I am doing what I hate to do…the confusing, painstaking, administrative, detailed, non-creative side of being an author. It’s the pits. Really. It’s all I can do to keep at it day-in-and-day-out. But! And this is a big but. I’ve learned something about myself and in the bargain I’ve plowed new ground.
Okay, let’s be more specific. I love writing. It’s magical. It’s unimaginably fulfilling. It’s the essence of being between not anything and something tangible. Composing was the same way for me. A theme would come to mind seemingly out of nowhere, and I would go to the piano and sound would materialize as I had heard it in my mind. A key and notes would follow. And a composition would emerge. Sometimes I was breathless with its beauty.
So here I am as an author. I’ve written a novel. There’s a cover to think about. There’s format. There’s proofing…boy is there proofing! There’s a title to consider and tag lines and a synopsis and short bio, credits, copyright. One of the biggest things for me is continuity and consistency of thought and having characters being in character all the time. And keeping notes as I go…which I’m not as good about as I should be…about names and descriptions and places and events. Somehow it all comes together. This is the fun part. This is creative. This is what I enjoy. This is what I would prefer to do.
Alas! This is not all there is to it. I am an unknown author who chose to go the self-publishing route. Rejection letters from agents and publishers have been the norm. Although there was a publisher who had an initial interest in one of my books. (I came close!)
But I’ve found great satisfaction from those who have read my works. They liked them! That was like a balm to me. Encouraging.
So the point of doing what I don’t like to do is this: I have to do it to get my books into the hands of readers who in turn have told me they love the books. That makes it all worthwhile. Publishing guidelines, print versus eBooks, pricing, getting mistakes corrected, dealing with web-based businesses…there is literally no none to talk to…metadata, ISBN’s and much, much more. It’s all part of the game. The learning curve was steep, but I did learn. And it’s been a priceless lesson/journey I would have missed if I hadn’t kept at it.