Back at the beginning of 2014, I declared that, for me, this year would be inspired by the word “brave”.
At times, the word—the idea—has absolutely inspired me. At other times, it has absolutely taunted me. Lately, it’s been the latter.
As I get to know more and more (outrageously talented) bloggers and writers, I see more and more people living my dreams—and I can’t help but feel like I’m chasing them, with no way of ever catching up. Some got a head start, others had a stroke of luck—or genius—that launched them into the spotlight one day.
Me? Well, this blog means so much to me—you mean so much to me—but sometimes I feel like my words are getting lost in the sea of ideas out there on the interwebs. Why keep going when there are so many other people out there writing equally (if not far more) beautiful, insightful, humorous things? (Cue the violins, right?)
As I mentioned in another post, Yahoo! Shine is no longer leaning on my guru-ness. And Babble, well, who knows. For years I’ve submitted post after post after post to BlogHer for syndication, and they’ve totally ignored me. My book? It will happen, but not this year. After writing and writing (remember the Month of Me?), I realized that my idea will actually take much better shape as a novel. So I’m back to the beginning—which is exciting because I know it’s the right thing to do, but it’s also intimidating.
Truth be told, I realized a couple weeks ago that sitting around waiting for something “big” to come my way has been exhausting me. So, I figured it was time to try a new kind of brave.
After being inspired by stories on the awesome Beyond Your Blog blog, I submitted a post to Scary Mommy—a hugely popular parenting blog—for syndication. I received a lovely reply, saying the post I submitted wasn’t right for their site, but to please send more ideas in the future. Maybe that’s their boilerplate response, but I found it rather encouraging.
So encouraging, in fact, that I decided to email Arianna Huffington.
Yes, really.
You see, when she was speaking at BlogHer ’14, she bravely told the audience of thousands to feel free to send her ideas for the Huffington Post. At the time I laughed, thinking a) she obviously didn’t mean it, and b) who on earth would actually have the guts do that?
Then one night, on a whim, I wrote a quick note with a couple links to my blog. And the next morning, I received a response, not only from Arianna, but from two of the Parenting editors.
Hello Amy, thank you so much for thinking of us. We would love to feature your voice on HuffPost. I’m ccing our Parents editor [name] to follow up. All the best, Arianna
I laughed out loud—in total shock. It turns out that while brave isn’t easy, it can be simple. Brave isn’t sitting around waiting for your moment, it’s getting out there and making it happen.
And, you guys, brave worked. Because today, after a week of working with the responsive and engaging editors at Huff Po, my piece, The Anniversary We Didn’t Know We Were Waiting For, was featured near the top of the Parenting section. And I’m now free to share my writing there as I please. (Though not everything has the promise of being featured, so please follow me over there by clicking “Become a Fan” next to my name if you want to see what else I share.)
Crazy, right?
But it’s funny. After all my excitement about being out there on a great big stage, I realized something. By being able to share my story with the masses, I was reminded that all I ever really needed was right here all along.
My personal Facebook feed today has been overflowing with love and encouragement. You cheered me on, and reminded me that you’re out there—reading, relating, and celebrating my little and big successes. And maybe that was all I really needed to get me out of this slump. Because it gets lonely at times, blogging. I sit alone, staring at a screen, not knowing what you’re doing or thinking on the other end. So thank you for reminding me today—with your shares, your cheers, and your pride. I honestly and truly appreciate it, from the bottom of my heart.
(But, I’m not gonna lie, I’m keeping that email from Arianna.)
I love this. Because I agree 100 percent. I also suggest you send it on to Susan at BeyondYourBlog because this is what I”m talking about: being brave. Not sitting and waiting for someone to knock on your door. Submit submit submit. Keep submitting. I’ve heard people say “I tried once. I won’t try again.” Or be hurt, take a rejection personally. We can’t. We have to keep trying. There are many many MANY sites I’ve been submitting to for five years now. Have never heard back. That won’t stop me. I’m going to keep submitting there. I’m going to keep studying their sites and see what they like. And then I’ll refine rewrite and send in again. It only makes my writing better, and a no just means “polish it up.”
This was an awesome post!
Thanks so much, Alexandra! I’ve updated the post and mentioned BeyondYourBlog because it was Susan’s post that gave me the push I needed to get back in the submitting mindset. I spend all kinds of time begging people to submit to Project: Underblog, but when it comes to me, I’m a wimp. No more, I say! Brave. Let’s all be brave!
This is spot on! I usually am so insecure about things like this. After 4 months of blogging, I said what the heck and submitted to The HuffPo. They got right back to me and my most recent post there was recently featured at the very tippety top of the Parenting section and my article was liked 54 thousand times! I’m still not even sure how any of that happened. I guess I decided to be brave and just go for it. Brave doesn’t have to be complicated just like you say here. Keep going, you’ve got some amazing momentum going!
Wow, Becky. That’s so amazing! Thank you for sharing your success story and inspiring me to ride this success to the next level. Here’s to brave, honest, ambitious words!
