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DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A PUBLISHED AUTHOR?

Answer these four questions:
1. DO YOU HAVE AN INCREDIBLE PASSION FOR WRITING? Like in anything, you have to be passionate about your field. A pastor once said about ministry, "You know you're called when you aren't happy doing anything else."
2. ARE YOU WILLING TO DO WHAT IT TAKES? If you want to be published, you have to be willing to train, and hone your craft. You can't expect to get published, if you aren't willing to join a critique group, attend writer's conferences, read books, take courses, etc.  Think about the business world.  A person who sits at his or her desk just doing his or her thing, doesn't get far. But the successful person is always in motion--networking, training, etc.
3. ARE YOU WILLING TO FIGHT FOR IT? If you want to be published bad enough, you'll need to fight for it. That means you don't interpret one NO as a reason to give up. You keep fine tuning your piece ... then send, send, send it out some more.  I have a binder full of rejection letters, but I also have a shelf full of published poems, plays, and books. I didn't listen to my English professor when he told me I'd never be published. There are a lot of writers in this world being published. Fight to be one of them.
4. DO YOU HAVE THE PATIENCE? So, you did it. You finally sent your manuscript. Now, you have to be patient. The writing world is SLOW!  No news might be good news.  Don't bug them. The  waiting time for a response can be three months to a year.  Keep in mind, if you bug them, you'll be sending your work out to someone else the following week---and the wait will start again.