When I was a child (maybe middle school age), growing up in Germany, I wrote elaborate birthday cards to my PopPop in the States. He would write back long letters in his messy, unmistakable print, telling me that I was a good writer. Although I thought he was just being my PopPop and what I'd written were just casual cards and letters, it touched the part in me that already knew I loved words. I trusted him and so I chose to believe him.
After retiring from an illustrious career, he wrote and published his first book in his mid-eighties. He's now 95 and on his third book. I continue to carry his encouragement with me although he no longer knows who I am when I call.
Thanks for opening the floor, Jeff. I'm still waiting on my "big break." I've been writing off and on for years alongside my day job as a Speech-Language Pathologist. I'm at a major turning point in my life as a new mom and I desperately need a change. I've been applying to different jobs and pitching freelance articles and other ideas, but so far have gotten radio silence from the universe. It's frustrating and discouraging - especially considering the time and effort I've put into these endeavors. I'm trying to keep hope alive and trust that eventually something will break my way, but it's hard. And it's lonely. Maybe reading some other stories on this thread will provide some inspiration.
I'm not to sure about big breaks, but I would say many pivotal moments and the fruits of faithfulness and persistence. You, Jeff Goins, were part of several of those pivotal moments. The Art of Work made a huge difference for me, and relationships from the online communities you started impacted me deeply. I'm still in touch with people from groups like Real Authors Don't Starve. Having the opportunity to write a guest post for your blog at a time when my personal world was awash with hurt and heartache both gave me hope and validated my pursuit of writing. Now, a month shy of my 12th book releasing (one of them an award-winner), I'm so grateful for the encouragement that came not only from your books and groups but from you. Am I a bestseller? No, but I know my work is good, and I can stand behind it. And I know it impacts the lives it touches. Thank you for making a difference in my life.
I think a lot of "breaks" happen this way, by embracing the gifts we're given and walking through the struggle until the victory on the other side reveals the growth and progress we couldn't see in the battle.
I believe my first big break was when I submitted a personal article/essay about a day in my college life back in 2002. I was 18, heartbroken and expelled from school all in the name of love. I didn't think I would get a call from the editor to publish it. I was simply sharing my heart. My parents of course thought it was petty. That it had no real essence. That I should've been talking about the real problems of this world like hunger and corrupt politicians instead of sharing my hopelessly in love case. I got paid 545 Philippine pesos (about $12 and some change in current US $$). I just admit it validated me as a writer and I wish I pursued this career. I'm a nurse now and still writing on the side, hoping someday I would find my audience and vice versa and make a living out of something I truly feel connected to. I do love my career as a nurse, I feel empowered helping people. But to say writing has never left my mind, body and soul is an understatement...
I was seventeen, sitting on my bed playing guitar in a townhouse just big enough for my defunct family but too small for the life I was dreaming of one state away. Soon, the cerulean blue cordless in my bedroom started ringing, interrupting my reverie with what turned out to be the best news of my life, at the time. Some of the best news, even still.
"Kristine, we're so thrilled to say you've been selected as one of Belmont's four Presidential Scholars. We can't wait for you to join us this fall!"
There was no other way, no other next step that would've brought me to the place I knew I was meant to be. Were it not for a handful of admissions counselors (who would go on to be mentors and later, colleagues) and a board of directors who saw, believed, and hoped the same things for me I so longed for but thought were beyond my grasp... my entire story would be different.
This was the "big break" that changed the trajectory of my life forever, laying the foundation for where I am today -- albeit still wobbly, at times. When I think back on that moment, I'm that girl singing about hope all over again, stunned at a dream so clear, coming true.
After grad school I found myself working as an hourly-paid editor for Fortune 100 companies, but my soul longed to edit books for publishing companies.
A year later I made the leap into the freelance deep. Went on a cross-country trip to a writer's conference, prayers in one hand and determination in the other.
I had appointments and great conversations. But no leads yet.
Until I ended up sitting next to a senior editor from a small publishing company who was looking for editors. We exchanged business cards.