I can really relate to the emotion of watching your online friends soar and feeling like the moments are passing you by, but waiting for something to fall in my lap is not the road that going to me anywhere. Way to go for taking some action! Good for you!
Goodness knows I’ve tried both. And failed at both. But every now and then a success makes it all worthwhile, I guess. Your day is coming!
We’d love to celebrate your writing at ProjectUnderblog.com if you haven’t joined us there yet. We celebrate writers who truly love to write…without regard to stats, etc. Hope to see you there!
This is AWESOME!!! Oh and btw, I’m 1 for 4 with Scary Mommy, so keep trying. No one gets everything accepted there, but one will hit because you are a good writer. It is more about editorial calendars, timeliness and all that stuff. I have a podcast with her coming Monday, that might inspire you to resubmit. I am going to share this on BYB social media and am going to check out your huffpost piece now!
Wow, Susan. Thank you so much for sharing this with your awesome community. I’ve been overwhelmed by the positive response and love that I can encourage others the way you encouraged me. I’ll continue to love BYB!
Congratulations Amy! This is SO exciting and I am so so happy for you. I have been seeing you and your blog grow and grow and grow. It’ll just be a matter of time that you’ll be the rockstar of the mom blog world. Keep up the excellent writing. Way to go mama…. shows you being proactive and being BRAVE works!
Thanks so much, my friend. You’ve been here to cheer me on every step of the way. I so greatly appreciate it!
It’s as if you took the words right out of my mouth! I too feel this way, and almost defeated in a sense – but it helps to know I’m not alone. Congratulations on getting out there, and making the world see the gift your writing is. I wish I had that email – I would jump right on that brave train too!
Thanks so much for letting ME know that I’m not alone too. If it worked for me, it will work for you…just keep trying!
Jessica, if you haven’t already, please submit to ProjectUnderblog.com. We’d love to hear from you!
Congratulations, Amy, and thanks for sharing your experiences! I’m sure you’ll inspire a lot of other bloggers who still think of HuffPo as the holy grail! (I’m still dreaming and trying!) 😉
Thanks so much, Joy! It’s funny. I wasn’t sure that the Huff Po effect was real, but the morning my piece was published, I had two other publications randomly(?) reach out to me. There’s something about making a piece that I wrote months ago come to life on a more “legit” platform that made me a more credible blogger, I guess. Absolutely keep trying!
And, Joy, if you haven’t already, please submit to ProjectUnderblog.com. It’s a site I’m so very proud of because we highlight wonderful writing without regard to stats, followers, etc. It’s a celebration of writers who love to write. We’d love to hear from you!
So proud of you, Amy! Keep being brave!
Thanks so much, Linda! Love seeing all that you’re rocking these days too!
First of all, congrats!!! That is awesome and very brave, indeed! Secondly, I am feeling exactly what you described in the first few paragraphs – so many bloggers, I’m lost – a small fish in a very big sea. I have submitted to HuffPost 4 times using a special email address we are given at BlogU and tweeted them multiple times, but haven’t gotten any response whatsoever. I have also been rejected by Scary Mommy a few times. It is frustrating and discouraging to say the least. I applaud your bravery and hope you find continued success!
Lisa, thank you so much for sharing your experience. I will say, I would HIGHLY recommend submitting to other sites. I felt like BlogHer might be a good starting point because they shared a couple of my posts years ago. Then, radio silence every time I submitted. I just wasn’t connecting with the editors for some reason. Someone somewhere else might have a different take and relate to your words more.
I invite you, and everyone else, to submit to ProjectUnderblog.com. It’s a site I’m so very proud of because we highlight wonderful writing without regard to stats, followers, etc. It’s a celebration of writers who love to write. Please join us there if you haven’t!
Way to go girl!
Thank you!
I always love the message of “keeping trying and it happens.” That is absolutely how it works. Kudos and thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much, Nina! I appreciate you reading and commenting.
Congratulations! What an amazing day. Thank you for sharing how it happening, and inspiring me to be a little more brave!
Thanks so much, Farrah. I go in and out of brave. 🙂
If you’re feeling brave today, join us at ProjectUnderblog.com. We love celebrating writers looking to grow their audience!
Congrats, Amy! I am so excited for your success. I too, as you know, took the plunge and emailed Arianna as well. One day later my piece posted on Huff Po. Here’s to continued success on your future writing endeavors.
Thanks for the constant inspiration and encouragement, Rudri! Congrats and continued success to you as well.
Congrats! I love hearing stories of other people’s successes in this field. Thanks for sharing how it happened for you.
Thanks so much, Lisa!
Hi Amy,
Thank you for sharing your brave Huffpo experience. I too feel like you, like what am I blogging for…and feeling inferior and I missed the boat, etc. I remember seeing this post on a facebook feed and thought, wow, that is so GREAT! She got out there!
Thanks for inspiring others to do the same. Wish me luck!
Francie
Wishing you much luck, Francie. I can’t wait to hear YOUR success story!