here's the thing: rejection is the worst but *self-rejection* is the kiss of death in publishing. it is a beast only you can slay and banish and it’ll keep creeping up on you and tempting you to give up when things seem hopeless, and it is *on you* to tell it to shut the hell up.

realistic mitigating financial/systemic/personal setbacks aside, you are probably not where you are in your publishing journey in large part because self-rejection is an obstacle you haven’t quite learned to overcome yet, and it is imperative that, well, you figure out how to.
find a way to shut out those thoughts that maybe this is it, maybe you should give up. we all have these thoughts, trust me, i do, too. anyone who says they don’t ever feel this way, at any level of the game, is being laughably disingenuous.
do what you need to do to recalibrate: review and celebrate your progress thus far, call that friend who will give you *the talk* asap, refocus on your goals and adjust them for changing circumstance if need be, but *don’t let yourself get in your own way.*
it's so hard, i get it. but it won’t happen without a strong support system and a certain pigheadedness about your own talent, or how right your instincts are about deserving to be published, or how fantastic and worthy the books you’re pushing out on behalf of others are.
i honestly think this is a business not just of talent and (bucketloads of) patience, but of competitive tenacity. the kind of tenacity that translates into the confidence and determination that’s infectious and necessary for others to believe in your work.
the kind of tenacity that won’t thrive without a strong and mostly unwavering belief in yourself. and lots of support and naps and writing and comfort food and great mentors and more support but YOU GOT THIS OKAY just… don’t doubt yourself. nothing great will happen if you do.

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I'll begin with the ancient history ... and it goes way back. Because modern humans - and before that, the ancestors of humans - almost certainly originated in Ethiopia. 🇪🇹 (sub-thread):


The first likely historical reference to Ethiopia is ancient Egyptian records of trade expeditions to the "Land of Punt" in search of gold, ebony, ivory, incense, and wild animals, starting in c 2500 BC 🇪🇹


Ethiopians themselves believe that the Queen of Sheba, who visited Israel's King Solomon in the Bible (c 950 BC), came from Ethiopia (not Yemen, as others believe). Here she is meeting Solomon in a stain-glassed window in Addis Ababa's Holy Trinity Church. 🇪🇹


References to the Queen of Sheba are everywhere in Ethiopia. The national airline's frequent flier miles are even called "ShebaMiles". 🇪🇹