If I were to summarise my Author’s Journey, including all of its highs, lows and pitfalls, I would say it's all worthwhile in the long run for your own self-esteem. There is no better feeling than seeing your name on the front cover of a paperback ...
The road to becoming a published author can be a long or short one, depending on your destiny or pure good luck!
Consider though, how you reached that moment. There was time spent on sentence construction, spelling and making sense of each paragraph that you wrote. The characters are believable and their lives are interesting and you have reached out to the reader so that they will think that too. The background to the story was well researched and the reader will see the setting and the apparel that the character was wearing in their mind.
"Does the reader connect with the characters?"
However, if a reader doesn't connect with the characters early enough in the story, they will give up after chapter 2 or 3. I always get confused if I read a book and there are too many characters, best to keep them to a minimum if you can. And do try to get constructive criticism of your story from a friend or member of your family, as that will help you on your author's journey too.
The road to becoming a published author can be a long or short one, depending on your destiny or pure good luck, but there are other ways of having your story published. Like me, you could begin with self-publishing and there are many ways of doing that.
Troubador/Matador or Austin McAuley are well-known self-publishing companies, but check their costs, the services they provide, and their T's & C's. Ingram Sparks is another avenue to pursue and is not too costly and Amazon has a way of self-publishing too.
If you self-publish there will be hours and hours of self-promotion unless, like some authors, you do all this online. Amazon is a great way of reaching out to readers and there are other online sites like Goodreads or joining a group such as Write, Read, Review. There are many groups where you can exchange ideas or read what other authors are doing to promote their work.
"Let's hope then that you write a best seller!"
Then you can get a publishing contract, have an avid following and get many Likes on your Author Page. As for me, would I do it all again? Yes certainly, but now, ten books later, my author journey has come to an end.
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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