May: A Time Of Reflection And Moving Forward

Next month All The What Ifs will turn three and a half years old, making me a published author for just as long. While my journey down the path of publication hasn’t been picture perfect, I can say without hesitation the decision to publish All The What Ifs was one of the best decisions I have made. Along the way I have learned some things.

Here’s a few:

Publishing a book is not for the weak of heart.

Whether you’re self-published (like me) or traditionally published, committing to publishing a novel filled with little pieces of yourself for the world to judge is terrifying. From the naysayers who will tell you it’s too hard to the people who will avoid you, there will be moments you’ll feel like a fool for even trying. Dark moments when it feels like the only person who cares about your book being published is you and maybe that’s why you should just give up.

And here’s my advice to fellow writers who are struggling right now: Fight harder. You caring matters most. And it’s a worthy reason to work toward publishing a book. So tune out those naysayers, find your tribe, and hold tight to your dream. It’s worthy. You are worthy. Now work your ass off to achieve that goal.

You might want to hide and that doesn’t make you weak.

Being honest with the people in my life about publishing has been a difficult journey. From the people who doubted I could write a coherent sentence (and let me know), to family and friends who would flat-out ignore me when I talked about writing a book, to those who have judged me for my subject matters or the genre I’ve chosen to publish, my default has been to hide my head in the sand and never, ever discuss my books.

Which is a shame, since I love my characters and I’m proud of my books. So here’s more unsolicited advice to any fellow authors out there feeling the desire to hide: Don’t. Pull your head out of the sand, stand up tall and proud, and look the world straight in the face (even if your brain is screaming at you to shove your head back in the sand). Again: keep pushing forward.

You matter. Your book matters. Do the thing.

It’s that simple and that terrifying, my friends. Your book. Your passions. YOU matter. There’s no right or wrong book to publish. There’s no worthy or unworthy story. Twilight is as worthy as To Kill A Mockingbird. Don’t believe I know what I’m talking about? Then don’t take my word for it, here’s a few published authors who agree:

Sylvia Plath: And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.

Neil Gaiman: The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can.

Madeleine L’Engle: You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.

So write, my friends. Write because you love it. Write because you care. Write because only you can tell your story. Don’t worry about the rules. Don’t worry about what people will think or say. Shove aside the voices in your head and all the people around you making you doubt your goals and create a book you are proud of. Then publish the damn thing, one way or another.

Remember: Be you. Warts and all. The world is a better place for it. And your dream is oh-so-very-worthy.