The Road To Publishing Isn’t An Easy One
“Publish your book for free.”
To someone who has always loved to write stories, those five shiny words were like a pot at the end of a rainbow. But we all know those pots are elusive, and so has my pursuit of becoming a published author.
It was late in 2015 when I looked at my burgeoning bookshelves and decided I needed to buy a kindle. My main reason for my decision was that I would finally be able to stop lugging around half a dozen books every time I went on holidays.
It was through the purchase of this device that my whole life would change, when the world of indie publishing was opened up to me and I began learning all I could about it while I tried to pen a book people would want to read.
Silly, amateur me decided I would easily be able to do this on the cheap. I found a friend who was willing to read as I wrote, another friend with an English degree who was happy to edit, the cheapest cover money could buy and that (so I thought) was that.
But my story needed work, my English degree friend and I had very different ideas of what the story should be, and while the cover was a good enough first attempt, after researching other covers in my genre, I realised what I had received was fairly trashy. If I didn’t work harder on getting a good quality product out there, I was going to crash and burn right out of the gate.
I decided to find a real editor, I researched all I could on how to become a better author, and decided to change the title of my book from Southern Boys & British Gentlemen to Unexpected. My poor fingers worked overtime on writing my first two books the old fashioned way: in notebooks, and then eventually on my iPhone, since I couldn’t afford to buy a computer.
I joined the Romance Writers of Australia and made friends with a couple of authors through there. I value their friendships greatly, but I felt the RWA wasn’t a great fit for me.
I was still floundering.
As I flipped through the book blogs I follow on Facebook one morning (my usual routine), I came across a stunning book cover (who’s title eludes me now) with an image of a bearded bloke. Clicking on the model’s name, I proceeded to a page that told me about this combat wounded amputee who, in addition to being a cover model, was also an author. I read a short story of his in an anthology and realised how talented he was. This guy knew his shit!
I began following BT Urruela just before Christmas 2016. This led me to the R&E Author Fraternity, and to a professional group of people who knew what they were doing, and I made some awesome friends in the process.
Nothing could stop me now!
With a brand new computer, I typed up my second handwritten novel, then wrote another, as well as a short story.
I was set! I was making huge strides! I even decided to take a two week holiday from my day job to play at being a “full time” author… then my five month old computer decided to pack it in. Crash. Kaput. Nothing. Goodbye last fourteen chapters of United.
ANGER! TEARS! FRUSTRATION! Another fucking setback! How could this be happening to me?
But unlike in the past, I refused to give up. With some encouraging words of support from fellow authors and my editor, and with a few small changes to my schedule, I made things work in my favour again.
Now I was only missing two things:
Beta readers
A way to market my books
Being new to the community, I had no idea how to find these elusive creatures called “Beta Readers” and considered not having any. Jennifer, Mag, Mary and Penny came to my rescue and they, along with my PA, Melissa, have fast become great book buddies.
Speaking of my PA… I have a bloody PA! I can’t believe it! This was my answer to publicizing my books. I have a limited knowledge of marketing and with not many hits on my author page, I was getting fairly disillusioned. My webpage was festering and I had no newsletter to speak of. I certainly couldn’t think of anything to blog about! This woman is like a wizard. She has ways of getting me to do things and getting things happening that I couldn’t have ever thought of.
So, no. Publishing a book might not be easy. You’ll make mistakes, thinks will happen that will make you want to scream. I haven’t hit that publish button, yet and it’s possible something else may go wrong. But if you want it bad enough. If you are SUPPOSED to be an author. If you’re willing to work hard at it, to put in a lot of long hours and many sleepless nights, then you will get to where you want to be.
But a word of advice: DON’T try to do it on your own. Find some true professionals, find your tribe, the people who are willing to befriend and help you. Because this community is fantastic if you let it in.
The first book in my Creative Passions series, Painting Rainbows is coming in April next year. I can’t wait to share it with you all. Unexpected (Marked For Love #1), Restoration Hearts (Creative Passions Book 2) & United (Marked For Love #2) will follow. I’m really looking forward to 2018 and sharing my words with you!
Kiera xoxoxo