Ignoring advice
From left to right, the men sitting are Chet Atkins, Shel Silverstein, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson. Silverstein is best known for writing beloved children’s books, like A Light in the Attic and Where The Sidewalk Ends. But he was also a grammy-winning songwriter for country and folk musicians, including Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Emmylou Harris, and Loretta Lynn. Silverstein has over 800 songs registered with BMI, and he’s in the Songwriter Hall of Fame.
You can’t buy a paperback copy of Where the Sidewalk Ends, the children’s poetry book by Shel Silverstein. It’s only available in hardcover.
The same is true for other popular Silverstein books, A Light in the Attic, and The Giving Tree.
Silverstein was a cartoonist before he was an author, but he collected books. And he believed hardcovers signaled that a book was worth a reader’s time and attention.
Silverstein had never written a children’s book when he first met his publisher, Ursula Nordstrom, the legendary editor-in-chief of children’s books at Harper & Row in New York.
But despite his inexperience, he wouldn’t allow Ursula or anyone else to publish his poems and stories unless he could choose the font, size, shape, color, and quality of the paper.
Shel and Ursula respected each other. In fact, he dedicated Where the Sidewalk Ends to Ursula. But they didn’t always agree. It took Shel four years to convince Ursula to publish The Giving Tree. She thought it was too short. And too sad.
Someone once asked Silverstein if he would change something about his work on the recommendation of an editor. He answered without hesitating, "No."
But he added:
"Oh, I will take a suggestion for revision. I do eliminate certain things when I'm writing for children if I think only an adult will get the idea. Then I drop it, or save it. But editors messing with content? No."
Silverstein’s books have been translated into 30 languages and sold more than 20 million copies.
It’s helpful to seek advice from people we respect. Editors, managers, coaches, mentors. They may see things we don’t. Our blind spots. We should carefully consider their criticism and feedback. And reflect on their perspective.
But sometimes, we should ignore it.
There is a voice inside of you
That whispers all day long,
"I feel this is right for me,
I know that this is wrong."
No teacher, preacher, parent, friend
Or wise man can decide
What's right for you--just listen to
The voice that speaks inside.
— Shel Silverstein
