This is my sixth monthly Insecure Writer's Support Group post. The IWSG is hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the IWSG is:
"to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!"
This is my post for Insecure Writer's Support Group for August 2013. The topic I chose for this one is "work."
The one thing that will make the dream of becoming a published author come true, the most important ingredient in the mixture of success, is a strong work ethic. It will never happen without putting the work in. If you want to publish a book, you first have to sit down and write it. It won't be easy, and once you are finished, then the real work starts. That's when you have to start editing and revising it. You will have to cut some of it out, rewrite some of it and write some new parts to it. You will have to make sure that everything makes sense and nothing is out of context. You will have to check your language and then, once all of that is done, you will need critique partners to tell you what else you need to do, and beta readers to tell you even more ways that it can be improved. You will need to check and re-check and check some more to make sure there are no spelling, grammar or punctuation errors. It takes work and drive and the will to keep at it no matter what might try to get in your way.
The one thing that will make the dream of becoming a published author come true, the most important ingredient in the mixture of success, is a strong work ethic. It will never happen without putting the work in. If you want to publish a book, you first have to sit down and write it. It won't be easy, and once you are finished, then the real work starts. That's when you have to start editing and revising it. You will have to cut some of it out, rewrite some of it and write some new parts to it. You will have to make sure that everything makes sense and nothing is out of context. You will have to check your language and then, once all of that is done, you will need critique partners to tell you what else you need to do, and beta readers to tell you even more ways that it can be improved. You will need to check and re-check and check some more to make sure there are no spelling, grammar or punctuation errors. It takes work and drive and the will to keep at it no matter what might try to get in your way.
I am about to publish the anthology of fairy tales written by members of the Chapter Book Challenge. The Kindle version is almost finished. I have spent a ton of time editing and proofreading each story and working on getting the format just right. I am determined to make sure that the Kindle will have useful clickable links. I have made the table of contents clickable to take a person to the story of their choice and the title of that story once they get there is clickable to take them back to the table of contents. The author byline under the title of each story will be clickable to take the reader to that particular author's bio. And in the bio, there are clickable links to take the reader to that author's websites. In an anthology which has several different authors, I think this kind of things increases the reader's enjoyment of the book and the ease for them to use it. It's a lot of work, but worth it to create a fabulous book for people to buy. The editing and proofreading is also a lot of work, but no one wants to read a story full of typos, spelling mistakes, poor punctuation and grammar problems.
And once the Kindle version is out, I have to spread the word about it while I am putting together the print version. The print version won't need any clickable links. and through all of this, the germ of an idea for a new kind of publishing company is growing in my mind, so I know I will be doing a different kind of work if I want this new idea to come to fruition.
And once the Kindle version is out, I have to spread the word about it while I am putting together the print version. The print version won't need any clickable links. and through all of this, the germ of an idea for a new kind of publishing company is growing in my mind, so I know I will be doing a different kind of work if I want this new idea to come to fruition.
But you know what? It feels good to do the work. And even more? It feels great when everything comes together and the finished product is there, ready to go out into the world.
Have you been doing the work it will take to make your dreams come true?
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