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NaNoWriMo Victory: I Published a Book!
There has been a lot of sadness and negativity in our world so far this year, but I want to share something good with you all: during the stay-at-home months of March and April, I was able to accomplish a goal that I have had for as long as I can remember. All gratitude and praise to Jesus, I have published my first book!
Even before I could read, myself, I was “writing” books. My mom would fold and staple paper into a “book” for me, and then I would draw the pictures and “read” my book aloud. Once I learned how to actually read and write, I didn’t slow down. In fact, my main issue has always been actually finishing something before I move onto another idea. Being a published author is what I have always wanted to do with my life, but I lacked discipline growing up, and then college and working distracted me from my goal.
In 2016, though, I completed my first successful NaNoWriMo with some friends. (That’s National Novel Writing Month, and it’s an amazing nonprofit that challenges you to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November.) I have now “won” NaNoWriMo three times, and the book I published this year was my 2018 challenge novel!
The book is called My Brother’s Girlfriend, and it’s a middle grades realistic fiction novel written from a Christian perspective. Here is the synopsis: “When Bethany’s brother and his girlfriend Caroline break up, it feels like Bethany has lost a sister. Does she support her brother in his decision and maturely move on with her life? Of course not! Instead, she enlists the help of her two best friends for the greatest spy mission of all time – getting Eddie and Caroline back together.”
I did self-publish my book through Amazon, which was a great experience. I had never much-done anything with a book I’d written (beyond the original writing) before, but now I have self-edited, had others edit and give notes, looked at beta reader feedback, designed a book cover (with my sister’s help – not my strong point), put together “extras” like the copyright page, and formatted everything! It was so much work and time, but completely worth it, and I am so grateful to God and to all the people who helped me finally accomplish this dream.
I can’t stop there, of course – I’m working on my next book right now, during the July “Camp” version of NaNoWriMo! I’m excited to see this one finished and published, as well!
I had a great experience, and I hope you will, too! I wish you well in your book process!
Haha, well I’m glad I can help! I wish you well! (And yeah, that’s why short bursts of writing like NaNoWriMo are good for me – I need short timelines and deadlines, lol.)
Thank you, and Go Vols!
Thank you!!!
I wouldn’t worry. Some stele can last thousands of years . . .
There’s also nothing like that first review on Amazon that wasn’t written by one of your friends . . .
But instead written by someone who is obviously illiterate and willing to punish you because her expectations were for something different.
Hehe. So true . . .
Darn cunieform tablets keep drying out.
Haha
You laugh. I quote:
How many spelling and grammatical errors did you catch?
Delete
One on my best friends takes great sadistic pleasure in texting me whenever he finds a problem in one of my already published books. Thank goodness Kindle Direct Publishing lets me update my works with corrections, something impossible to do for books already printed . . .
Good point – I tried so hard to find any typos, but I’m sure I missed something. 😅
My favorite is “left hungary.” Yikes.