The Knowledge Shared by Churchill and My Coffee Cup

It’s time to revisit the name of this blog, and where it came from—www.whatifyoucouldnotfail.com.

In 2003, I resigned from a job I had been at for eleven-and-a-half years. Ten and a half of those years were heaven; the last twelve months, not so much. A few years later, after a stint with another firm, I struck out on my own.  It was a weird time, with some scary decisions and many sleepless nights, but it has worked out for the better. In the middle of it all, one of my sons gave me a coffee cup, saying, “Here, Dad, this reminds me of you.” 

Across the front of the cup was a quote: “What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?”

That quote became one of my mantras (there’s another one that I’ll discuss in a later blog). What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?

I equate writing to my experience in sales.  I don’t consider myself a true salesperson, but I have learned a few things.

Sales Rule #1: If you don’t make the call, if you don’t give the pitch, if you don’t ask for the business, I guarantee you will never get the sale. So many times I hear, “I can’t stand the rejection.” How do you know you’ll be rejected? You’ve never made the call.

The writing equivalent of this is that if you never write the novel, if you never send out the agent queries, if you never follow up with the publisher, you will never see your words in print. You have to do these things.

Sales Rule #2: It takes an average of nine calls to a prospect to close the sale. Most salespeople quit after the fourth call.

The writing equivalent of this is persistence. At a recent seminar I attended on why writers don’t get published, one of the top reasons was that they give up too soon. After a handful of rejections, they tuck the manuscript away and go back to their day job.

What do you call a writer you never gives up? Published.  

Winston Church Hill once said, “Never give in. Never, never, never.” My coffee cup says, “What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?”

As writers, we have to believe in our story. We have to believe in our ability to tell it. We have to believe it will make a difference.