As a new author, it is a difficult task to wait. You’ve taken the painstaking effort of actually creating a book out of sentences written, then you take time to write a query letter, synopsis, possibly a publishing package with an outline- all to find a publisher or agent who thinks your work is worthy and salable. That could take up to a year or less depending on how lucky you are.
So, you’ve taken a year to write your book , a year to find a publisher or agent. If you find an agent, it could be a year to two years to publish because they need to turn around and find a publisher for you. If you find a publisher, it may take one year to publish. Then, you have to edit your book and that can take 5 to 6 months or longer. And by the way, the editing process is not fun. It is a grueling, pull your hair out, pierce your own skin process that will make you wonder why you wrote in the first place! So, you do all that and you finally get the book published with a cover that you and the artist have agreed upon. That’s it-right? Wrong! Then you need to find fans. You need to have what they call, a platform.
Garnering a fan base is more work than writing the book. When you’re a first time author there are a lot of things you can take personal and people not buying your book is one of them. Seeing your number’s slip off the sales chart on Amazon is another. And, lastly, waiting for someone to review your book is a killer. It also doesn’t help to see established authors getting book reviews in a couple of weeks when you’re book has been out there and you haven’t received one review yet. It’s not enough to get a website, a blog, a Facebook page and a Twitter account. You’re still an unknown. Without book reviews, a book doesn’t sell and the author remains an unknown.
So, in the meantime you wait… The clock is ticking and you are on the edge of your seat waiting for someone to write something and hoping it’ll be a 5 out of 5 stars instead of a 1 out of 5 with the words “You suck” attached as a comment. Being a first time author is grueling and there has to be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, somewhere. “Just keep writing and the fans will come.” God, I hope so. In the meantime, I’m going to keep writing and keeping my fingers crossed.
TK Lawyer 