Zoe Sugg, Penguin, and why I'm an Indie Author

Let me start by saying that I know that I am behind the times and this story broke a few days ago, let me also say that until today I had no idea who Zoella, or Zoe Sugg was, nor had I heard of her debut book Girl Online.

More importantly, I have nothing against Zoe Sugg, or her book.

That said, this story caught my attention today. For anyone who doesn’t know (as I didn’t until I started researching this blog post) Zoe Sugg is a YouTube celebrity with millions of followers, who was offered a book deal by Penguin books, and whose debut novel outsold the debut offerings of JK Rowling and Dan Brown in their first week of sales.

Now let’s ignore the fact that neither Dan Brown, nor JK Rowling had millions of followers before the publication of their books, and that their debut books sold purely on the basis of their writing talents, because that’s not what this post is about.

This post is about the ‘revelations’ that Zoe Sugg didn’t write her book completely on her own. In fact it now seems that she had the help of ghost writers and editors.

Here’s the thing. I have no problem with Zoe Sugg. She made a smart business decision that is no doubt going to make her a tidy sum of money. She’d have been silly to turn it down.

I have no idea how much or how little she wrote of the book. But there was one quote from her that spoke volumes. To me at least. When talking about the involvement from the editorial team, she said:

“Everyone needs help when they try something new.”

She’s right. They do. But I think where it rubs me up the wrong way is this. Most writers don’t publish their first book. Most writers bury their first book somewhere and hope it never sees the light of day. Because we know that we have to develop our craft. We have to hone our writing skills. We write and we write, and we edit like crazy and we become better writers. Most of us don’t get that first book deal handed to us on a silver platter. And out there is the ghost writer, who did hone her craft, who developed her skill and became a great writer, and who isn’t getting the credit because she’s not a big enough name. And that makes me sad.

Sugg has said that the characters and idea are all her own. But there is so much more that goes into writing a book. Weeks, months, even years of working on plots, sub-plots, dialogue, character growth, the prose itself. These are the hard bits. These are the bits that take skill.

Trust me, Zoe Sugg, coming up with the idea is the easy part.

But no, my problem is not with Sugg, the problem I have is with the publishers. In fact, with the traditional publishing industry in general.

This whole story is just another sign of how the traditional publishing industry is failing. Failing itself, failing truly talented authors out there, and more importantly, failing readers themselves.

It seems that there is an ever increasing slew of celebrities publishing books – almost all of them ghost written. These books sell in huge numbers because of the ‘brand’ behind them. Great for the publishers. Not so great for the rest of us.

I understand completely that publishing is a business. And the goal of any business is to make money. Otherwise what’s the point. But increasingly, it seems, the publishing industry is throwing away any kind of integrity, or standards, in the search of big sales.

There is a quote from Penguin that I find particularly interesting:

“As publishers our role is, and always has been, to find the very best talent and help them tell their story and connect them with readers.”

Right. But the problem is, they didn’t go out looking for incredibly talented young writers to hone and encourage their talent. They went looking for a big name that would sell books. They didn’t care about the content, they cared only about the name on the front cover. Their role as publishers should be to find the very best writers. Not just any celebrity who can sell a few copies, even if the work isn’t their own.

Which tells us what?

That traditional publishing isn’t interested in finding new voices to tell you unique and interesting stories, or about finding beautifully written works of art. They’re interested in sales. Full stop. End of story. And I have to admit, in the laziest way possible. Who needs marketing when you have a book that’s guaranteed to sell?

And people wonder why more and more writers such as myself aren’t even trying to go the traditional publishing route. We’re not interested because we know they’re not interested.

What message does this send to the struggling writer out there? Want to write a bestseller? Don’t write an amazing, original, well written book, just have a lot of followers on Twitter or Youtube, and then let someone else write the book for you.

Every time a story like this comes out I lose just that little bit more respect for the traditional publishing industry, and I ask myself, is it any wonder that more and more writers are turning to the Indie, or self-published route?

I think not.

Fighting Writers Block

Now, I don't know about the rest of the writers out there, but there are days when the words simply won't come.

Or in my current case, weeks, possibly even months.

I couldn't tell you exactly when it started. When I suddenly began to find it hard to get the words that were in my head down on paper.

But for some reason the flow has stopped.

