How I Got Here

I’ll be honest. A big part of why I started this site is to get my name out there so that people will read, and hopefully like my books. This will in turn result in sales and, one day, I might make a living from the thing I love to do most, writing.

Another important reason for this site is to share with other authors, my experiences in the writing world. It can be a seriously daunting place to be. Virtually all authors suffer rejection, some writing many novels before finding acceptance by a publisher or an agent and even more never succeeding at all.

The simple truth is that it is harder now than ever before. Over the last two years I have submitted three pieces work to umpteen agents and a number of publishers. In return, I have received many standard letters and a few personalised ones. Yes, they liked the stories. No, they weren’t taking on new authors. I was sorely tempted to give up. Eventually, even the thickest of skins gets worn down.

Then, last July, my sister-in-law asked me if I’d considered self-publishing which, of course, I hadn’t. I read up on the success of other such visionaries as John Locke and Amanda Hocking and thought to myself, why not?

It transpired that, no matter how good my submitted work had been, the chances of an agent or publisher accepting me were zero. The industry is not interested in new authors because in the fast changing world of publishing, new authors equal high risk. But as Locke and Hocking have shown, the public welcome new talent with open arms.

I’ll talk more about self-publishing options in another post. My point here is that anybody who likes to write can be published. Does that make it worth reading? Not necessarily, but as I know only too well, if you love to write and you work at it, eventually you will write the stuff people want to read. Never give up, and try to write something every day, even if it is just a diary.

My best words of advice to other aspiring authors are:

• Read as much as you can.
• Write every day.
• Often, advice from the experts (editors, agents, publishers) is wrong.

I will try to post something regularly on this site and tell you about my experiences with all of the problems new authors face in today’s marketplace. If you have any experiences you would like to share please let me know. I’d love to hear about them.

Photo credit: Hamed Saber.