I’ve had a busy week. The children were booked in to a holiday club from 9am to 1pm and I was determined to make the most of it. So I’ve edited, revised and reviewed and finally I’ve sent off a bunch of submission emails to various agents.
You see, I write articles and website content and I also have an admin job. I won’t be rich any time soon but it certainly keeps me busy and out of trouble, so to speak. But my secret ambition has always been to write a book and over the last two years I’ve finally started to do something about it.
It has been a labour of love and because I can’t devote 100% of my time to it, it’s also been one of those projects that I’ve left and come back to on several occasions. So it is a massive relief to have finally finished the story.
But all this time it has been my little secret. I have lived in the world of my characters, loved and loathed them in equal measures but have never shared them with anybody else. Now that I have started to contact agents I have mixed feelings about it all.
Suddenly it’s out there in the big wide world, open to criticism. I have to face the possibility of mass rejection, whereas before, when the story was mine and mine alone, it was safe from harms reach.
Do I really know what I’m getting myself into? And have I prepared myself for the long road ahead? The answer is probably not. But one thing I do know for sure is that I will get this book published. I have to because then my ambition will be fulfilled. Even if I had just one copy printed, I would give it pride of place on my bookshelf and consider it an achievement. It would be a tangible reminder of how hard I worked and a symbol of how you can do anything you want to as long as you put your mind to it.
So my week is over and it’s back to the day job for now. As far as the novel is concerned it is a waiting game . . .
Good luck with getting your book out there! We have been through it all here when Lorna decided that her first novel was ready (at long last) for the world to see a year or so ago, its a nerve wracking experience, and I hadn’t even written it! After much toing an froing, critical analysis and deep thought we decided that the best way for us to get published and on the shelves was to start our own publishing company. Lorna’s first novel is entirely made by us here at Crumps Barn Studio and has sold enough that it will fund book two, which is so very nearly ready. Its been great fun and has lead to some new creative and business directions that I would never have foreseen.
So keep at it and enjoy the whole experience, you never know where its going to lead.
That is so encouraging – thank you. The more I think about it, the more I am beginning to think that self publishing is the best way to go. It’s good to hear of success stories like yours.
Congratulations to you and thanks also for the nomination. Look forward to hearing how you get on.