Have you ever dreamt of being an author?
Ever thought about what it will be like to write a bestselling novel, get featured in the New York Times, and make so much money that you no longer have to work again?
Imagine writing a novel that becomes a movie - and that earns you tons of royalty, making you so popular that when you walk on the street, everyone calls out your name, tears rolling down their cheeks in awe of your amazing book?!
LOL!
Okay, that's a bit dramatic - but again, everything is possible. HOWEVER, if there is going to be significant success writing a book, the first step would be to actually write a book! 😊
And YOU (yes YOU!) can write and publish a book. Fairly easily - and the next couple of posts will take you on a journey to getting that done.
I say this confidently because I have written several books, which include:
Of Priests and Mermaids (Vol 1) with stories such as "Damp" (if you like Thriller/Horror novels) and "The Mystique of the Royal Sprite" (also a Thriller).
Kissing Snakes and these books are on Amazon. You can click the links to check them out.
Apart from these, I am working on several others including The Bleeding Son, Of Priest and Mermaids (Vol 2) which includes a story called The Runners, amongst others.
If I can do it, then you can do it as well. Also, having written a few novels, I am going to outline ways that you can write and publish your first book or novel. And do so fairly easily using a few tips and tricks I am happy to share with you.
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Now, some benefits of writing books
A. It just feels nice to say, "I am a published author": Try this out right now. Close your eyes, imagine you have written your first book - and then imagine saying to someone, "by the way, I am a published author of three books". Doesn't it feel good? 😁
B. A sense of accomplishment: It's no mean feat to write a book. It requires some mental bandwidth. But if you finally get it done, it makes you feel accomplished because you set out to do something, setting you apart from MANY people who just DREAM of doing things. And you didn't just set out to do it; you got it done! It gives an amazing sense of accomplishment and it makes you more confident in writing more books and achieving goals in other areas of your life.
C. Money: You can actually make money from writing books. With little advertising, I made about $1,200 from Of Priests and Mermaids (Vol 1) selling physical copies and without much advertising. Now, I know that is not a lot of money, but I wanted to test out the hypothesis that I could generate revenue and profits (about 60% of that was profit) from a book I wrote. So, you can actually make money from your book.
In addition, if you write several books, I find that when people buy one of your books and like it, they tend to buy additional books. So if you have written 10 books and you get the word out there, you can continue to earn a tidy sum over time. Some people live off writing, using this approach - and when we get to Marketing and Publishing, I will share some tips that may prove useful to make money from publishing and ways to reduce associated costs.
D. Expanding the mind: Writing a book does amazing things for the mind - in addition to helping your vocabulary. As you move from writing simple stories to more complex stories, it forces you to research. You'll end up delving into everything, from Economics to Weaponry to History to Human Relationships to Commerce... I can go on and on. Over time, you gain a significant awareness of a wide range of topics - and that is an amazing thing for your mind!
E: Nothing to lose: Finally, there are more benefits to writing than NOT writing. And while you may be afraid of being critiqued, which may happen, what's the worst that can happen, really? If someone does not like your story, someone else will. If your story is not great, it means the next one will be better, which means you're improving. If you write a story and afterwards write a better story, you have more books out and the world can see you growing as an author. So, what is there to lose? And if you set your expectations right, not expecting the whole world to buy your first book, you will not be disappointed - and you will look forward to your next work and growing your portfolio of books.
So, why not?!
Now to address what holds people back from writing.
WHAT HOLDS PEOPLE BACK FROM WRITING:
Overthinking: Often you are thinking about the whole process and freezing like a deer in headlights. Over the next couple of weeks, you will learn to break down the process so it is simple to understand and to execute! Moving on...
Fear of poor reception: I have spoken a bit about this above. Expect poor reception from some people. That's normal - BUT also expect there will be good reception from others! It balances out. And considering you have more to lose from writing than not writing, why not! Manage your expectation, get your book out, and when it is out there, prepare for the next one!
"No Time": This one is a myth. You can write a simple children's book in 30 minutes and get it published the next day. The world has changed and there are simple ways to accomplish this. Also, my 8 and 11 year old kids have written several stories, and series of stories. If they can write stories, so can you. And in the next post, you will learn tricks to churn out works in a simple manner and in a short period of time. Again, on to the next!
Overly complex stories: Unlike (1) which is overthinking the entire processfrom writing to publishing (and getting paid), this is about getting lost trying to write a story that becomes a maze. Often this is a result of too many characters or so many plot twists that your brain gets tied in knots. The trick is to write very simple stories when you start out, using the fundamentals of story writing, which I will talk about as we go along - and then add simple layers of complexity. So, KISS: Keep it Simple, Stupid, Smart!
So, now that you are all pumped and ready to write, you will need the following:
Willingness to try
A computer or phone to write (Yup!)
Grammarly - which is available for free
A word processor. I advise Google Docs, which is not mandatory, but what you write is automatically saved. It is PAINFUL to lose what you have written, trust me!
And with that, we will jump right into how to actually write your first story. I'll cover the basics of writing a story, how to get ideas - and very importantly, how to get people hooked to your story.
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See you on the other side.
JCNova
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