My Writing Experience thus far

“Once a writer becomes an author, they are now in the business of writing. This is no longer a hobby and every business needs a plan.” –Sylvia Hubbard- @sylviahubbard1
Why I wrote a book….
This is a very interesting and frequent question that I’m asked on a daily. What made me compose a book?
Well, it all started in High School. Classes such as Psychology, Theatre, Gym (Why Lie?), and of course, English, were the only classes that kept my interest. The more books I read, the more poetry I composed. I would literally write every night for at least thirty minutes. I guess you could say that I was “Dedicated” back then.
One of my favorite teachers, Mrs. Welch, was eager that she had someone in her class that loved writing as much as she loved teaching it.
I aced all of her writing assignments, and even turned them in early. By my work being in early gave me the chance to “Help” others with their papers. During the broke college years, “Helping” others with their papers came in handy because it kept money in my pocket and food in the refrigerator.
But back to Mrs. Welch, she saw something in me that I failed to see in myself, and my classmates as well.
Mrs. Welch made us present some of our poetry one day, and a few weeks after that, she showed me a letter.
The letter stated that my poem entitled Graduation would be published and was in consideration for being in the Top 10 for the Michigan Edition of Celebration for Young Poets.
That was my first time being published and instilled a certain amount of confidence within me and made me believe in myself. Just the thought of my poem being read by people that were complete strangers to me was a great feeling.
I entered a few more contests and was published a in a few more books of poetry.
It felt good. Damn good.
I always thought that I would be a poet. Well, I am a poet but I thought that a book of poetry would come before the thought or idea of penning a novel.
I wrote a book because I truly believed that it could be accomplished and it was something that I wanted to do for quite some time.
Married 2 Struggle was completed in November of 2008 and published in May of 2009. I was just excited to be a “Published Author.” But more importantly, more excited to receive the type of feedback that I have received. When people ask “When is the next one coming out?” or tell me that I’m wasting my time because the second one isn’t complete yet, it further lets me know that I have done my job. My fans want an encore, they want to see what else I have in store, I have done my job by entertaining them.

Support
One of my biggest mistakes thus far has been my assumption. Thinking that the people around me would support was a failure mission. Lesson learned though. It just makes every sale that I receive mean so much more. It gives me an unexplainable high when people appreciate my imagination and skills.
I thought the people I know would tell the people they know, and the word of mouth advertisement would spread further than any other form of marketing.
I knew nothing about the business side of the writing craft. Writing is, or at least, was a hobby for me. The above quote from Sylvia Hubbard has proved my theory wrong though.
Blind to the business aspect resorted to a lack of sales.
While the sales are depressing, I’ve recently decided to not give up on my craft. If you don’t believe in yourself, then who will? I have adopted this mentality because I have no other option. I preach self-confidence all the time, so if I failed to do such a thing, I would be a hypocrite.

Future Projects
Currently, I’m working on three separate projects with the hopes of at least two of them being published by the end of this year. Like the fictional character Hank Moody in Showtime’s hit series Californication said “Being a writer is like having homework for the rest of your life.”
I now have the knowledge about the business side of the writing game. This is what I want to do until I breathe my last breath. This is what I want to do until I expire.

Useful Info for Writers
Artists have to make their own platforms, make their own way, and seek a business plan that suits them well. I have learned from my mistakes and his blog entry was written with the hopes of YOU taking this advice and learning from my experiences.
1. Blog by giving your audience/potential customers a glimpse of your work, writing style, and subject matter. This is similar to a “Sneak Peak”
2. Network, Network, Network
3. Do your research and learn from everyone that you can. Authors Unite.
4. Create a video trailer by using Windows Live Movie Maker. It is usually already on your PC or you can download it from the Windows website for free. @pg_darling has very good trailers for her upcoming projects on youtube.
As I find out more useful info and tips, so will you.
I hope this helped.
Until next time, Comment and hit that Subscribe button.