Instead of my typing skills barely being able to keep up with my brain, I find myself staring at a blank screen for hours on end. Looking at the little blinking cursor.

And if I do manage to write, I end up deleting most of it in a fit of frustration. Even blogs. I can't tell you how many times I wrote and deleted this post.

I'm afraid that for once, I don't have any advice. Instead I'm asking for it. What do any of you do when the writers block simply won't shift? What are your tricks and ideas for getting rid of writers block?

I'd love to hear them!

On a separate note, huge congratulations to my fellow Rock the Book Chick, Kate on the release of her second book, Evolution. If you haven't read the 'E' series yet, get yourselves on Amazon and buy a copy. E was my favourite book of the year by far, and Evolution comes in a very close second.

Have a great weekend!

Why do we do it?

A week ago today I published my third book.

You'd think it would get easier with every book, less doubt, more confidence.

I'll tell you this - I was as terrified about a terrible response to the third book as I was about the first. Possibly more.

In fact, I spent the three or four days before Blood Calling came out, asking my Other Half if I was doing the right thing. After all, I kept telling him, it's not like other books are flying off the shelves. Why do I keep putting myself through it all, for so little reward?

Well, two things happened over the course of the following week that answered my question for me.

The first was a couple of brilliant reviews of my first book, The Last Knight. Reviews from readers who had really connected with the book, and loved it.

The second was that I got stuck into writing something that will probably never see the light of day - but I loved writing it none the less.

The point is, these two things reminded me of why I write. And it's not for sales.

The two reviews were from free copies I had provided. I didn't make a dime. But it doesn't matter because I always wrote not for the money, but because I love telling a story that can entertain people. Even if the only person it entertains is me.

I knew when I got into indie publishing that it wasn't about the money. I was never going to make a fortune. It was about getting my books out there, finding people to read my stories (other than just my mother and my Other Half). It was about touching one or two, or if possible, a thousand readers.

But it was never about the money.

Sometimes with the promoting and advertising, and desperately trying to get heard, I think I forget about that. The obsessive (sometimes) checking of the sales graph, the constant research into how I can get my book to a wider audience. That becomes the only focus.

It's good sometimes to remember that I write because I love to write. And those sales? They're just a bonus.

What about everyone else? Do you ever lose track of why you're doing this? What things remind you why you write?

Have a good weekend everyone!

David Estes talks about Indie success: Beating the Odds

Today's blog post comes to us from David Estes, an author who has proven that Indies can overcome the challenges of the market and create successful writing careers for themselves.  If you have not yet read any of David's books, check them out.  I just finished my first one (David's new release, Brew) and I am now officially a *fangirl*.  Enter to win a free copy in the giveaway below.  - Kate

Beating the Odds

by David Estes

Due to the explosion of ebooks and the destruction of publishing barriers, there are now literally thousands of Indie authors all screaming at the top of their lungs that their books are worth reading. That’s pretty daunting if you’re trying to make your book(s) stand out amongst the crowd. When I started seriously writing four years ago, I was CLUELESS as to what I was really getting into. And yet, somehow, some way, I’ve managed to “make it” after a zillion mistakes, a lot of hard work, and plenty of good old-fashioned luck. Although I don’t pretend to have all the answers or the magic bullet for success, here’s my story along with a few tips that have helped me get from bored full-time accountant who liked to write stories to full-time Indie author.

Roll back the tape of my life. I hated being an accountant. Desperately hated it. Long hours, high stress, corporate politics. So I quit my job and switched to another desk job that I’d heard would be less hours and less stress. I had two weeks off in between, and my Aussie wife asked what I was going to do with my break. “Uh, sit on the beach?” I said. She gave me that raised-eyebrow look and said, “Why don’t you start writing that book you always talk about?”

Although the thought of even looking at my laptop during my vacation gave me a stomachache, I listened to her pointed advice. I did it. I started writing. She hasn’t been able to get me to stop since. In four years I’ve written twenty books and published sixteen of them. Two years in I was able to quit my boring day job to pursue my dreams: I became a full-time fiction writer. 

