By Francisco Omar Fernandez Rodriguez Arts & Features Editor Arts & Ideas hosted “The Upside of Failure: Lessons Learned on My 30-Year Journey to Overnight Success” by Erica Ferencik in the Alumni Room on March 26. Ferencik shared her decades-long journey toward reaching book deals. She hopes that this event can help others learn from her mistakes and hopefully save some time and heartache. “More than anything, I hope that you never forget to relish your journey, whatever that may be,” Ferencik said. She doesn’t like the words “success” and “failure” so much that she had second thoughts on her presentation’s title, she said. “They imply that unless you get to the tippy top of something you’re a failure,” she added. There was a point when she believed the only true success for her would be getting published by a major publisher, Ferencik said. But she quickly learned she needed to redefine “success” for herself if she wanted to maintain her self-respect and happiness, she added. Throughout college, she had been an artist, she said. But when she turned 27 she decided to move away from painting and toward literature. It’s difficult to get a reader’s attention for however long a book is, she said. But she wasn’t aware of that in the past. “I was cocky. I thought, ‘I’ll just write a book. I won’t think much about the plot, or the setting, or the characters,’” Ferencik said. She then mailed it to the editor of Random House. “And the amazing part is he wrote me back. He wrote me back and said, ‘This is really bad,’” she said. The editor also said to keep trying. Ferencik got an M.A. in creative writing at Boston University, and she once again thought she would get published quickly, she said. Afterwards, she had to work several jobs while maintaining her passion for writing, she added. The list of jobs included bartender, waitress, real estate, construction, and more. She eventually wrote a novel about a giant who lives in Central Square, she said. At the time, she thought she would never write anything better and that no one had ever worked as hard as she did. She had an agent who pitched the book, but another novel about a giant was pitched at the same time, she said. Ferencik lost to Elizabeth McCracken, who wrote “The Giant’s House.” “We can’t control any of this, right? It’s like, who knew that this would happen?” she said. Her agent dropped her and the book, she added. Heartbroken, Ferencik swore she would never write another book. Then she went into standup comedy, she said. During her time in comedy, she learned that the crowd is like a bear, she added. Ferencik said, “When I’m making you happy or making you laugh you’re a nice friendly bear, cuddly bear. But when I’m not funny…” She then switched from a picture of a teddy bear to a photograph of an angry bear. Comedy is a conversation, so if she didn’t listen to the audience, she wouldn’t do well, she said. People expect a joke every 19 seconds, she added. This helped her learn how to write jokes quickly, and to toss out what doesn’t work. After standup comedy, she moved to screenplays, she said. Her logic was that they’re shorter and easier, but they ended up being just as much work. Writing screenplays helped her understand story structure, Ferencik said. The producer she worked for taught her to be careful about who she worked with, she said. “We had a producer attached, but this producer proceeded to screw us,” she added. She didn’t go into detail on what he did, but she did say he’s in jail now. After screenplay writing, she decided to move to Los Angeles to write for T.V., she said. But a week before she had planned on going, she fell in love with someone at a party. She stayed and became a stepmother, Ferencik said. Eventually, she made a short film titled, “New Stepmom.” From making this film she learned how difficult it was to translate words onto the screen, she added. It pays to have good equipment and professionals. Then she returned to writing novels, she said. She wrote a “memoir-ish” novel and got a new agent, Ferencik said. She agreed to the contract, but added she may not have read it. The agent shared the rejection letters the book received, she added. But despite reading them at the time, she felt like she didn’t really understand what they said until years later. At the time, she was devastated and decided she would never write another book, she said. She worked in real estate and met a realtor, she added. “She was kind of older, and didn’t really know how to use her phone, and she would do anything for a sale, and she didn’t understand the word ‘no,’” Ferencik said. This lady seemed like a great character to write about, she said. But when she wrote the book, her agent didn’t want it. Devastated yet again, she swore she would never write another book, she added. Despite the setback, she self-published the book. Around this time she met an entertainment attorney, she said. The attorney asked what she writes, and Ferencik said she writes “funny” and “scary.” The attorney told her that she had to choose, and she initially refused, Ferencik said. But over time, she thought that he might have been right. She wrote a book called “Repeaters,” which is about a young girl who returns from the dead to avenge her own murder, she said. It is self-published, because no one wanted it, she added. “Nobody wanted it because in 2010 - at the time, supernatural wasn’t very hot,” Ferencik said. She submitted the book to Kirkus Reviews, where it got named Best of 2012, she added. The book was eventually optioned, which means a publishing company paid to have exclusive rights to the property for a specific period of time, she said. But after she made the deal, she heard from Dreamworks and Universal Studios, who also wanted to option it, she added. “So it was kind of like being perfectly, happily married, but then the best guy in the world walks by,” Ferencik said. In August 2012, she was unemployed and depressed, she said. Her husband suggested writing another book. Ferencik wrote “The River at Night” in 2012, then rewrote it in 2013, 2014, and 2015, she added. Six agents rejected it. In July 2015 she sent it out to seven agents, and all of them wanted it, she said. She sometimes traveled for book research, such as to the Peruvian Amazon and to Greenland, she said. One of the challenges with writing novels is the competition, she added. This means both writers and readers. “Forty-four percent of America read zero books last year. Yet, 2.6 million books were published in 2024. That’s 7,386 books per day,” Ferencik said. There is also a bottomless need for story, she added. It’s needed for people’s emotional health. Her first goal was to be published, but now her goal is to “stay in the game,” she said. It is also to believe that whatever book she is working on is worth the time she’s taking to make it and her readers’ attention. “In other words, engage with the theme of this year’s Arts & Ideas series - have the vitality and vision to keep on going,” Ferencik said.