Thursday, April 17, 2014

O is for Opportunity

Everyone knows the saying about opportunity only knocking once, so why do so many people leave it on their doorstep?

I must have a knack for it but somehow I have picked four blogs from the A to Z list in a row to visit and found that they had signed up and were not participating. The last entry on one blog was from 2013.  This is an opportunity that is being squandered.  I visited as I am sure many others have and instead of gaining followers they are creating a really bad first impression.

I happened across a pitch contest one night and the deadline to enter was at 6 AM the next morning.  I was excited that I had found the contest, yes I would have liked more time but I hadn't missed it altogether.  I worked on a pitch for hours and submitted it.  I found out that I am one of the fifty pitches that will be reviewed by professionals authors and agents.  Yeah!  There is a blog hop which will introduce me to more authors and agents.  Even if I don't win I have already gained the opportunity to meet more writers and agents and if my pitch is good maybe even more opportunities will come out of the contest.  I am much better off than if I had said, "Too bad I didn't see this sooner; maybe next year."

Sadly this is the attitude I see so many people take.  I can't tell you how many times I have approached people with opportunities and they have said things like, "I'm not ready now, that sounds amazing but..., I'll look into this."  I had an offer of a free twenty minute session with the Book Doctors and extended it to my writing group and not one of them took me up on it.  Twenty minutes to discuss anything you want about publishing, your pitch, agents, platform, etc. with two industry professionals and they left that opportunity sitting on the doorstep!

Life is happening now.  Seize the opportunities.  The universe was nice enough to present you with a gift but you are taking it and throwing it, unopened into the garbage.

That's just my two cents, you can of course choose to ignore it; but then you will be no better off than you are now.


7 comments:

  1. Another susan here lol - yep opportunity - which is sometimes luck as with your pitch sub and then opportunity is knowing when to take it - most people don't recognize their own good luck

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    1. Very true. I wish you lots of luck and opportunities.

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  2. You are so correct on this--my current "tactic" for discovering new blogs has been to go through the list at random and choose a few each day--and most of them aren't participating! Yes, seize the day--creative success is totally based on perserverance and going where others fear to tread. Best wishes for more opportunity!

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    1. I thought it had to be me to get four in a row but there must be a lot of people who started out with good intentions and then forgot or petered out.

      If I try something and I don't win or it doesn't work out I am no worse of than when I started but usually I have learned something along the way so it was worth it.

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  3. If we waited till everything were absolutely perfect to act, we'd never take the first step towards anything. One never knows which seemingly small opportunity might turn into something much greater. I also am disappointed when I click on a blog on the list and find the person never started the Challenge, or gave up quickly.

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