My first trilogy was a huge success, right? Um, no. Not even close. When I published The Evolution Trilogy (a unique non-religious spin on angels and demons) a year after I started working on it, I was ready. Ready for success. Ready for a big payoff from all my hard work. I’d been reading about Amanda Hocking’s success as an Indie author and I said, “Hey, why not me?” Well, because my writing wasn’t good enough. My book idea was awesome and unique and had huge potential, but my writing was amateurish, sloppy, and in desperate need of a good editor. While I wouldn’t say The Evolution Trilogy bombed (it has sold 3,000 books in 4 years), it didn’t come anywhere near my expectations, and it most definitely wasn’t paying any real bills. The reviews were mediocre at best, which was a major reality check. Writing wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. At first I was heartbroken. Thousands of hours of hard work down the drain. All that hope dashed on the rocky coastline of failure. I didn’t have what it takes—never would.

SCREW. THAT.

I’m the type of person that hates failure. I don’t like losing, especially at something that I love. And I LOVE writing. That’s a major key to success as an Indie author. If your goals (like mine were) are to make millions and be rich and famous, then you’re in the wrong business. Most of us will make a few bucks here and there, and a lucky few will be able to scrape out a living. Even fewer still (the Amanda Hocking’s, Elle Casey’s and Hugh Howey’s of the world) will hit it big. Right now I’m in the middle category—scraping out a living. I’m not complaining, I’d rather scrape out a living as a writer than be earning six digits a year in some job I hate. I’m happy.

My second series was the one that allowed me to quit my day job. Originally I planned another trilogy, but eventually the project turned into a 7-book epic series that combined two separate trilogies, The Dwellers Saga and The Country Saga, in a 7^th book that brought characters and plotlines together. So far it’s sold in excess of 30,000 copies in just over two years.

That brings me to another key for success: Building your backlist. Unless you’re extremely lucky and far more talented than me, writing one book a year like most traditionally published authors simply won’t cut it as an Indie. I wrote and published the 7 books in the Dwellers/Country Saga in 20 months. By that point I’d written 1 million words in three years. There are a few good reasons for writing and publishing like a fiend. One, practice is the only way to get better. By having a crazy-aggressive writing schedule you’ll force yourself to improve. Two, every new reader multiplies your potential sales. Suddenly a new reader doesn’t mean just one sale. It means a potential sale for every single one of your books, particularly if your books are in a series. It also means you can magnify the impact of giving away free copies of your books. I’ll pretty much give away an ebook of The Moon Dwellers to anyone who wants one. Why? Because if they like it, they might buy the other SIX books in the series! Quick side note: the BEST way to give away free ebooks is buy making your book free on Kindle through Amazon’s KDP Select program. The BEST way to advertise that is via BookBub, which seems extremely expensive but which is WELL worth the money. As an example, I advertised The Moon Dwellers for FREE on BookBub and had 30,000+ downloads in three days. Then I did Fire Country a month later and had 27,000+ downloads. Obviously, I made zero royalties from these downloads, but sales of the sequels took off, and I had four straight months of 2,000+ full price sales. These months changed my life. You might have tried BookBub. You might have been rejected multiple times. I was too. They are extremely selective, which is also what makes them so valuable. Keep trying. Continue to build your reviews on Amazon. If you can get over 100 with a decent average rating, that’ll give you a chance at being accepted by BookBub. Don’t give up!

So you’re probably thinking the Dwellers Saga was an instant success, right? Try again. My third year as an Indie was decent, far better than I ever could have expected. Although I wasn’t making enough to live on, my wife and I had savings and we decided to quit our jobs to make a go of my dream, with her as my editor. A big risk, but that’s what life is anyway: one massive risk. My writing was improving, and I wasn’t going it alone anymore. I’d learned the hard lesson that good writing takes work. It also takes serious criticism from serious critics. I started using a beta reading team, and I stopped brushing negative feedback aside as “Just one person’s opinion.” I realized my writing sort of sucked and that I needed to learn how to improve it. I focused on every single sentence, every single chapter. Making them tighter. Making them better. I read books on writing, like Stephen King’s On Writing and Donald Maas’s Writing the Breakout Novel. I improved with each book, and my readers noticed. They appreciated my efforts. They were fully along for the ride. 