I received my first joy-job paycheck five months later.
And now, six years later and several award-winning titles under my belt, the most rewarding piece is the meaningful friendships with authors and industry professionals.
My big break came a few years into starting a small greeting card company in the late 1990's. I would exhibit at big trade shows and feel very, very small with my 30 card designs on a rack. One year the buyer from Target Stores stopped by my little booth and left her business card (I was in the bathroom at the time, no less!). I called her when I got back to Minneapolis, my home at the time -- and where Target is headquartered. We met in her big office and she agreed to test my card line in 35 stores. That was the beginning of what later became my book publishing career -- and Target has remained a customer to this day.
In looking back I've had a few great big breaks in my life and it amazes me that most of them were all about being at the right place, at the right time. I came across jobs in the commercial music industry in Chicago/New York first as office staff in studios and production companies and then I got to sing on Spanish commercials. Moved to Nashville and once again worked at a Recording Studio on the Row it was there where I got my biggest break ever - met my husband.
We had a wonderful family of three, I conceived one month into being married - a miracle child. That child, our son Michael left this world in a terrible accident two years ago and now I'm left with "what's my next big break?" and do I even want one.
Friends have encouraged me to write a book, like so many other grieving parents do but I think there's enough of them out there...
I've never been at this place in my life where I just don't have it in me to dream right now
My big break happened when I was 10, and win a writing contest. Never stop writing after that. Its my form of therapy, and wrting helped me a lot as psychotherapist
My big break wasn’t - and I was pissed, yet it was hugely beneficial. When I started my first business, I had moved to the big city but was still close with my best friend and his dad who was a multimillionaire after selling his sawmill. I had heard that the dad had funded a couple of small startups, and so I called to see if he would be able to help me with some financing. “Hugo, he said, you don’t need my help”. Didn’t talk to him for a year. But he was right and I’m still glad I had the opportunity to figure it out for myself!
My BIG BREAK was not out in the world. As with you, this isn't any of those glamorous stories about someone who shattered any glass ceilings, achieved any writing awards, or has any following on any platforms. In a nutshell, I Am Nobody. That's why I feel called to write a Comment, as you requested, sharing my unique tale of getting that ONE Big Break. I recently experienced mine, although it has been developing through many years.
Who Am I? Retired. Active. Throwback to the 60's and 70's. Seen much in this lifetime and lived many places. Rolling Stone still gathering no moss. I've been a closet writer for 40 years. I started with poetry and wanted to write lyrics. Eventually, the writing morphed to story-telling, usually from a first person POV. From snarky to insightful, from cynical to fruitful, from angry to encouraging, my writing has morphed so many times I should be fined for casting so many skins!
To my Big Break. It didn't come from outside. Well, yes, I've been Influenced by Schools of Higher Consciousness and Eastern Philosophy, however MY BIG BREAK was actually a Breakthrough. You see, I've discovered my unique talent for writing and no longer see it as shameful. I Am proud of what I pen. More importantly, I feel compelled to now share my work with the world.
This is a huge step in Life for me, personally and (hopefully) professionally, my latest Life Event! Thanks for the opportunity to share, to expose myself (so to speak!), and say this One Thing:
After 10 years in construction—a job I hated—I plucked up the courage to apply to art school. People told me not to apply to too good a school in case I didn't get in. I ignored them and applied to the best.
I found out I'd gotten into Central Saint Martins at 5am on a London bus, and was so excited that I got off the bus and walked along Great Portland Street for almost an hour, till I found a McDonald's (the only thing open) and ate the best cheeseburger I'd ever eaten.
About a year into art school, I saw one of the two tutors who'd interviewed me, and I went up to her to thank her for giving me a place. After a bit of back and forth, she remembered me, and said that she'd had to fight for me as the other tutor didn't want to give me a place. I dread to think what I'd be doing now if she'd not done that. Art school totally changed my life. I hope I get to give someone a life changing break like that one day!
