If You Write, You ARE a “Real” Writer!

Before I eventually received an offer to publish my first picture book (BRAINSTORM!) in the summer of 2020, I’d been writing manuscripts and poetry for children for more than four years (I’d been a newspaper/ magazine journalist and then a stay-at-home mom prior to that). During those four years, I’d written probably around 25-ish picture book manuscripts and countless poems. I’d queried close to 100 agents and/or publishers and sent dozens of poems to magazines. I was working HARD at learning both the craft and the business of making children’s books. I was doing all the things — reading several hundred picture books a year, taking numerous classes, joining SCBWI, participating in critique groups, attending conferences, listening to writing podcasts, reading blogs, and basically doing everything and anything I could to give myself a chance to one day have one of my manuscripts published as a book.

Then, one day, everything changed. I was having this same exact conversation with someone and my youngest son (who was about 7 years old at the time) happened to be standing by my side. Almost immediately after the person said, “So, what do you do for a living?” my son interrupted,
piping in with extreme enthusiasm and pride, saying:

“SHE’S AN AUTHOR! SHE WRITES BOOKS AND POEMS FOR KIDS!!!” 

It was a major “A-Ha!” moment. Even though he’d responded with the same words I’d always
used, my son’s delivery made all the difference. He said those words with such confidence and certainty that I had no choice but to believe him. I couldn’t help but think: “He’s right! I DO write books and poems for kids. I AM an author! I AM a poet!” From then on, I completely changed my attitude. I no longer told people I was “unpublished” or even “pre-published” but instead, I proudly declared, as my son had: “I am
children’s book author and poet!” and I BELIEVED it. I no longer wrote “manuscripts.” I wrote BOOKS. I created a professional website. I drafted a professional bio. I discovered Canva and “published” my poems on social media. I even created business cards!

I began presenting myself to the world as successful author and poet, and by doing so, ended up taking small but tangible steps toward my goal every day. All of which, by the way, I kept track of on a spreadsheet. Every picture book I read, every poem I submitted, every webinar I attended, etc. all became evidence that I WAS doing the work of a “real” author and poet. (This is something I have continued to do every year since because looking back on my progress reminds me how far I have come.)

And guess what? Within a year, I’d sold my first book, BRAINSTORM! to Sleeping Bear Press (without an agent). A few months later, I sold I WILL ALWAYS BE… (to HarperCollins, also without an agent, via a conference opportunity). A month after that, I received an offer of
representation from my agent. And now, I have thirteen rhyming picture books published or under contract as well as dozens of published poems in magazines and anthologies.

My point? Build it and they will come! Manifest your own destiny! Believe you are the person you one day hope to be!

And, by the way, what I’m talking about is completely different from “fake it till you make it.” If you write – published or not – you are not faking ANYTHING. If you write, you are a writer. You are an author. So, believe that. Present that truth to the world. Take small steps toward your goals every day (go ahead, make those business cards! Build that website! Keep track of all those small steps you take and remind yourself that you ARE making progress), and things will start happening for you. I promise.

FYI, I wrote the first draft of I WILL ALWAYS BE…, the book I sold to HarperCollins, immediately after that experience with my son. As I described, it was during that moment that I finally understood this truth: Whether or not I ever publish a book, and whether or not anyone
else thinks I need to publish a book in order to be a “real” writer, I will always be a writer. I will always make time and space in my life to write because it is what I love to do. I WILL ALWAYS BE… (which finally released in April and is illustrated by the incredible Rahele Jomepour Bell) is all about reminding kids (and adults!) to enjoy all of their passions — whether or not they ever make it to Broadway or the big leagues or do anything “professional” with that passion at all.

I’ll end this post by saying it one last time: Publishing books does not make us writers. WRITING makes us writers. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!

Our blogger “Bullets and Blanks” won a copy of I WILL ALWAYS BE… (donated by HarperCollins). Kaitlynn Leann Sanchez won a copy of WRITE HERE, WRITE NOW (Donated by Capstone) by Rebecca Gardyn Levington.

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Rebecca Gardyn Levington is a children’s book author, poet, and journalist with a particular penchant for penning both playful and poignant picture books and poems – primarily in rhyme. She is the author of WHATEVER COMES TOMORROW (which has been translated into nine languages and is the winner of a Crystal Kite Honor and a Northern Lights Book Award), BRAINSTORM!, AFIKOMAN WHERE’D YOU GO?, LITTLE DREIDEL LEARNS TO SPIN, WRITE HERE WRITE NOW, and I WILL ALWAYS BE… with many more forthcoming. Rebecca writes reviews and conducts author interviews monthly for the Picture Book Builders blog. Her award-winning poems and articles have appeared in numerous anthologies, newspapers, and magazines. She lives with her family in Summit, N.J., where she enjoys bouncing on a mini-trampoline, playing Mah Jongg, and eating chocolate-peanut butter ice cream (although not usually at the same time!). Find out more and sign up for Rebecca’s monthly newsletter at www.RebeccaGardynLevington.com.