Partway through the third year I started a Goodreads fan group. Right off the bat I had 300 members. Woohoo!! I was ecstatic. Over the moon. Six months later I was churning out the sequels to The Moon Dwellers and I still had around 300 members. What? I couldn’t understand why my membership wasn’t growing. The Dwellers Saga was getting great reviews, but my fan group was dead. No activity. No interest. I decided to change things up. My biggest problem was that I made the group all about me. And who was I? Nobody. Just another person who writes books, another tree in the forest. So I changed things up. I made the group all about books. My books, someone else’s books, reading in general. Anything was fair game. It became a place where anyone could hang out and talk about their interests, passions, and experiences. The group started growing and now has more than 2,600 members, many of whom have never, and may never, read my books, which is perfectly fine by me, so long as they read other books. You see, it’s NOT all about you as a writer. It’s about READERS. The more readers we have, the more readers enjoy reading, the better it is for everyone. Become part of a book community, not for the purpose of selling your books, but because you love books like all the other people. I recommend Goodreads, but there are many others out there. Take it seriously. Participate in discussions. Make friends. Don’t spam about your book. Readers will realize you’re a valuable member of the community and they’ll click on your profile and discover you’re an author and get EXCITED about that fact and potentially try your books. I’ve had numerous people message me on Goodreads to say they’ve been my friend for over a year and never knew I was an author, but loved all the book recommendations I gave them (books that weren’t mine!). In most cases they said they’d give my books a shot. 

Year four. The best year. Part luck. Part hard work. Part good timing. The Dwellers Saga was listed as one of 15 Series to Read if you Enjoyed The Hunger Games on Buzzfeed. Sales shot up. A couple movie inquiries came in, as well as a TV inquiry (nothing has panned out so far, but it’s still cool!). An agent contacted me and eventually signed me. I wrote another trilogy, Brew, and although it had interest from publishers including a purchase offer, my agent and I decided to sign on with Amazon White Glove. Brew, and its sequel, Boil, hit the top ten on genre bestseller lists almost immediately. I stopped eating away at our savings and started paying bills with my royalties—ALL our bills. It could happen to you, but don’t expect it to. Expect to have to fight for every reader. Treat every reader like your ONLY reader. Be generous with your free books, especially the first book in a series. Never stop writing. Never. Do it because you love it and good things will follow.

Never give up. 

For more specific Indie Author Advice from David Estes, check out his dedicated author advice page on his blog here: http://davidestesbooks.blogspot.com/search/label/advice

Also, David Estes loves connecting with fellow Indie authors as well as readers, feel free to contact him on one of his favorite social networking sites:

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3167424.David_Estes

Blog: http://davidestesbooks.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Davidestesbooks

Twitter: https://twitter.com/davidestesbooks

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Write for Whom?

For most of my life, everything I have written has been for someone else's approval. In grades K through 12 I wrote for the teachers' approval and grades. Always in the back of my mind were concerns about how to word this, or was there a better word to use than that one? If I change my punctuation, will that garner better acceptance? Is this sentence too long? Can this paragraph be shortened? Did I use enough references in my bibliography?

College set a higher standards for writing... higher stakes with which to contend; another's approval now being more critical for securing grades which could effect my future life choices. Professors strong-arming for essays that supported their views, not necessarily my own. I was writing strictly for them.

Being a manager in the military brought yet another requirement... proficiency in technical writing. Regulations being very precise in directing what to do, who could do it, when to do it, how to do it, and why it had to be done. Step by step instructions, written to the lowest level, with nothing left out. Scrutinized at all levels of up the chain of command before being accepted and put into print.

Then came my time... time to write what I wanted to. After years of writing for everyone else I found it awkward. Now writing for anyone who might read my work, but who? I had no idea. I was writing for anyone... for no one. It seemed like starting all over... writing for someone else's approval, but now with no set guidelines and unknown expectations.

Poetry was the first outlet in which I found I could express myself, in my own style, letting feelings and emotions flow. There were no formal guidelines, no expectations, no rules to follow. Writing became therapy for life experiences, so I was in total control. I was writing for myself. Thoughts flowed faster than I could sometimes keep up with. It didn't matter if it made sense to anyone else as long as it made sense to me. In sharing some of my work I found that others appreciated such honesty and openness; icing on the cake. I discovered that there will be people who will enjoy my work, just as there will be people who will not. Once I made the decision to write for myself I knew I would always have at least one fan; and an ever changing following of readers. My work is always appreciated by one, and not by all. Write to please yourself; followers will find you.

