Assalaamu alaikum Reader,

On Saturday, I submitted a picture book that I've been working on for over 5 years to a publisher. I submitted it on the last day of their deadline, and even then, I had to force myself to do it.

I wrote this story before I had taken any courses on writing for kids. I was only writing short stories at the time, but I loved reading picture books and wanted to try writing one. Soon after, I signed up for a kidlit writing course which was being taught by an author whose picture books I loved. We were able to submit our writing for feedback, so I decided to share that story.

The instructor shared some editing tips with me and also mentioned some things that were strong in my story. Then she told me that while my story had potential, I should work on something else because there were too many recently published picture books on the topic I was writing about. She basically told me that I had missed the train.

I struggled with that advice. At the time, I hadn't started teaching or coaching writers myself, but something about what she said felt really off to me.

So what if others had written on the same topic and their books had done well? I didn't write my story to copy them. In fact, I had been sitting on the idea of my story for several years before I even had the courage to write a first draft. I was inspired to write it after an experience that my niece had. And my teacher's advice to me was, don't bother with it??

I put the draft away and focused on writing more short stories, a genre that I felt confident in. But every now and then, I would remember that story and I would tinker with it.

I took more writing courses on picture books, and with every revision, I felt like the story was getting stronger.

Alhamdulillah, my confidence in that story and in my picture-book writing skills grew over the years. Last month, I submitted it to another picture book author for critique and she gave me some very helpful advice on tweaks I could make so the story had more tension in it. One of her comments even gave me a new idea to make the ending more impactful.

I revised the story one final time. And Alhamdulillah, I was really happy with how it turned out. I knew there wasn't anything more I could do with it.

Yet even after all that, I still hesitated to submit the story to a publisher. Something just kept pulling me back. And I think it was the fear of hearing that first teacher's advice come back to me in the form of a rejection. I was afraid the publisher would tell me, Sorry, there are other, better books on this topic. You've missed the train.

Never mind that most publishers won't send a rejection if they're not going ahead with publication. But it's hard to shake off the negative voices in our head, especially when they're the voices of people we had put our trust in, people who we were vulnerable with and shared our writing for feedback.

Sometime on Saturday evening, I told myself, just send the story out. There's nothing left to do with it.

I know the story is as strong as it can get, Alhamdulillah. And I know the story is doing nothing by sitting on my computer. I opened my laptop, read the story one more time, made a few final edits, and then submitted it.

InshaAllah, I plan to submit it to more places, but for now, I'm celebrating the fact that I moved this story out of my folder and into the Inbox of a publisher.

I wanted to share this with you because I know that I'm not alone in my experiences.

I'm not alone in having received discouraging advice from writers I trusted. I'm not alone in fearing rejection. And I'm not alone in sitting on a story, because doing nothing is easier than making the decision to start sending it out.

I hope you take this as a sign to take action and send your work out, especially if it's a story that you know is ready but you've just been procrastinating on finding a place to submit or doing those final edits before it'll be ready.

And if you know it's not ready, I hope you'll do the work you need to do to make it ready. Whatever that work look like, don't wait 5 years like I did. Doing something, no matter how small, is better than doing nothing.

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With best wishes & duas for your writing,

Hajera

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P.S. I'd love to hear your thoughts if this email helped you in any way. Please hit reply and let me know. And don't forget to take action on your writing today 💛

How I can support you in your writing:

✍🏽 Transform your writing by learning craft and getting my feedback on your stories: Join me inside Grounded Writers, a creative writing membership for Muslim women​

📖 Find fiction intimidating and not sure how to go from writing about your life to writing fictional stories? It's easier than you think. Take my Ease Into Fiction course​

📞 Struggling with your writing and need some guidance from someone who has been where you are now? Book a call with me and get advice that works for you and gets you feeling excited about your writing again.​