Stepping Out — Of Your Comfort Zone

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It’s not too often that something just “comes” to me, like my literary agent recently did. But I’m convinced it was because a year ago, I stepped out of my comfort zone and started the process. Stepping out of our comfort zone can feel like walk off a cliff, doesn’t it? #comfortzone #walkingoffacliff Click to Tweet.

Trying to be published traditionally is a l – o – n – g process, fraught with rejection, disappointment, yet hope. I have more hope now that “Meghan’s Choice” will be published. My agent is young, new, and he’s an energizer bunny. I’m excited to see what he’ll do once we’ve gotten our ducks in a row.

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What did I do a year ago that got me out of my comfort zone? Just about everything. I’m an introvert with rejection issues, and most of these things are way out of my comfort zone.

1. I took a leadership position within my writer’s organization
2. I attended a large national writers conference
3. I entered several writing contests for the novel
4. I networked and made a lot of connections (sometimes this is the hardest)

What happened? How did this work for me?

Last year, I got turned down by an agent, but because he was nice about it, I had no qualms inviting his mother, who is also an agent, to do one of our online chapter meetings this year. I entered a few contests last year, and one this year. You know about Operation 1^st Novel, and how I made the semi-finals. You also know what happened with that.

In my recent posts, I’ve talked about not giving up. Because I didn’t give up, I believe this door opened as a result of the four things I did both last year and this year. I am now a client of Hartline Literary Agency, and happy about it, because it’s the first “real” promise I have that my book will actually get published.

What about you? Have you stepped out of your comfort zone? If you have, leave a comment and let me know. If you haven’t, let me know that too, if you’d like a word of encouragement. But starting out, stepping out of that comfort zone is hard. I understand, but it’s something we should do or we may not be able to move forward. #comfortzone #walkingoffacliff Click to Tweet.