My Experience SO TRUE HAVE A READ..
While writing my first book "Leatherback's Big Win" my mind and heart, both would shrivel up with fear., Cutting, rewriting, cutting rewriting , hundred thoughts and images going on in my head , unsure, scared and undecided I would gather courage and the strength to write and create plots by asking my friend's children to read a chapter or two for some feed backs ,waiting in dread for a response from friends who never got back,asking for help from school friends, some helped some did not even respond,I was in a continuous state of apprehension and fear. Uncertainty ruled my life for eight months.Looking after my boutique ( my source of survival ) seemed a burden and my counseling class, where I am training to become a counselor became more challenging than ever. Acting fine was an art I had learnt a long time ago and my state of calm which people saw was just a facade I would put up, totally unsure and distracted especially because after "Always lagging behind in school" was a complex that left me very late in life . My biggest worry was " What the hell am I writing ? " , "Is my story good enough ?", " Is it meaningful?" these questions were creating a monster in my brains, which was gnawing my sanity but I did go on with my story ..and I finished it !!! For a new comer, a first time writer, a novice,comes the big question; What to do now? My confidence was rocking like a rickety old chair.
After a lot of googling and emails I realized that the famous old publishing houses will not even touch you, or they will put you in a waiting list with a monotonous reply "Thankyou you for your interest in our publication house ... we will get back to you in a year or two ", A YEAR? OR TWO ? really ?? could you just at least read the manuscript, if it's not good I'll accept that , I'll go else where, I'll improvise , I'll move on , I'll cry , I'll do something ! but wait for my manuscript to be read for a year or two ?? unbelievable!! God, I wish I was J.K Rowling's sister, if i had just written "poop" on all my pages it would have still worked like magic; publication houses would have been thronging my home to publish my book, aah! J.K Rowling's sister and the book on magical poop , an instant hit !!!! i would have secretly come up with some vague name as Robby Chant and then announced that "it's me"j.k's sister !
Coming back to reality, after finishing off with my editing, illustrations done,all after mini internal home battles between my daughter and myself , who was interning with me as an editor and illustrator of my book , we were ready to publish! with no "Prestigious" publishing house ready to even read it! I started calling up people who I know are in the so called "literary world " but i got no real help, after calling 50 odd people, came across a self published author who suggested I go for self publishing , it all sounded so cool, that the whole thing will be under my control and all those directive emails and instructions all so satisfying when it starts coming to shape , the plan for a good launch , the quest to call meaningful people, readers and of course some "celebrities", so that the book get media coverage . See ,when an unknown author writes ,the media is not that interested , they have no one who would review the book and decide whether it was a meaningful read or not .Nothing. So you land up getting no words out about your book .That is when I realized that writing and publishing was a piece of cake , getting the words out to readers is actually the main challenge, pouring over the computer, working with the editor and illustrator, producing good quality illustrations, book having impeccable English to create a strong vocabulary base for readers,making an end of book puzzle activities to enhance comprehension, all secondary to the fact that I am not an established writer and the media is not interested in the book at all,unless, I balance it on my head , climb on a table top and dance in a nightclub dancing to DJ g's or b's music, maybe , just maybe then I might feature in the papers and the book dangling on my head could be visible to parents and children. BUT I am not going to do that so,the struggle continues,to get the words out and to encourage reading, the only reward is that whoso ever does get to know about the book shows quick response and interest as it holds powerful messages and the illustrations are really cute, the feedback works like balm to my soul after getting despondent by the amount of money the book barons demand to even utter a word for your book . But the quest is on to build a bridge between myself and readers who want to read, parents who understand that a base for good reading is required to enhance their and their kid's personality, just like a tortoise i do not give up and slow and steady wins the race !!!