Well, to make a 51-years-long story short...I spent 25 years in corporate marketing before deciding to escape it all by going to grad school in Italy to pursue a Master in Photography. At some point in the school year I was wrestling a whole lot with the fact that I really felt I was first a writer, then a photographer. One of my instructors told me, "Being a writer is a strength in this situation, not a weakness, so don't run away from it. Why not embrace it by combining your writing with your photography?" It sounds so terribly obvious now, but at the time I just felt like I was being given permission to really be ME (which is someone quite different than all my classmates). That was a major turning point for me. It is, of course, possible I would have eventually arrived at this conclusion on my own, but I'm grateful that I got a good hard nudge in this direction by this insightful gentleman.
When I was a stay-at-home mom in the mid-eighties a friend showed me how to dry-brush stencil, a traditional technique for decorating almost anything. After embellishing some rooms in my house and switching to my airbrush for paint application I started designing my own stencils. A house painter friend mentioned that his clients were asking for that kind of thing and there might be a market for it. Soon after, another friend asked if I would design a stencil and decorate some rooms in her new home, and I felt this delight that I might "have something" there. Within a couple months by word of mouth I was as booked as I wanted to be and my 9 year old dubbed me The Mad Stencilist, which stuck! This led to hundreds of custom projects in interiors and accessories, developing and marketing my own line of stencils, teaching workshops nationally, appearing on television, having my work featured in books and magazines, making instructional videos, learning a wider variety of paint and finishing techniques. In the late 90s my husband quit his job to come to work with me full time, taking care of the business end so I could just design and paint. We had one of the first websites for stencils and the first one with online ordering that he built. We opened a teaching studio in the early 2000s, hosting workshops with teachers and students from as far away as France, Greece and Brazil to gather in our little town in the Sierra Foothills.
What I have always been struck by is how just a simple word of encouragement from one or two people was enough to get me "off the fence" about initiating something. A phone call about my designs was a deciding factor to launch my own line. An invitation to teach at a national convention started an important and satisfying income stream. The confidence they showed in me gave me the confidence to proceed. I would ask myself if I would regret not trying something. If the answer was yes, it was full steam ahead. I had nearly died at 25 from a ruptured appendix and realized that the rest of my life was "gravy" and I wasn’t going to waste it. I have always felt that I’m an ordinary person who has lived an extraordinary life. I was not a good student, had no college education or anything but an immediate business plan, but somehow things turned out better than I could have imagined at the time. Of course, not everything worked and there were problems and setbacks. There will always be in business, but how you handle those issues is what sets you apart from your competitors. This year I’m turning 70 and still painting, still teaching a bit, enjoying my family and dogs, traveling, hiking and singing playing music on the side.
PS The two most pivotal things I have ever done were to quit smoking (2-3 packs a day in my 20s) and have my problematic teeth fixed. So much of this I would never have done otherwise.
About ten years ago I was involved in some on-line discussions about tabletop gaming and the subject of Appendix N in the Dungeon Master's Guide came up. That is a list of fiction recommended by Gary Gygax, who wrote the DMG.
One of the blogs I was following said that he wanted to see more of the kinds of stories listed in that appendix and decided to try his hand at publishing a magazine specifically focused on old school action and adventure stories.
He put out a call for what he called "Sword & Planet" stories--a mix of SF and Fantasy with a strong theme of adventure, similar to Edgar Rice Burroughs's Barsoom and Tarzan novels. I decided, what the heck, I'd give it shot.
Thus started my long term relationship with the publisher Cirsova. I have since published four collections of short stories with them (and have the fifth in the pipeline for this Fall). The publisher has a background in the independent music business and has used his experience to build a small but very loyal audience. I like to think we've learned together, but I'm sure I've learned a lot more from him than he has from me.
Still not at a point where I can quit my day job, but I'm consistently growing my audience.
I’ve had so many big breaks that it would be difficult to count them. Maybe I should write a book about the top two dozen. Thanks for the prompt to think of that.
