How did I get here?
I have always had book ideas running around in my head. Every once in a while I would begin writing a book and then life would get in the way and it would end up buried in a folder somewhere on my computer where it would be forgotten. Some day I hope to revisit those ideas and make something of them.
Things changed for me a little over five years ago while doing the customary round-robin on New Year’s Eve resolutions. I said I wanted to finish writing a book before my next birthday. I naively believed it would be easy for me and that I could knock out a book in about eight months. I really did try and to a certain extent succeeded, but by the time my birthday rolled around I hadn’t finished the book.
And then life got in the way again. Since then I’ve continued to dust it off and rework different elements of the story. I’ve rewritten it no less than 6 times and each version has been significantly different. Not only did I take on writing a book, but I decided to create a world with its own rules and I quickly discovered how challenging that was creatively.
I was honestly ready to give up on it multiple times, resolving that it was as good as it was going to get, but not good enough to attempt to publish. It was my children, repeatedly asking if I was going to finish the book, that pushed me to keep going. They have always been super encouraging and supportive of the fact that I was writing a book.
This past year I set a new goal for myself. My father suggested getting my book to 85% done and move forward, so that’s what I did. I got it as far as I could and then I hired an editor to help me take it the rest of the way, and I have to say I’m pleased with where it is now. I could easily have continued editing and changing it ad nauseam, but I finally felt like it was good enough to share with the world. I had no idea how terrifying it would be to put myself out there, but for the first time in my life I wanted my children to be proud of me, and so I’ve continued pushing forward.
Read Next: Traditional vs Self-Publishing to learn why I chose to self-publish my book.