Recently, a question was posed to the published authors of House of Honor Books. For most us, it was our first time to be published and we were asked about our insights and expectations. I had to reflect on that. The anniversary of my first release will be in July.
I had already begun the sequel to New Perspectives right after I had submitted it. I have an ongoing project working all the time. My next book Can’t go Home was submitted last year before Christmas. After a few changes, I was awarded a contract and this book is currently in editing. Changes? I found out I can be a little wordy. The novel was too long. The good thing is, my next work is over a third done before I even started. I’m working on a series.
New Perspectives has been jokingly referred to, by me, as an IKEA project. Jack’s editing skills helped me tremendously! I learned a lot as a first-timer, and I’m very grateful that I was contracted with House of Honor Books. During the editing process, I had many revisions. Simple mistakes were overcome, and I grew as a wordsmith. At least I hope so.
Can’t Go Home seems to be editing better. My revisions don’t come near as frequently. Of course, I’ll give credit to a friend helping me as a proofreader. That may have helped. Thanks Judy!
You, the reader, may ask, “What’s it like to be an author?”
Almost a year has gone by, and I’ll be honest to say, “It really hasn’t sunk in yet!”
My life hasn’t changed drastically, I don’t have Hollywood executives beating down my door wanting to make a movie. I had internally hoped, but…
The reality is it takes more to be discovered. That part takes work, hard work. Maybe the big-time publishers can do all the PR and the author can sit back working on the next masterpiece. I really would rather be a team player like we do business with our publishing house. We all work to promote each other’s books, and it feels like the support of family.
I went into being an author not knowing what to expect. So far, I haven’t been disappointed. It’s challenging and frustrating at times, but I hold no regret in my journey.
Rick Shaw
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