Kristin Bryant signed a publishing contract for her first book days before she was diagnosed with breast cancer. As an LDS wife and mother, the news of her cancer hit her hard, but the experience of writing and publishing her fiction novel, “The Others,” along with defeating cancer, has been a rewarding one. “I don’t regret it. I have some mental toughness because I weathered the storm,” said Bryant.“I love that I went through cancer. Best experience of my life,” Bryant said to a small group of BYU-Hawaii students that went to her event hosted by the English Circle. Bryant spoke to the students about lessons she learned about publishing and life.According to Bryant, pain and discomfort are crucial to becoming excellent at something. “Discomfort is where greatness lives. People are that really, really great at something get there because they were uncomfortable with how things were.” She distilled her wisdom concerning motivation to develop talents into the three topics of discipline, discomfort and endurance. Bryant said her success at writing came with hard work and with God’s help. “Once you show Heavenly Father that you are willing to work hard at something, suddenly he can use you.”Seven Zhang Baysa, a recent graduate of psychology from China, enjoyed Bryant’s presentation. “It touched me to hear about discipline and motivation from someone with that experience. I knew it wasn’t just theory because she had actually gone through something,” she said. Zhang Baysa said her favorite phrase Bryant said was, “There is no growth in the comfort zone, and no comfort in the growth zone.”Bryant learned this when she began writing. The thought “what if people from other worlds came to this one looking for evidence of their savior?” became the inspiration for her book, “The Others.” After a three year process of writing, sending the manuscript to publishers, receiving 20 rejection letters, and re-writing the book, she finally was accepted by Sourced Media Books.” I kept writing and looking for publishers because I felt that this idea came from somewhere other than me, so it clearly needs to be out there,” said Bryant. Writing “was something to look forward to during chemo too,” she said smiling.During those three years of writing and rewriting Bryant went through cancer treatment. “I did not know how to write a book when I started. I’m a lot more confident now,” said Bryant. She was eager to share her newfound knowledge of the publishing world, and stripped many aspiring authors in the audience of their rose-colored glasses. “When you go with a publisher, you have to make sacrifices for the business side of it, and it crushes the artist in you,” she said after explaining how a publisher has near total control over the book once the author signs the contract. Ben Halverson, a junior in English from Arizona, said “I loved her experience she shared with us about writing and developing a story, as well as the things that are often overlooked, like the difficulty of actually getting your book on the shelves and into the hands of readers.”“You don’t go into writing to make money. You do it because you love it, which is why you do anything that’s painful,” she stressed.
Writer: Samone Isom ~ Multimedia Journalist
