A Writer’s Journey
Writing. Its difficult right? The moment I decided that being a writer was what I wanted, I wondered whether I had made the right decision. The writing bit is always fun of course. But the editing, the proofreading, the marketing and the publishing. It sometimes makes me wonder if all this is worth it. I read yesterday that only 1 in 6,000 writers manage to get a literary agent. That is shocking! You see books in stores and you think it must be easy if so many people are publishing. It even makes me envious to see those authors books on the shelves when mine should be next to them. But its all a part of a journey. Only the dedicated survive and make it in the writer's world.
So...who am I?
As this is my first blog, not many people will know me. I'm not a famous author at all. I am just a young 22 year old woman who has a passion for writing and wants her stories to be known. I have self-published two novels on Amazon a few years back and its safe to say it didn't go so well. I believe my biggest mistake was releasing a book with no marketing before hand. Since following popular authors on social media, I noticed that marketing was the key to getting more traffic to your book. I was never popular at all and so I didn't have as much support as others might have when they published a book. Even three years later I have only sold about 10 copies of my first novel on Amazon. So this time I am willing to publish my 3rd novel traditionally. I know the journey ahead of me is far from easy. Everyone struggles to get the interest of top publishers but I am willing to put the hours in to get where I want to be.
Where am I currently at now?
At the moment, I am concentrating on growing my network. I am not a big fan of having a big online presence but I believe it is the key to success; I have to keep up with the times! I have signed up to LinkedIn, Twitter and now I have started a blog. I even put some unpublished stories onto Wattpad to get myself out there more. I am taking all the necessary steps before I dive into publishing my 3rd novel. Being on those social media platforms are working quite well. I have almost 500 connections on LinkedIn (which is quite impressive I must say) and I have 80 followers on Twitter after creating it just a few days ago.
As for my writing, I have nearly finished one of my short stories that will be included in the collection but I still have another 2 to finish before I can even think of publishing. Then of course there is all the editing to do which has to be the most boring part of all. Who likes reading their own stories and admitting they worded something wrong? Definitely not me. There is something dissatisfying about admitting ones faults. I know it is quite empowering to know where you can improve but it also plays on my self-esteem and makes me think I am not good enough to write...so I guess I'll have to trust my reviewers!
Advice to other new writers...
Trying to be noticed as a writer is beyond difficult. There are already thousands of popular writers that you will be forced to compete with once you're published and known. What I have learnt so far is to never give up. Yes, a cliche never helped anyone but hear me out. Once I had published my first novel with Amazon and nobody seemed interested or even noticed, I knew I had made a big mistake. I am definitely not saying that Amazon writers cannot be successful because they can! I've seen it for myself. I just mean that Amazon publishing was not right for ME. But even when it wasn't successful and to be honest it was a huge flop (it wasn't my writing it was that nobody noticed it!)
I still never gave up. Something drove me to continue to write and try and make it as a successful author. It is not even about the money for me at all, it's all about getting my original stories out there because I know people will love them. So if there is anybody out there that is in the same position as me and you're feeling low about your writing, then please never give up. Your time will come! I am not giving up despite two failed attempts. You shouldn't either. If you are a great writer then you need to show the world how good you are. Just look forward to seeing your novel on the shelves in stores!