We all have stories to tell. Some of us want to share them. That’s where the road to publishing starts – with a desire that can take you on a journey, from a jumbled collection of thoughts, plots and ideas churning in your head, to a neatly bound book (or ebook) with your name on the cover. Every would-be writer’s publishing experience will differ, but the steps are similar.
My publishing journey started more than 30 years ago. I wanted to pursue writing as a career. I had the desire, but circumstances demanded I tuck the idea in my bucket-list file – besides, I already had a job. Working as a writer was for someone with more … well, I wasn’t sure more what. I just didn’t think I had the skills or training necessary to work as a professional writer. I continued to dabble anyway.
Throughout my life I studied writing, attended a writer’s conference and wrote short stories, a half-finished novel, poems and songs, in order to appease the ever-present desire to write. I just never imagined I could do it “for a living.”
Then five years ago my perspective changed. With the housing crash, my real estate career spiraled into the abyss. Instead of chasing it, I seized the opportunity to revaluate things. Writing surfaced again. I asked myself, “If not now, when?” I was ready. I gave myself permission to pursue my dream.
I formed a creative service for small businesses: PGSStudio.com. I gathered a team of associates to work with at PGS Studio and began writing for clients. The projects at PGS focus on clients’ websites, blogs, ebooks, magazine articles, marketing collateral and photography (my other passion). Then a few years ago I began shooting fine art photography. I took ocean photos throughout two years of travel and started plotting my first book.
I enlarged and framed the ocean photos to show in galleries and online. I won some awards, sold signed prints to collectors and created commissioned pieces. I researched the market and identified potential points of distribution for my book. I then set out creating “My Ocean.” I reached out to others for input, critiques and design help. Finally the book was done.
Then I had to make a tough decision. Did I want to self-publish or wait for agency representation? With the thought that “My Ocean” would be the first of many books to come, our family formed a small publishing company.
Taking on the responsibility acting as publisher – as well as author – requires a lot of extra work. Self-publishing demands you seek out ways to distribute your work – one of the greatest challenges in publishing. Many wonderful authors have boxes of unsold books in their garage simply because they didn’t know how to get them into the hands of readers. That’s the distribution side. The other side is marketing – getting the word out about your book.
The publishing industry now requires authors to act as their own marketer. With cutbacks in publishing, traditional publishers look to their authors to plan and execute a majority of the publicity. If people don’t know about your book, how will they buy it?
Today the publishing industry is going through dramatic changes and the dust has yet to settle. With vanity publishers, print-on-demand, electronic printing or print-to-order options, self-publishing is rapidly gaining popularity. Many authors are now choosing one of these routes to publishing because each opens a door that used to be difficult to enter. Now the challenge for self-published authors is finding a way to let people know about their work.
To be successful, an author must be their own champion – something most creative types hate. Self-promotion can be painful, but successfully publishing a book relies on it, whether you self-publish or got with a traditional publisher. Success, however, can mean different things.
Your idea of success may be giving your mom and friends a copy, or it may mean becoming the next J.K. Rowling. Whatever your end-goal, if you desire to become a published author, today may be the day. The doors are wide open on the road to publishing like never before. Give yourself permission and follow your dream. It will leave you forever changed when that first copy arrives on your doorstep.
Laura Wrede is a Gilroy author, freelance writer and photographer. Reach her at [email protected].
