #PBPitch, 12×12, and Storystorm. If I had met that publisher even a year before, it might have been just another setback to add to the list. Instead, I was ready, and good things happened.

Getting published is a journey, and for most of us, it can be brutal and disheartening at times (it’s the only field I’ve ever heard of where we celebrate when our rejections are worded nicely). But please PLEASE take my word for this: if you’re reading this right now, you are absolutely doing exactly what you need to be doing on your writing journey. You’re generating ideas, finding a tribe of supporters (this is also the only field I’ve ever heard of where we all truly celebrate one another’s success at every step), participating in events, and above all, you’re writing. Even if it feels impossibly long sometimes, I promise you that this is the path you need to follow, and by embracing it, you’re further along than you realize.

Don’t give up, don’t get discouraged, and learn from every triumph and mistake. If you do, then one day when that lucky break does occur, whatever happens next will have nothing whatsoever to do with luck. Or, to put it another way:

 

Corey Finkle wrote his first picture book manuscript as a senior project in college, spent ten years tinkering with and pitching it, and finally put it aside after realizing it wasn’t actually very good at all. He got his lucky break selling his first book, YOUR FUTURE IS BRIGHT, almost 20 years to the day after completing that senior project. His second published book, POP’S PERFECT PRESENT, comes out this May. When not working on his next manuscript, Corey spends his time writing business-y words for companies, playing board games, spending time with his wife and two kids, or collecting t-shirts from unusual or lesser-known sports teams. Visit him at CoreyFinkle.com and follow him on Twitter @cefinkle.

Corey Finkle is giving away two prizes to two people: one copy of YOUR FUTURE IS BRIGHT, and one manuscript review and/or Zoom career consultation.

You’re eligible to win if you’re a registered Storystorm 2023 participant and you have commented only once on today’s blog post. ↓

Prizes will be distributed at the conclusion of Storystorm.