My first published book

Ever since I got the idea to write a book, the goal for me wasn’t to just write a book, but to have a book published. The concept of having my own words, my own story, there in print in my hands was almost overwhelming. There were so many hills to climb before I could ever try and summit that mountain! I hadn’t even written a book yet.

So I wrote a book. ‘The Black Birds’, it’s called. It’s not a bad book, per se, but it also isn’t a book that is well enough written that I felt I could try and get it published. I hadn’t ever actually written much of anything; certainly not an entire book. I stumbled along and pushed through the process and came out the other side with a decent story, but not a good book. I’m still proud of it, but it needs some major overhauling before I’ll be satisfied.

The next book I wrote, called ‘Lathé’, is an epic long dystopian sci-fi set on mankind’s first planetary settlement. The name comes from the Haitian for “Earth”. While the first book was to see if I could actually write a book, any book, this one was ‘my’ book. The sort of stories I read over and over growing up. It’s a great story, many multi-layered characters and situations that weave together in unexpected ways. However… getting an agent and publisher and selling a sci-fi book, as an unpublished author, is akin to winning the lottery. I can buy the ticket (write the book), but most of the rest is up to chance.

Now I knew I could write a book, and write a book that was good enough to try and sell. But could I write a book that was commercial? ‘Lathé’ was a book written for an audience of me. ‘Sir Frog’ was my first book aimed towards a wider audience; in this case the Young Adult market. It follows a well trod path; a group of teens/young adults find friendship, adventure, and their own magic as they face peril and trial in the court of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. ‘Sir Frog’ is the first book in a planned seven book series that follows the narrative arc of the original King Arthur stories (Le Morte de Arthur by Mallory). The first one, and most of the second are written. The book itself is pretty good; could use some cleaning up and editing to make things more exciting right out of the gate. However… the problem with Young Adult is the same with Sci-Fi; it’s a saturated market and breaking in as an unpublished author is very, very difficult.

I did research then; what was a market that was vibrant and, as importantly, open to new authors. The answer? Romance. I was, honestly, surprised as to how big and open the Romance genre is. As long as the story is good, the romance is hot, and the ending is happy people are comfortable trying out new books and new authors. That was great news except for one problem. I had no idea how to write a Romance novel.

The next few months took me on a journey of discovery in myself and in my own writing to figure out what, exactly, made a Romance novel what it is. The common stereotype is that Romance is a ‘throwaway’ genre. Cheap novels and cheaper characters with a few tawdry sex scenes thrown in. How utterly wrong that stereotype is in reality!

Romance readers may be open; but they are very demanding. Believable characters, convincing romantic development, interesting and unique settings and situations, a strong storyline… Of course, there’s plenty of novels out there that are lacking in some (or all) of these qualities. But the best of the best of the Romance world? They hit each and every one of those marks. So writing a Romance was more than just ‘throwing a story and some sex’ into a book. I had to use all of my skills learned over the first three books (and many drafts and other manuscripts left unfinished) to make a book that would fit well into Romance.

I’ve spent longer on ‘Love… in the Time of Zombies’ than on any other book I’ve written. I’ve labored over details, edited and re-wrote until my eyes crossed and I had to close down the computer or pass out in front of it. And at the end of it all I have a book that I’m exceedingly proud of. I love my characters, I still get excited about the situations they’ve got to go through, and I’m still relieved and filled with joy when they get the happiness at the end that they deserve. What’s not to like?

But there was one more step to go; how to get it published? I put out a couple of query letters to agents but the same problem exists as with other genres; as an author with zero sales to my name it was hard to convince an agent that I had a book worth their time. Self-publishing became pretty much my only option then and so I had to learn how to make a manuscript into a book.

Cover sizes, rights management, font, layout design, even down to things like ‘how much should I sell it for?’ became things I had to understand and undertake. I had to edit it on my own, format it on my own, write blurbs for the back cover, so so many things. It took a few months past when the book was actually done before it was ready to be published.

And now? It’s a book. I received a proof copy a couple of weeks ago and burst into tears when I saw it. It was my book. My name, my title, my words. In print, in a book, there in my hands. I still get tingly thinking about that feeling now. The pride, the joy, the pain and anguish and time and energy that went into those marks on the page. And my writing! My story! In a book that I could hold, give to somebody to look at and read.

I looked back on the journey, the path it took to get from the dream of ‘can I really write a book’ to the day where I held my own book in my hands. It made it all very real for me, and it’s a moment I’ll never forget.