In the intervening years, I rode on the crest of a wave. I might not have been a traditionally published author, but I’d had two large print runs of A Woman Undefeated. Dreams Can Come True and A Distant Dream and they were selling quite well ...
With hindsight, perhaps I shouldn't have written the rest of my titles, but all my characters were there, vying for my attention. Ping Pong Poms was easy to write, as hubby and I were making the trip back to Adelaide on an annual basis.
Innocence Lost, the story of my childhood and teen years, had to be written, as I had been plagued with my emotions for years. I also turned the manuscript which my mother had written, into a book called Shattered Dreams, as she had left it to me in a cardboard box before she died.
"Her Heart's Desire, Beggarman's Cottage and A Deceitful Man could have been left in abeyance for a later time!"
The print runs were becoming more expensive, but I felt compelled to have all my stories printed if I wanted to follow my dreams. A frenzy of marketing began once I decided to become a well-known author. Author Talks, Reader's Groups, local fairs and online publications, all became the order of the day. No more time for writing as I had to get the print runs down to manageable proportions, but then came Covid and my marketing came to a halt.
Earlier in that year I had decided to try and find a publishing house that would be interested in re-issuing my self-published books. I was surprised and pleased when I received an interested email from an editor, who had read my Irish sagas and offered me a contract for A Woman Undefeated and Dreams Can Come True. I would finally be a traditionally published author after grafting for ten years.
"So, do take inspiration from my Author's Journey!"
They say that everyone has a story inside them, but not everyone follows their dream. The whole process of becoming an author can be daunting. You must have faith in yourself; you must weather the ups and the downs. Some publishers won't take submissions without an agent's representation, others post submission guidelines. I recommend a Google search for, "Publishers looking for submissions".
When the idea for your story pops into your head, think of a title. It can be a working title, giving you time to think of an imaginative one that will draw your readers to buy your book. Then plot your beginning, a middle, then an end.
Perhaps write your thoughts for the story in its entirety, because you'll need an idea of the word count. That count will decide if your story is to be a short one, a novelette or a full-length one with many chapters.
"Also check the guidelines of a publisher, as you will need a synopsis to draw their attention!"
In my concluding episode, I will discuss some of the pitfalls for you to avoid and where to discover sites where you could upload your story as an ebook, without incurring large expenses.
I was born on the Wirral in Merseyside. I've always had a vivid imagination and could talk the hind leg off a donkey since I was two years old. My best selling books A Woman Undefeated and Dreams Can Come True are based on the amazing lives of my Irish ancestors.
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