By Steve Hall

 I am a family man, close to my mother and siblings, with three children of my own, three grandchildren, a girlfriend, a college degree, several career endeavors, and retired. With all these riches, I still have what is referred to in the medical field as "brain freeze", as I continue to look for lasting fulfillment in my life.

Find out more about Steve Hall on his site.

Making Deadlines

I don’t know if anyone else has this problem, but keeping my deadlines as an Indie author is probably the one thing I struggle with most.

I have my goals in mind at the start of any project. I give myself the date at which I want to have the first draft finished. I estimate the time it will take me to edit. I factor in the time it takes to make a cover, get my feedback from my beta readers, and format the ebook.

Yet somehow, despite all my planning I always seem to run out of time.

Writer’s block stalls the first draft, editing takes longer than I expected and so on.

But of course the main problem is simply life. Writing, sadly, is not yet my full time, and only job. I have a day job, that admittedly doesn’t take up a huge amount of time, but certainly makes it harder to focus as much as I would like. I have a partner, and a dog, and a house to keep tidy (during first drafts the first thing to get neglected is the housework!).

Yet, I think I have figured out the hardest part. I am the only person who sets my deadlines. I am the only person who cares or suffers when the deadline is missed. Of course, I have readers who are anxious for the next book to come out, but they don’t yet badger me for the sequel. I have no editor nagging at me to get them the latest edits.

The only person I have to push myself, is me.

I wish that I could end this post by offering some advice for other writers who suffer the same thing, but I can’t. I’m still trying to come to terms with this particular problem. So instead I’m going to end with ASKING for advice.

What do other indies do to make sure they stick to their deadlines? What’s your trick for getting yourself to work when you have so much else on your plate? All advice welcome!

Elements to a Story

Character.

Setting.

Plot.

Conflict.

Theme.

The five main elements of every story. 

You need all of them. But what element leads the pack in importance?

A tricky question. If you asked 100 writers, each would have a different answer. I will share with you my thoughts. Agree or not, I hope to at least make you think.

I believe the most important is the least visible: theme. On first thoughts, the theme can seem like the least important. Often times, the theme is not tangible. You cannot touch it and talk to it like you can with your characters. You cannot see it, like you can see the setting of a story. It does not, on first analysis, push your story along like the plot and conflict do. But I hold that your theme is such an important aspect of writing that without a solid understanding of why you are writing, nothing else will fall into place.

Because that is ultimately the question; why are you writing your story? Just like if you were building a structure, the reason why would dictate what it would look like. A home for a family is vastly different than an office building.

So what is your message? What do you want your readers to come away with? I have heard some claim that it is not our job as authors to actually go about trying to influence our readers… but I hold that that it is simply impossible. Does your villain win or lose? Does the love interest conquer and win the love of the heroine? Is your character stagnant or do they grow throughout your story? If so, how? Each and every decision you make, tells your reader something. So, I say that you should be deliberate in what you tell your reader.

What is your theme? Know it. Surround yourself with it. What lesson will your character learn? Do you want to make your readers laugh or cry? Do you want to offer gentle hope or expose stark realities? A story can be complex and make a reader experience many things, but one theme must take precedence. Gathering answers to all these questions; truly understanding your theme, then will help you understand your characters. It will help you place your novel in the right setting. It will help you chose the right story and conflict. And most importantly, when you are stuck in the middle of your manuscript, feeling lost (because we all know that it happens!) you can ask yourself just one question: What is my theme? And in doing so, you can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. You can plot out your next move.

As authors, we know that things change during the process of writing. At least for my sister and me, all aspects of the story grow and develop as we write. All aspects alter somewhat, except for our theme. Our theme is our constant and as long as we try to stay true to why we started writing our story, everything else can fall into place.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree or do you believe that another element holds more importance than theme? We would love to hear your ideas.

By May Nicole Abbey

Shawnette Nielson

Caroline Gregory

Caroline Gregory and Shawnette Nielson (known as May Nicole Abbey) are a sister writing team who, despite the incongruity of their very different characters, always seem to be on the same page when it comes to their passion for reading and writing. The difference in their personalities create a well rounded vision of what life should be; stable yet chaotic. College, construction, motherhood, wrestling, management experience, or traveling the world as a nanny, all fall under the experiences of this pair.

Find out more about them on their website, or look for their books on Amazon.

