This is it

Wow, just wow. I know this last year was crappy for a lot of people, but it may just have been the best year of my life. To recap, I met the love of my life and got married, couldn’t have anyone at the wedding, but hey I enjoyed it, I learned I’m going to be a dad, and it finally happened, MY BOOK’S GETTING PUBLISHED!!! You heard right, after six years of submissions, query letters, and editing, I finally found a publishing house to accept my manuscript. I’ve gone from the highest highs to the lowest lows in my literary journey and experienced every emotion along the way, fear, excitement, doubt, and hope, and after what seems like an eternity, my prayers have been answered.

The wonderful publishing house that I signed a contract with is called Hidden Shelf Publishing House, and the best part is that they’re based right in my hometown, McCall Idaho. A part of me wonders what would have happened if I had never moved away, would I already have my first book published and a second on the way? If I never left though I never would have made the friends that I did, never would have met my lovely wife, and looking back I’m almost positive that Hidden Shelf would never have accepted my manuscript if I had submitted it a few years ago; reading some of my older writings now makes me cringe. I needed to grow before I was ready for this, not just as an author but as a man. It may be a bit too early to get introspective though, my book isn’t even on the shelf yet.

It took a lot of hard work to get here, but there’s still a long way to go. The first step is going over my manuscript with a fine toothed comb, an author is never truly done writing a novel until the book is on the shelf, sometimes not even then. Robert Gaines, my contact from Hidden Shelf Publishing House, gave me good advice and examples of how to improve my writing style, he brought up a lot of details that I would never have even thought of. Even after the manuscript is wrapped up in a neat little bow, there’s still the marketing to think about. Even though the publishing house takes on a large chunk of the marketing responsibilities, an author’s job is never finished when it comes to promoting their work; it’s their duty to maintain an active social media presence, remember you aren’t selling a novel so much as you are selling yourself as an author. If you think just getting your book published is hard, imagine how much work it takes to turn your book into a bestseller. The only way this is possible is to convince people your book, and thus you as an author, are special; show them that you stand out from the thousands of other books they could be reading right at this moment.

I’m unbelievably excited to be experiencing this process first hand, and I can’t wait to share my knowledge and help others follow in my footsteps. Wish me luck and as always, happy writing out there.