There’s many things I didn’t expect after signing my first book deal.
One thing was that amount of work that would continue after writing my name on that contract line. There was editing to do to the manuscript still, talks about cover design, and what would later be refered to by myself as the ‘dreaded marketing’. I think as a society we have a romantic idea of authors. That they are holed up in a little attic somewhere in a old historical home in some quaint little town, writing worlds beyond the average persons wildest imagination, and make enough money from their books to live. I myself am guilty of thinking such ideas, the thought is what made authorhood so appealing to me. I could just burrow in a cozy office and write books. Looking back now that notion is almost as niave as the unicorn treatment expectation a good few have when breaking into the industry. Anyway, the rambles and unedited blog storytelling aside the point is, that getting a book to publication, regardless of which publication you choose, you are going to be working with a team of creatives.
This part was the unexpected but also one of the most rewarding in my opnion. I mean I always thought I’d just be handing manuscripts to an editor and then begin working on the next shiny idea that had captured my mind. Much to my dismay thats not quite how it all worked. Lets look at that little over romantized idea of what we think being an author looks like shall we? I live in the coolest little city(not a quaint teeny tiny town), and the place I call home is rather old I s’pose. (but I’ve lived in older places back in Appalachia.) I do most of my writing on the couch, in pockets of time between other moments of life happening(not holed up in an attic for eight hours a day/night). and as far as writing worlds beyond someone’s wildest imagination? I try my best. The money from my books to pay my bills? right, lets all laugh together. Most authors have a day job and sometimes a second job. All that to say this has been nothing as to what I dreamt of. Yet I wouldn’t have done anything differently. I have worked with other artists for illustrations in my works, and cover designers. It’s been amazing to see other talented creators give life to my stories through their imagination and with their art process. I work very closely with my editor on upcoming publications. Thats not even covering the plot problem solving, fix this character motivation workshops, and voice notes comparable to mini podcasts about the next shiny idea all of which I do with my close author friends. Let alone when I put out feelers for a round or three of early readers to help give feed back so my manuscripts can be the best they can be when I hand them over to my editor.
The biggest unexpected thing has been that writing and the road to authorship has been anything but a solitary endevor. Of course this is a condensed, stream of conciousness, sort of ramble session that I am sure many other authors have also written or spoke about, but I figured it was also my turn to share my thoughts. Im grateful for all the people I have met along the way of charting this journey, and look forward to the creative friends I just havent met yet.
