I SUCK!

 

I was wandering the Mirror World (being friends with Elu has its perks).

Hibbs, the cub with no clue, was sitting despondent by the Snaking River

(being in the Mirror World, Hibbs flips from cub to grown bear as his mood changes.)

And Hibbs was depressed.

He sat hunched over, kicking his feet forlornly in the river. 

"I suck!" he sighed.

I sat down beside him, keeping my own feet out of the river (I know what things swim there!)

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

"No one is buying my audio book" he pouted.

"Well, that may just be because they don't know they could try Audible's FREE 30 DAY TRIAL, get your audio book for free, and then cancel before the month is out and pay nothing."

Hibbs shook his head.  "No, I suck."

"Really?  A seagull once thought the same thing."

Hibbs wrinkled his nose.  "A seagull?"

"Yep.  Richard Bach has always said that his story, told from the point of view of a young seagull, wasn't written but channeled.
"Channeled?"

"Like how you speak your story to me."

"Truly?"

"Truly.  When he sent out the story, Bach received 18 rejection letters."

"Eighteen?"

"Yes, but he didn't give up.   Nobody thought a story about a seagull that flew, not for survival, but for the joy of flying itself would have an audience."

Hibbs' head started to slump, and his eyes grew wet.  "Were they right?"

 "Boy, were they wrong! Macmillan Publishers finally picked up Jonathan Livingston Seagull in 1972, and that year the book sold more than a million copies. A movie followed in 1973, with a sound track by Neil Diamond!"

"Wow!" gasped an impressed Hibbs.

"Then, there was CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL."

Hibbs rubbed his always empty tummy.  "I like chicken soup."

"Within a month of submitting the first manuscript to publishing houses, the creative team behind this multimillion dollar series got turned down 33 consecutive times."

Hibbs hushed, "That's a lot more than the seagull!"

I nodded.  "Publishers claimed that 'anthologies don't sell' and the book was 'too positive.' Total number of rejections? 140."

Hibbs' head sank again.  "I guess that was it for the chicken soup."

I rubbed his furry head lovingly. 

"No way.  In 1993, the president of Health Communications took a chance on the collection of poems, stories, and tidbits of encouragement. Today, the 65-title series has sold more than 80 million copies in 37 languages."

"Double wow!" excalimed Hibbs, the cub with no clue.

As Hibbs giggled, I ruffled the fur atop his head again and said, "So you see: if a seagull and chicken soup can make it, so can a little bear."

Hibbs nodded sagely.  "Magic does happen."
***
So will some of you make magic happen for Hibbs?  Try Audible's 30 day free trial and listen to THE BEAR WITH TWO SHADOWS for free:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Bear-with-Two-Shadows/dp/B00CW9O1NY