Send Out Ships To Have A Ship Come In

Ever wondered who came up with the notion of Someday my ship will come in? If we’ve just accepted it as part of our western culture, then not a few of us have only half-jokingly added, “When my ship comes in, I’ll probably be at the airport.”
The truth of the expression is likely to be much older than we realize. British merchants in the 19th century built and sent out many of those Tall Ships. Now we love to watch them, whenever the rebuilt originals and/or replicas sail up the coasts and into harbors across the United States and Canada. There is nothing in this world like the sight of sail, on the open sea or coming into safe harbor. Outside of early explorers who sailed “for the Crown,” those British merchants, along with the Dutch, French, Germans, Portuguese, Spanish, and others, invested almost everything they owned, hoping it would pay off in the return of a great fortune for them.
Long before the Europeans, as we know them today, Minoan and Phoenician traders outfitted merchant ships and sent them on long voyages, never knowing when they’d return, filled with incredible discoveries and fat profits for the merchants. The Phoenicians may even have navigated as far as modern day Brazil.
Often years slipped by, as a ship explored, with no messages received back home. Sometimes the ship and its crew perished. Even the Vikings were forced to trade with communities too strong to be plundered, yet perhaps half of them died at sea on one of countless voyages of discovery, rape and pillage. Few shed tears on their behalf, however. Though family ties were less important in some cultures than in others, the loneliness and heartache for families left behind seems unbearable to us, from our vantage point of instant communication. Yet that is the only life they knew.
Perhaps you can see where I’m going with this. We need to invest in ourselves as writers and in our product(s). If one ship (book) founders, we know we’ll be OK, if we’re working on the second or the third book. Our articles and essays may drown in a sea of submissions, rejected by twenty-something editors, who know little about our field of expertise, or life as it is actually lived. Never mind. We can choose the self-publishing trade route, or we can write for the Internet. But what we write must be good, must be nearly perfect in every way. I might get away with spelling errors or using the wrong word in informal writing, but I can’t do that in my books, or anywhere else I expect to be taken seriously. Don’t be discouraged. Once you know the rules of grammar, for example, you can break them. If you don’t know them, it will be so obvious, your readers will cringe.
With recognition, even fame, comes responsibility to your readers. This is no arena for the haughty. And as you send out your ships, please remember to protect the privacy of your lifestyle and the safety of your family.
So, what kind of ships can we send out in the reality of today’s overpriced everything? We can’t invest all of our assets in unproven ventures, even if they have worked well for other writers. And what if we do send out ships and hear nothing back? Just remember those long voyages of earlier days, and consider the future long treks in space exploration. The payoff is there; it is only delayed.
Here are a few suggestions for ships you may want to send out:
1. Tell people you’re a writer, but first practice what you’ll say next.
2. Don’t be a snob, but choose your associates wisely. There’s little use telling a person about your inspirational romance novel, when she’s wallowing in profanity herself.
3. Send out postcards of your book cover, but if you can’t afford them, always have business cards with you wherever you go. Try vistaprint.com for free cards that have minimal advertising on the back.
4. Brochures? Yes, if they look professional. Better to carry a crisp black-and-white tri-fold from a laser printer than a blurry color job from anything else.
5. Keep your resume current and focused for a particular type of writing assignment. That means having several versions of it, in hard copy and electronic formats.
6. Look for online forums where you can add value to a discussion. Resist the urge to just jump in, say something trite, and spam everyone with a five-line signature.
Carry out any or all of the above positive suggestions, and there’ll be more possibilities for billowing sails above a heavy cargo outside the lagoon, rather than tattered sails limping around the breakwater. That said, many a weary sailing vessel finally made it home victorious. And if the hold is only half-filled with treasures, that is success, too. Doing something about your dream is what makes the difference. Doing nothing means your life will not change.