When I wrote my first newsletter for my dedicated subscribers, I talked about the blank white page and how it didn’t take long for that page to be no longer blank. Writing a novel for me was the easiest and fun part. Then came the day it was completed and where I literally sat there in front of my computer screen thinking, what the heck do I do now? I don’t know one single solitary soul in the editing field; worse yet, who in the world can I trust. After all, this was a years worth of work. So I just sat there, and mind you, there was no longer a blank white page in front of me but rather a 65,000-word manuscript staring back at me.
So, I picked up my phone, fiddled with it, checked my email, looked at some pictures of my sweet granddaughters and scroll through social media mindlessly then settled on a few author and self publishing pages. Again I asked myself, who in the heck can I trust? That’s an understatement. My thoughts became validated by a few horror stories about people claiming that they will help publish your book. Although there was some good advice and a couple of success stories, it was the bad ones that stuck in my mind. I had also realized how many writers who were struggling to get out the word on their books and having no idea where to begin. I certainly wasn’t alone but still my heart sunk. The defeating thoughts returned. Then the little voice in my head said, don’t give up you can do this, and that is when I saw a post from a local newscaster who had just finished his first novel. I tapped the side of my phone with my fingers, hesitating for a moment. Then I finally said to myself, maybe I’ll message him and ask for advice on how to find an editor I can trust. It was a longshot but what did I have to lose. To my surprise, he got back to me within a couple hours with my first lead toward my dreams of becoming a published author.
That was ten months ago and I’m at the end of my long journey of writing and having my novel professionally edited by a very talented editor. Next comes the physical making of the book. Something I can hold in my hands, flip through the pages of all the hard work and see my name and title on the front cover. So the question remains. Will I be a somebody in the writing world? I suppose the jury is still out on that. But I do know one thing for sure. If I go from a nobody to a somebody, it would have started with my local newscaster, who took the time out of his busy schedule to send this somebody there first lead.
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