Artistic Choices AKA You Can't Please Everyone

I think of myself as a crafty writer.  The words are important.  To me, it's as important how you tell about what happened as it is that you have an engaging, interesting story.  One of my reviewers called me "a magician with words", which is embarrassingly flattering, but also a beautiful metaphor for a story.  I love the idea that a well-told story is a weaving of a special kind of magic, subtly casting a spell on the reader. 

When I wrote E, I made some very careful choices about how I wanted to tell the story.  One of those choices was in regards to world-building.  I chose not to go in depth about the complexities of the society I had created.  I did not explain how certain things had come to be, aside from dropping a few hints.  My story is told in first person, so I felt that the scope of the world was limited to what my character was seeing and perceiving, and that the immediate threats to her well-being far superceded any pondering over government, politics, and so on.  I felt that world-building needed to happen on that immediate level.  On the level that was most relevant to the story.  Did that leave some questions?  Yeah, of course it did.  However, that was also my intent.  I wanted my readers to ask those questions, as they are relevant to the ongoing story.  I thought of them as teasers that would draw my readers into the bigger picture.

To a large extent, this all worked as intended.  I have those readers who totally got what I was doing, and they are on board one hundred percent.  I've had lovely reviews that have praised the world-building and many readers who have made comments about the unique world, etc.  Then, on the other hand, I have a handful of readers who did not like that I held those things back.  They wanted answers to the questions that were raised.  They wanted them now!  So, essentially, the choices I made did not please everyone.  However, they did have the desired effect in both groups of raising questions and offering teasers that lead into the next story.

The hard part is when people take off a star on a review for something that I intended to be a certain way, and absolutely would not change about my story.  I love reviews, and even the ones that are not entirely positive are well worth reading in my opinion.  I love to see what is happening in my readers' minds when they read my story.  But yeah, that missing star can be painful, especially when a reader claims to have loved the story in the review!  I think the thing is, we need to sometimes focus on what readers are saying in reviews, not looking at the missing stars. 

For me, I know that my sequel has to include answers to some of those questions, and more world-building, which is all on track with how it was going to be anyway.  I'm headed in the right direction.  The main lesson I have learned as a writer is that I am never going to be able to please everyone.  That just reinforces that I really write for myself, because I love to write.  Sharing my stories with others is just an added bonus.  I will continue to stay true to what I believe is the best way to craft my stories, and I believe that ultimately, that will lead to success.

The Three Ingredients of Indie Success

There are a lot of different success stories out there, but the failures outweigh them by far in terms of sheer numbers.  So what's the magical formula for Indie success?  As far as I can tell, there are three key ingredients to Indie success.

A Great Book:

If you want to be successful, you need to start with first things first.  You need a great book.  This means that editing, formatting, and even the cover should be the absolute best that you can produce.  Never settle for OK.  Your book needs to scream five-stars from all angles.  Take the time.  Invest the effort.  Pour every ounce of your creative genius into that baby, then refine, refine, refine until it is as close to perfect as you can get.

Luck:

Yeah.  I know.  I don't like this one either.  But let's face it.  Luck plays a huge part in this game.  The market is constantly changing, so marketing tactics that work one minute don't work the next.  Add to that fact that the market is entirely flooded with Indie books.  Add to that fact that many of those Indie books probably shouldn't be published yet because they are full of errors, etc, (sorry, but it's true), and thus readers are wary of even picking up an Indie book in the first place....  Luck plays a huge role.  The chances of someone finding your book are right up there with the chances of finding the proverbial needle in a haystack.  Yay.

Persistence:

Out of all the factors, this is the one that you have the most control over.  Sure, you control the effort you put into the creation of your book, but there are certain innate talent factors that we have no say in.  We can refine our skills, but each of us have a limit, whether we like it or not.  It's part of being human.  However, you have total control over your actions, and that is where persistence comes in.  You must stubbornly refuse to give up.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  You have to be like a rabid pit bull.  You have to hold on to that thing that you believe in, and not let go, no matter how discouraged, how hopeless, how incredibly lost in the sea of Indie authors you feel.  When you feel like giving up, you need to give yourself a pep talk along the lines of "Hell no!", keep your chin up, and keep going.  This is a marathon, folks.  Quitters are automatic losers.  Only the ones who keep going ever have a chance of running into magic ingredient #2, Luck.