A Recap - Reasons for Publishing

I've been a writer most of my life - ever since I first stumbled down the stairs one snowy Christmas evening with ten pages of the most revolting drivel about ponies clutched in my eager hand. My parents, upon being inflicted with said drivel, were, understandably, cautious in encouraging me to consider literature as a reliable career. "Keep it as a hobby." they said. "You can always do it in your free time."

The last laugh was on them, however, when I decided to study English Lit at University.

I mention this merely as a way of explaining my motives for leaving the issue of publishing so late in my life. My FictionPress account imforms me that I have, up to this point, written 195 stories for Fantasy, Humor, General, Thriller, Life, Young Adult, General, Nature, Fantasy, Friendship, Love, Song, and Horror." I have been a member since 06-05-02 - six years this month. Shocking! And never once even tried to get published!

It is, I think, easy to see why this was. My worries were (and are) those of most young and inexperienced writers - after the youthful confidence (better known as naivety) has faded a little. Writing is such a huge part of my life, I felt I simply couldn't handle the ruthless commercial and literary assesment of my poor little stories. So, what changed?

I finally got a bit of backbone!

What's the worst that could happen? Rejection, as the Yearbook tells us time and time again, happens to all the greatest writers. But what they fail to mention is that it happens to the worst, too.

Nevertheless, I've decided that it's a chance I'm going to take. The benefits of being a real, published author are just too great to forego.

The name of the game...is PUBLISHING!

Okay, so, everyone wants to be a published author. Even people who don't even like books (I could name a few drug-riddled celebrities whose autobiographies litter bookshops all around the country) are turning their hand to book-making these days. So, following Katie Price's example in this (but, perhaps, in nothing else...), I determined to get published.

This is a chronical of my attempt to get into the world of publishing. I hope it'll be useful to other people, too - I certainly wish I had had an account like this to make me realize just what I was getting myself into!

Enjoy! And remember...forwarned, is forarmed!