When I was a child (maybe middle school age), growing up in Germany, I wrote elaborate birthday cards to my PopPop in the States. He would write back long letters in his messy, unmistakable print, telling me that I was a good writer. Although I thought he was just being my PopPop and what I'd written were just casual cards and letters, it touched the part in me that already knew I loved words. I trusted him and so I chose to believe him.
After retiring from an illustrious career, he wrote and published his first book in his mid-eighties. He's now 95 and on his third book. I continue to carry his encouragement with me although he no longer knows who I am when I call.
Thanks for opening the floor, Jeff. I'm still waiting on my "big break." I've been writing off and on for years alongside my day job as a Speech-Language Pathologist. I'm at a major turning point in my life as a new mom and I desperately need a change. I've been applying to different jobs and pitching freelance articles and other ideas, but so far have gotten radio silence from the universe. It's frustrating and discouraging - especially considering the time and effort I've put into these endeavors. I'm trying to keep hope alive and trust that eventually something will break my way, but it's hard. And it's lonely. Maybe reading some other stories on this thread will provide some inspiration.
I'm not to sure about big breaks, but I would say many pivotal moments and the fruits of faithfulness and persistence. You, Jeff Goins, were part of several of those pivotal moments. The Art of Work made a huge difference for me, and relationships from the online communities you started impacted me deeply. I'm still in touch with people from groups like Real Authors Don't Starve. Having the opportunity to write a guest post for your blog at a time when my personal world was awash with hurt and heartache both gave me hope and validated my pursuit of writing. Now, a month shy of my 12th book releasing (one of them an award-winner), I'm so grateful for the encouragement that came not only from your books and groups but from you. Am I a bestseller? No, but I know my work is good, and I can stand behind it. And I know it impacts the lives it touches. Thank you for making a difference in my life.
I think a lot of "breaks" happen this way, by embracing the gifts we're given and walking through the struggle until the victory on the other side reveals the growth and progress we couldn't see in the battle.
I believe my first big break was when I submitted a personal article/essay about a day in my college life back in 2002. I was 18, heartbroken and expelled from school all in the name of love. I didn't think I would get a call from the editor to publish it. I was simply sharing my heart. My parents of course thought it was petty. That it had no real essence. That I should've been talking about the real problems of this world like hunger and corrupt politicians instead of sharing my hopelessly in love case. I got paid 545 Philippine pesos (about $12 and some change in current US $$). I just admit it validated me as a writer and I wish I pursued this career. I'm a nurse now and still writing on the side, hoping someday I would find my audience and vice versa and make a living out of something I truly feel connected to. I do love my career as a nurse, I feel empowered helping people. But to say writing has never left my mind, body and soul is an understatement...
I was seventeen, sitting on my bed playing guitar in a townhouse just big enough for my defunct family but too small for the life I was dreaming of one state away. Soon, the cerulean blue cordless in my bedroom started ringing, interrupting my reverie with what turned out to be the best news of my life, at the time. Some of the best news, even still.
"Kristine, we're so thrilled to say you've been selected as one of Belmont's four Presidential Scholars. We can't wait for you to join us this fall!"
There was no other way, no other next step that would've brought me to the place I knew I was meant to be. Were it not for a handful of admissions counselors (who would go on to be mentors and later, colleagues) and a board of directors who saw, believed, and hoped the same things for me I so longed for but thought were beyond my grasp... my entire story would be different.
This was the "big break" that changed the trajectory of my life forever, laying the foundation for where I am today -- albeit still wobbly, at times. When I think back on that moment, I'm that girl singing about hope all over again, stunned at a dream so clear, coming true.
It never fails to stun me.
After grad school I found myself working as an hourly-paid editor for Fortune 100 companies, but my soul longed to edit books for publishing companies.
A year later I made the leap into the freelance deep. Went on a cross-country trip to a writer's conference, prayers in one hand and determination in the other.
I had appointments and great conversations. But no leads yet.
Until I ended up sitting next to a senior editor from a small publishing company who was looking for editors. We exchanged business cards.
