Small Pond Syndrome

There’s nothing small about Canada except for its population density. At only four people per square kilometre, we’d come in dead last if not for Nabibia, Australia, Western Sahara, Mongolia, Pitcairn Islands, Falkland Islands, and Greenland. (In contrast, the U.S. has 35 people per square kilometre, even with Alaska pulling the average down.)

I mention this because of something we call Big Fish/Small Pond. The late Canadian actor Larry Mann said, “You can be a full-time garbage collector in Toronto and you’ll be accepted as such. Nobody says, ‘If he were any good he’d be collecting garbage in New York.’ Or you can be a successful doctor or lawyer or accountant. You’re not expected to prove how good you are by moving away to practice medicine or Law or accounting in Hollywood or London. Only in show business [the arts] does this thing exist, where no matter how good you are, none of it counts because you’re doing it here.”

Every time I release a new book, I enter that book in at least two contests. One is the Word Awards, sponsored by The Word Guild here in Canada, which covers all types of writing—fiction, nonfiction, columns, articles, blogs, song lyrics, poetry, short stories, and scripts. The Guild exists to encourage Canadian Christian writers, whether writing for the Christian or general market. Each year, it’s been my honour to win in at least one of these categories. In fact, judges recently chose my novel, Lilly’s Promise, as Best Book of the Year for fiction. While I in no way take this for granted and I deeply appreciate the recognition, I confess to supposing it doesn’t really count.

And here’s why. Seventeen American literary agents rejected that book before I found one who agreed to represent me. She then proceeded to pitch the book to traditional Christian publishers in the U.S. who all rejected it. Eventually, with nowhere else to try, I entered the unpublished manuscript in a contest here at home, where it won a free publishing package and went on to win this additional honour this year.

The other contest in which I’ve entered all my eligible books is with the American Christian Fiction Writers. Although open to non-Americans, and although genres are divided into far more sub-genres, narrowing the competition, not one of my books has ever made the shortlist. There, I am but one small fish in a vast pond of many Christian writers.

Why, you might wonder, did I bother pursuing an agent or publisher in the U.S. when I’m clearly seeing more success here at home? Ironically, even though my stories are set here, ninety percent of my readers are Americans. The U.S. simply has more readers with more discretionary income. Canada does not have any traditional Christian publishers or agents. We only have the kind where the author must foot at least part of the bill in hopes of breaking even or making a bit of profit.

You can see why we Canadians need an organization like The Word Guild. You can see why I’m so grateful for it. You can see why I’m learning to “stay in my own lane” and not worry about losing contests to the fish in the bigger pond down south. It’s enough to know my work was seen and critiqued by professionals in the industry.

I’m sharing this today in hopes that you can see the value of what we have going for us here in Canada, and the advantage our “small pond” sometimes offers. Instead of viewing our smaller population as a drawback, there’s much to be said for living and competing here. Announcing awards on social media and seeing it light up with congratulatory pings provides an encouraging boost that authors more talented than I will not be privileged to experience.

Sometimes success is all about the size of your pond.

On a related note, I’m celebrating my new release, April’s Promise with a come-and-go event at the Portage Library on Saturday, October 21 from 11:00 – 2:00. I’d love to see you there!