I had a new client phone me at Oxford Literary Consultancy a couple of months ago. He was chauffeur to a world-famous celebrity and had written a non-fiction book about his experiences. I'm not talking B-list celebrity either. This celebrity is up there with Paul McCartney, Elton John and Mick Jagger.
The book was full of exclusive photos never seen before. Better still, Channel 4 was interested in the story and a pilot was being produced for a prime time TV slot in 2007.
Now, this author had just sold his book to a publisher for £50. Can you believe that? Not £500 or even £5000. Or £50K. No - I made him repeat it back to me too!
Signed photos of this same celebrity are currently selling on EBay for over £200 each! And this man had dozens of them, complete with inside secrets about his lifestyle and beliefs. Yet he'd just sold them for the price of a restaurant meal!
Was this, this author's worst hour or was it his finest? I happen to think it was his finest. When he phoned me, he was confused. He had accepted the offer because that's what the publisher told him his book was worth.
Together, we spent several hours brainstorming. I advised him to get out of his publishing contract and then cut down his 15-page synopsis to 2 pages that flagged up the book's selling points. I then made recommendations to several literary agents on this writer's behalf.
This author, started off the week in despair. But by the end of it, he was on top of the world.
Consider these sayings for a moment: 'There is no such thing as a mistake, only an opportunity to learn to do something better.' 'Your worst moments are often your greatest.' and 'Just as you are about to quit, you are about to succeed.'
If you're a writer hitting a wall, ask yourself: What can I learn from this? Is this an opportunity to do something better? Am I about to succeed?
Because you know what? If you rise to the challenge, you may find this is your finest hour.
