Not Losing Focus

When I first started writing seriously I was beyond excited to finish my first book. I toiled over the word choices. I wrote and rewrote sentences until I thought they were exactly the way they should be. I read through the manuscript so many times I could have recited it verbatim. I was positive I had a great book ready for the masses and all I needed to do was submit and I would be on my way to publishing dreams come true.

My beta reader went through the story, letting me know about things she liked and didn't. I edited it yet again and began submitting to agents. I sent off queries, chapters and intro pages to over three dozen agents and publishers. Slowly but surely in the months that followed I began receiving my responses. No. It was as simple as that. No one was interested. I got some good feedback from one of the publishers about word count being too short for them and not enough of their style in the storyline but otherwise it was just a simple no thank you. I was devastated. I was not defeated.

I began searching through writing groups for advice and I saw a post about a "publishing company" looking for authors. It was two girls that partnered up to call themselves a publisher but all they did was self-publish for you. I was weary to say the least but I was also desperate to see my book in print. I signed their contract and went through the process of having them edit, design a cover, and publish the book for me. It was official. I was a published author.

Then came all of the release day events, posting the links over and over on social media and trying to build a platform for my book. All the while there was something I should have paid more attention to, the book itself. Two people who constantly self-publish but don't have great sales, no plan for marketing, and are barely above amateur themselves will not make the best advisors to someone just starting out. A good friend, and wonderful author, later read my book and chatted privately with me saying she loved the story but there was a tremendous amount of editing and formatting issues that needed to be addressed.

Last year I pulled the book from Amazon in order to remove to from the control of the girl who published it in the first place. I am not under contract with her and I have seen the quality of her work in more depth. I have also seen the type of person she is and understand how bad of an idea it is to be associated with her in any professional capacity. I am not editing and will later be redesigning the cover of the book. It is terrifying to see the amount of mistakes missed and the lack of in depth editing that was done before.

I thought about heading to a coffee shop to work on this book but I am starting to believe a bar would be more appropriate. This book was my first impression for many in the publishing world. No wonder I wasn't snatched right up. I still believe in the story but I may need a few shots to get through this phase of the work. Wish me luck...send chocolate, coffee, and maybe some liquor.