I received my first joy-job paycheck five months later.
And now, six years later and several award-winning titles under my belt, the most rewarding piece is the meaningful friendships with authors and industry professionals.
My big break came a few years into starting a small greeting card company in the late 1990's. I would exhibit at big trade shows and feel very, very small with my 30 card designs on a rack. One year the buyer from Target Stores stopped by my little booth and left her business card (I was in the bathroom at the time, no less!). I called her when I got back to Minneapolis, my home at the time -- and where Target is headquartered. We met in her big office and she agreed to test my card line in 35 stores. That was the beginning of what later became my book publishing career -- and Target has remained a customer to this day.
In looking back I've had a few great big breaks in my life and it amazes me that most of them were all about being at the right place, at the right time. I came across jobs in the commercial music industry in Chicago/New York first as office staff in studios and production companies and then I got to sing on Spanish commercials. Moved to Nashville and once again worked at a Recording Studio on the Row it was there where I got my biggest break ever - met my husband.
We had a wonderful family of three, I conceived one month into being married - a miracle child. That child, our son Michael left this world in a terrible accident two years ago and now I'm left with "what's my next big break?" and do I even want one.
Friends have encouraged me to write a book, like so many other grieving parents do but I think there's enough of them out there...
I've never been at this place in my life where I just don't have it in me to dream right now
My big break happened when I was 10, and win a writing contest. Never stop writing after that. Its my form of therapy, and wrting helped me a lot as psychotherapist
My big break wasn’t - and I was pissed, yet it was hugely beneficial. When I started my first business, I had moved to the big city but was still close with my best friend and his dad who was a multimillionaire after selling his sawmill. I had heard that the dad had funded a couple of small startups, and so I called to see if he would be able to help me with some financing. “Hugo, he said, you don’t need my help”. Didn’t talk to him for a year. But he was right and I’m still glad I had the opportunity to figure it out for myself!
My BIG BREAK was not out in the world. As with you, this isn't any of those glamorous stories about someone who shattered any glass ceilings, achieved any writing awards, or has any following on any platforms. In a nutshell, I Am Nobody. That's why I feel called to write a Comment, as you requested, sharing my unique tale of getting that ONE Big Break. I recently experienced mine, although it has been developing through many years.
Who Am I? Retired. Active. Throwback to the 60's and 70's. Seen much in this lifetime and lived many places. Rolling Stone still gathering no moss. I've been a closet writer for 40 years. I started with poetry and wanted to write lyrics. Eventually, the writing morphed to story-telling, usually from a first person POV. From snarky to insightful, from cynical to fruitful, from angry to encouraging, my writing has morphed so many times I should be fined for casting so many skins!
To my Big Break. It didn't come from outside. Well, yes, I've been Influenced by Schools of Higher Consciousness and Eastern Philosophy, however MY BIG BREAK was actually a Breakthrough. You see, I've discovered my unique talent for writing and no longer see it as shameful. I Am proud of what I pen. More importantly, I feel compelled to now share my work with the world.
This is a huge step in Life for me, personally and (hopefully) professionally, my latest Life Event! Thanks for the opportunity to share, to expose myself (so to speak!), and say this One Thing:
I AM SO HAPPY AND GRATEFUL.
After 10 years in construction—a job I hated—I plucked up the courage to apply to art school. People told me not to apply to too good a school in case I didn't get in. I ignored them and applied to the best.
I found out I'd gotten into Central Saint Martins at 5am on a London bus, and was so excited that I got off the bus and walked along Great Portland Street for almost an hour, till I found a McDonald's (the only thing open) and ate the best cheeseburger I'd ever eaten.
About a year into art school, I saw one of the two tutors who'd interviewed me, and I went up to her to thank her for giving me a place. After a bit of back and forth, she remembered me, and said that she'd had to fight for me as the other tutor didn't want to give me a place. I dread to think what I'd be doing now if she'd not done that. Art school totally changed my life. I hope I get to give someone a life changing break like that one day!
