So, as many of you know, I want to publish a book this year. Unfortunately, my ADHD brain has been distracting me with new story line ideas and it’s pulling me away from my focus. However, that is not the only struggle I’m finding. There have certainly been other areas. Let me share a bit of my journey to becoming a new author.
I’ve got this
I do have my first novel written. I wrote it about ten years ago and I’ve been slowly going through it and editing it, modifying things I no longer like. Honestly, there isn’t much that I don’t like. Apparently my grammar was horrendous back then, but those are easy fixes. Just a lot of fixes. Basically everything else I still love. The story is still captivating. My characters are still lovable. Well, the ones that are supposed to be. I read it to a friend over our shared night shift. Well, she was working and I was just hanging out. In a sense, it was like she was my beta reader, except I was reading it to her. She kept asking me why I had not published it yet. That’s where the problems come.
Becoming a new author
As many people know, it’s not easy to write and publish a book. If that were the case, everyone would do it. But it’s hard. You have to make sure you have enough descriptive writing for your reader to enter the world you’ve created on paper. Then your characters have to be engaging and show depth and growth. Finally the story has to flow nicely, with no plot holes, and you need to make sure it’s not rushed through. The amount of times I have heard someone say how disappointed they are because the story seemed too rushed, whether that was in a book or a movie. I do not want to be that author. After you’ve written your book, you need an editor, someone to make your cover, and then publish. You need to choose if you want to self publish, or try a publisher. Once that’s done, you pray for readers to like your book.
The first hurdle
My first hurdle to being a new author is actually my self editing. There are editing mistakes that I can find myself. As I was rereading it there were things that made me stop and my friend laughed because I was like, “I need to change that” or “What was I trying to say here?” So there are benefits to me looking it over myself before searching for an editor. With self editing though, I remember something that I learned at a writing workshop. Don’t edit the story so much that you lose the story you were trying to write. I don’t remember a lot of what I learned there, but that is the main thing that stuck with me. Like I said, I love my story, my characters, and I don’t want to lose that. However, there are things that need to change in the story. I’ll touch on that more in a bit.
A new Author’s biggest hurdle
Money. I googled how much it cost to get an editor. Now, I knew that it would be expensive. However, I didn’t think it was thousands of dollars expensive. Whichever editor I look for, I’ll have to make sure I know how they charge. Will they charge per word or per page? Then I have to hope that a basic edit will be enough. There is no way I’m coming up with $10,000 anytime soon for an extreme edit. On top of that, to get an illustrator to just do a cover for me could cost $500-$1500! This is all before I’ve even published the dang book. I still have to pay for that as I will be going the self publishing route. Wish me luck you guys, because the cost alone could halt my dreams.
what if i get my book published
So, let’s say that things improve a lot for me and I get that all said and done. My book is published, I’m holding the first copy in my hands and crying my eyes out with joy. I’m a new author. What then? Well, considering the book is the first in a trilogy, I better get to work on the second book. If my friend is right, and my book does well, my readers will want a second book. I may have to look into how long it should take between publishing books in a series. It could mean I’ll have to start it before the first one gets published. However, this is where my self editing and modifications come in.
Back when I first wrote this book, I knew exactly how my trilogy was going to be laid out. I was so excited to get this trilogy written. However, I was a lot more excited about the third book than the second book. In fact, my frustration with what I originally wanted for the second book, and how it wasn’t working, is why I dropped it. My second book didn’t fit in with the first and third. The story that I wanted to tell was too different. So, I’ve decided that I’m changing my second book completely. Which means I need to make some changes to the first book to prep for those changes.
i need your help
Don’t worry. I’m not starting a go fund me page to get people to pay for publishing my first book. Honestly, I don’t think it would work. As a new author, I need to navigate that. This is how you can help. Keep reading my blogs. Cheer me on. Give me feedback on my writing. And, when that joyous day comes and I tell you I published a book, please consider buying a copy. Even if you don’t read books you could gift it to your favourite bookworm. Hopefully my blogs start bringing in that little bit of extra cash so that I can make a few dents in my debt. I really appreciate you guys and all of the support you send my way. As things progress I’ll keep you posted. I’m hoping and praying to publish this year. Who knows if it will happen, but we know that anything can happen if I try.
