How long have you been trying to get published? I don’t mean how long have you dreamed about seeing your book in print. I mean really, seriously, tried to get published? Completed novels, wrote pitches, went to writing conferences? Signed with agents and waited for months to find out if a publisher would offer a contract? How many manuscripts do you have sitting in the proverbial drawer?

I like to tell writers that the path to publication is a marathon, not a sprint. Your first draft of your...