Well, to make a 51-years-long story short...I spent 25 years in corporate marketing before deciding to escape it all by going to grad school in Italy to pursue a Master in Photography. At some point in the school year I was wrestling a whole lot with the fact that I really felt I was first a writer, then a photographer. One of my instructors told me, "Being a writer is a strength in this situation, not a weakness, so don't run away from it. Why not embrace it by combining your writing with your photography?" It sounds so terribly obvious now, but at the time I just felt like I was being given permission to really be ME (which is someone quite different than all my classmates). That was a major turning point for me. It is, of course, possible I would have eventually arrived at this conclusion on my own, but I'm grateful that I got a good hard nudge in this direction by this insightful gentleman.
When I was a stay-at-home mom in the mid-eighties a friend showed me how to dry-brush stencil, a traditional technique for decorating almost anything. After embellishing some rooms in my house and switching to my airbrush for paint application I started designing my own stencils. A house painter friend mentioned that his clients were asking for that kind of thing and there might be a market for it. Soon after, another friend asked if I would design a stencil and decorate some rooms in her new home, and I felt this delight that I might "have something" there. Within a couple months by word of mouth I was as booked as I wanted to be and my 9 year old dubbed me The Mad Stencilist, which stuck! This led to hundreds of custom projects in interiors and accessories, developing and marketing my own line of stencils, teaching workshops nationally, appearing on television, having my work featured in books and magazines, making instructional videos, learning a wider variety of paint and finishing techniques. In the late 90s my husband quit his job to come to work with me full time, taking care of the business end so I could just design and paint. We had one of the first websites for stencils and the first one with online ordering that he built. We opened a teaching studio in the early 2000s, hosting workshops with teachers and students from as far away as France, Greece and Brazil to gather in our little town in the Sierra Foothills.
What I have always been struck by is how just a simple word of encouragement from one or two people was enough to get me "off the fence" about initiating something. A phone call about my designs was a deciding factor to launch my own line. An invitation to teach at a national convention started an important and satisfying income stream. The confidence they showed in me gave me the confidence to proceed. I would ask myself if I would regret not trying something. If the answer was yes, it was full steam ahead. I had nearly died at 25 from a ruptured appendix and realized that the rest of my life was "gravy" and I wasn’t going to waste it. I have always felt that I’m an ordinary person who has lived an extraordinary life. I was not a good student, had no college education or anything but an immediate business plan, but somehow things turned out better than I could have imagined at the time. Of course, not everything worked and there were problems and setbacks. There will always be in business, but how you handle those issues is what sets you apart from your competitors. This year I’m turning 70 and still painting, still teaching a bit, enjoying my family and dogs, traveling, hiking and singing playing music on the side.
PS The two most pivotal things I have ever done were to quit smoking (2-3 packs a day in my 20s) and have my problematic teeth fixed. So much of this I would never have done otherwise.
About ten years ago I was involved in some on-line discussions about tabletop gaming and the subject of Appendix N in the Dungeon Master's Guide came up. That is a list of fiction recommended by Gary Gygax, who wrote the DMG.
One of the blogs I was following said that he wanted to see more of the kinds of stories listed in that appendix and decided to try his hand at publishing a magazine specifically focused on old school action and adventure stories.
He put out a call for what he called "Sword & Planet" stories--a mix of SF and Fantasy with a strong theme of adventure, similar to Edgar Rice Burroughs's Barsoom and Tarzan novels. I decided, what the heck, I'd give it shot.
Thus started my long term relationship with the publisher Cirsova. I have since published four collections of short stories with them (and have the fifth in the pipeline for this Fall). The publisher has a background in the independent music business and has used his experience to build a small but very loyal audience. I like to think we've learned together, but I'm sure I've learned a lot more from him than he has from me.
Still not at a point where I can quit my day job, but I'm consistently growing my audience.
I’ve had so many big breaks that it would be difficult to count them. Maybe I should write a book about the top two dozen. Thanks for the prompt to think of that.