So I Am Writing a Book, But I Am Not Doing It Alone

I recently wrote a book. No, it is not available for sale yet. I don’t even have a title so you can’t pre-order it, yet.

However, I am writing a book; I am just not doing it alone.

I wrote a book; it is currently about fifty-one thousand words give or take. Not only did I write a bunch of words but I organized them into chapters. Each chapter was building on the last. Until finally I created a book.

The project started as a challenge, a contest of sorts, I signed up to participate in the NanoWrimo contest last November. The contest is where contestants are to write fifty thousand words in thirty days. Little did I know that the story that would unravel would become a book.

Currently, I am editing these words; I have employed a couple of software programs, in hopes to make the words flow easily. I wrote the meat of the book in Scrivner the best writing tool for writers on the market in my opinion. I then used the Hemingway application to get a feel for the ease of readability. If it does not read nicely, you likely won’t read it right?

Lastly, I am using a paid version of Grammarly Premium to edit the grammar, punctuation, and more. Granted I did not pay for it, I got a free month of use of the paid version, in exchange I promised I would give them a review. The review will be forthcoming in the next week or so as I wrap up the month of editing.

Part of the contest was to have my book edited by the end of February to send in for my free printed copy of my book. Editing the book has been a daunting task; it is not so easy to read the words you once thought made sense. Facing the reality that some of the words are junk is tough.

Even with all these tools, sure I will have an edited book. But it will not be ready for consumption (which is the goal by the way, that you will read it, love it and share it right? ). However, it is still not going to be ready to see the light of day.

Once I edit my book, I will send it to an expert to read. Yes, there are expert readers, they will take my words shape them, rearrange them and make them palatable. Once the copy editor I am hiring is done flavoring my words with their wordsmith flair, then the book will then be off to get formatted.

Formatting takes the cleaned up words and makes them into the format of a book. This includes typesetting,  cutting, rearranging and making the words come alive on the pages. This is the stage the book begins to come alive. Where the words I wrote become the book they were made. Then off to self-publishing, the words will go. This is where you can order your copy that will come in your mailbox for you to finally read.

Writing a book and having it published takes time and patience. It is a humbling experience to see words you thought mattered get scattered or deleted. But all the time spent bleeding your emotions onto the pages will finally pay off. At that moment when you no longer say that you wrote a book, but now I published a book and here is where you can buy it.

How about you, have you written a book? Any tools you used that helped or advice you will like to share?

If you are interested in learning more about the upcoming book be sure to subscribe as my readers will be the first to know.