A Candid Conversation about Publishing

A Candid Conversation about Publishing

Every author’s journey is different. There is no clear path, but there are some questions I asked myself along the way that made a difference in turning my dream into reality. It is my hope you ask yourself these same questions and propel your writing career forward. 

Why am I doing this? I’ve always wanted to be a published author. It would be a major accomplishment and something I can check off my bucket list. If the book starts a conversation or resonates with one person, it will have been worth the journey. Hitting the bestseller list would be the cherry on top. 

Do I believe in the story I’m writing? Yes. Chances are if I believe in it, others will find value in it too. Although The Friendship Breakup is considered a mom com, I didn’t just write it for entertainment or escapism. The messages are meant to shed light on female friendships and resonate with those who have been through a heartbreaking friendship loss. It’s not a subject often talked about, but it can be a devastating experience. I also wanted to bring awareness to the challenging times of motherhood, marriage, and the setbacks one faces while building a dream. By intermingling these themes and highlighting the ups and downs of this one woman’s journey, a story of hope and resilience unfolded, and one I believed would spark a conversation.

What am I willing to do to reach my dream of being published? 

Sit my butt in a chair and write. I committed to a writing schedule—1,500 words a day until I finished. I wrote four books this way. 

Find an agent. Querying the first three books taught me that by the fourth, if I didn’t get one full manuscript request for every ten queries, then my book needed work. On my fourth book, the one that is published, I received fifteen full manuscript requests. This was proof I was on the right track. 

Revise. Revise. Revise. Before I had an agent, I hired an editor to get it in shape for an agent. And after I got my agent, I worked with my agent for eight months to get it into shape for a publisher. 

Let go of expectations. If you have no expectations, you can’t be disappointed. I revisited my goal many times. The one that said, “I want to be a published author.” Along the way, I noticed I had built a world of what this should look like. Wrong. I’m not saying don’t dream, just be willing to let the fantasy details go if they don’t become reality. 

Do I love writing? Yes, absolutely. Writing for me is fun, and it’s important for me to love the story I am writing. There are days when it is challenging, but overall, I enjoy creating a story and seeing it all come together. When it is no longer joyful, I will stop. Life is too short to be unhappy.

Is it important to be supported? Yes. I searched out critique partners, beta readers, other authors, editors, an agent, and author coach who loved my story, and I walked away from toxic energy. It was important for me to be surrounded by people who lovingly guided me to new heights. 

Can I create the life I want? Absolutely. Trust the process—the flow. It may not look like I expected, but I believed there were forces working in my favor even when I couldn’t see them. 

In publishing, there are a lot of workings going on behind the scenes that I wasn’t privy to, and this can make one’s mind spiral out of control. If I’ve learned anything during the publishing process, it’s important to practice self-care, stay positive, patient, and confident that my team wants me to succeed. Unless they tell me otherwise, my team is on my side even during long periods of silence. 

Can I separate myself from the end product and the business? I am not my book. Yes, I wrote it. The words flowed through me to the page. I was the vessel for the story to materialize through. It wanted to and needed me to make it into the world. It is not me. I am not a character in the book, nor is anyone I know. In the end, book publishing is a business. It’s not personal. 

What if the book gets bad reviews? I looked at my book objectively and was aware of all the reasons why someone might not love it. And truthfully, they were the same reasons many agents rejected it. I was prepared. Did it really matter to me if it got a bad review? Nope. Even international bestselling authors making millions of dollars get bad reviews. Not everyone is going to love the story, and that’s okay. In my heart, I trusted that the book would find its way into the right hands—the people who needed the message the most. 

Am I willing to market the book to reach a larger audience? This goes back to why I am I doing this. I wanted to be a published author—that was my goal. When you become a published author, your agent needs to be paid, your publisher needs to be paid, and you want to be paid. And how does this happen? Marketing leads to sales. Book publishing is a business. Marketing comes with the territory. Truth be told, marketing excites me. 

After my debut, do I still want to publish books? Absolutely. Now that I achieved my goal, I am looking forward to publishing another book. When writing makes you happy and you want to share it with the world, you can’t not write. 

Of course, there were days I wanted to quit and I questioned if I was cut out for this industry. But I kept my eye on the prize.

If it’s a dream in your heart, commit to it, and do it the way you want. There are many paths to publishing. That’s the beauty of your dream. Your path will not look like mine and mine won’t look like yours, but when you achieve it, I can guarantee you, it will have been worth it. 

—

About Annie Cathryn

Annie Cathryn has always dreamed of becoming an author and lives by the motto, “Creating is Living.” The Friendship Breakup is her debut book baby, born out of love.

When not writing or reading, she’s organizing her personal library collection by color and discovering delectable chocolate.

She earned a journalism degree and a master’s in communications from Marquette University, and lives in Chicagoland with her husband, daughter, and two fur babies.

Website https://anniecathryn.com/

—

THE FRIENDSHIP BREAKUP

For fans of Laura Hankin and Jennifer Weiner, this fresh, clever, and complex debut “mom-com” explores the ups and downs of friendship and what happens when those you trust the most leave you high and dry.

A plucky protagonist who’s far from figuring it all out—but powers through with wit and determination—Fallon is a heroine millennial moms will instantly connect with.

Fallon Monroe, mother of one, self-help book junkie, and budding chocolatier, has always relied on her mom friends in the Chicago suburbs to get her through the trials of adulthood. So when her bestie Beatrice inexplicably starts ghosting her and takes all their mutual friends with her, Fallon’s left wondering how everything went so wrong. Pushing down a lifetime of insecurities, Fallon doubles down and decides to win them back. First, she hosts an epic Mexican fiesta that goes epically wrong. Then she joins a friendship app but discovers a disturbing secret about one of her new friends.

Just when she’s about to throw in the towel on the whole friendship mess, Fallon reads a recently unearthed letter she’d refused to deal with decades earlier—and reading it forces her to finally face the deep-seated fears she’d desperately tried to bury. Now, looking at her friendships through fresh eyes, she must decide between hanging on and letting go.

Fallon is an instantly likeable heroine—as vulnerable as she is determined—and she’ll have readers eagerly turning the pages as they join her on an emotional journey into the hopes and fears of adulthood.

BUY HERE

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: How To and Tips