During the writing of “Pete and the Persian Bottle” I learnt a great many things about being an author and the process of self-publishing and marketing. Along the way I made a  great many mistakes. A scary number of mistakes. Probably the biggest mistake I made was rushing to finish. It was very important to me to get the book published and to have it published in hard copy (not just e-book), and although I would have really liked to go through a traditional publishing firm, it wasn’t as important as getting a product out there.  If I’d been more patient and given the whole publisher approach a better chance I may very well have won a publishing deal (and hopefully had better access to marketing, distribution and sales).

So why was I in such a rush? I guess I had something to prove. To whom? Well me, my partner, my family, my friends, my colleagues…I wanted to be a published author, and I wanted it now. I have been fortunate in that I’ve done a pretty darn good job of whatever I turned my hand to and wanted writing to be the same.  I had given up a well paid and perfectly good job/career to pursue my dream of becoming a writer and absolutely did not want to fail.

In the end the only competitor in the race was me. Most of the people I know are just happy to see me following my dream and enjoying my life. And those remaining negative nellies can go get lost.

I am a writer. I publish this, two other blogs, and a monthly newsletter for my writer’s group, I have four (soon to be five) science fiction short story e-books, and a published children’s chapter book. I have two manuscripts in edit phase (a non-fiction humour book and a murder/mystery) and another four manuscripts at various stages of production. I am a writer.

Okay I’m not making a fortune from writing. Not yet at any rate, but I am a writer and the more I write, the more I learn and the better I get at it. My life has changed from being all about business (and other peoples business) to one of Arts and Literature. I will be more patient with the next book and work harder to find an agent or a publisher. Lessons learnt.

The moral of the story: Be patient. Don’t give up on your dreams. Trust in yourself, and hone your craft.

Happy writing!

Image courtesy of pixy contributor geralt.