Publishing a Book During a Global Pandemic

Now there is definitely no crash course when it comes to dealing with life in a Global Pandemic - unless there is and we haven’t managed to find it yet. But when it comes to actually sitting down and writing a book, well, that’s something else entirely. 

I’ll be the first to admit that taking on a venture like this isn’t the best of ideas and presented itself with MANY risks, namely financial. But when it came to ‘The Next Right Thing’ it had already been a story that I’ve held in the back of my mind for over a decade and if I’m being 100% honest, part of me knew that if I didn’t take this leap of faith and publish my book, then I never would. 

‘The Next Right Thing’ is so much more to me than just a book. So much more than a debut as an author. It’s the story that I struggled with for so long and characters that literally grew up with me through the years. I’d already tabled this story once before because I doubted myself too much to take myself seriously as an author and I did not want to take the chance that when the opportunity to write and FINISH this story came around again that I wouldn’t take it and it would be gone forever.

This book was my chance to prove not just to others, but to myself that I could do this one thing I’d never thought possible. So, it was in that moment that I decided, global pandemic or not, that I was going to finish this story once and for all and make it into the book that I’ve always wanted it to be. 

I’m not gonna lie to you and say that there weren’t any doubts that my writing wouldn’t be good enough, because there were, I just chose not to let them prevent me from working towards my goal. It was also thanks to some very close friends of mine that I was able to believe that ‘The Next Right Thing’ could one day sit on a shelf. 

When my manuscript was finally complete a little over three months after I’d begun writing it, I got to work on learning all I could about publishing a book - both Traditionally and Independently (I’ll get into those later) - because in the beginning I wasn’t sure which avenue I would take. I remember being scared about receiving rejections and what other people would have to say about my book. But when those rejections finally came in, they weren’t harsh or cruel like I’d imagined. Instead, they were positive and inspiring. Although some very respective publishers and agencies had chosen to say no, they encouraged me to keep at it. The publishing industry, like so many others, were severely impacted by the pandemic and publishers and agencies were forced to be much more selective than ever and I understood completely and kept at it. 

Choosing to self-publish was a last resort for me in the beginning. I was hellbent on working as hard as I could to get my book ready and to perfect my query (i.e. book pitch) as much as possible, but alas, somethings aren’t meant to turn out how you would expect them too. But after doing more research and finding what I still think today is an EXCELLENT self-publishing company here in Canada I teamed up with @FriesenPress and my book came to life!

My journey as a writer has only just begun and I am so proud that I have finally been given the opportunity to give voice to the characters who’ve been so dear to me for so long. 

Now I know this post got quite long and I do apologize - somewhat - but I promised myself that I would be as candid in these posts as possible so here we are. Now that we’re begun, be sure to check in next week when I go into more detail about what I learned along my way to becoming a self-published author.

🤍 
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