Why do we as Authors write?

So, why do we as Authors write? Money? Adventure? Or just the love of the written word? Most people venture into things because of a void in their life. Me? Of course I have voids in my life, who doesn't? Name one person that has everything that he/she wants and I'll show you something, somewhere that is missing in that person's life. With that being said, not only does writing fill a void for me, but it also carries me away from reality to a place where judgment, life's struggles, financial difficulties and even death does not dwell, unless I so wish it.

So, what "does" dwell in my make-believe world? That is the beauty of it all! My answer: Anything that my heart desires. Some days, I desire love and romance-the kind that causes you to shutter at the sheer intensity of it all, like a passionate first kiss shared between two opposing souls, fighting to be be together, even if it is just for one milisecond of a moment. Like many others, I strive to experience that make-your-toes-curl kinda feeling, that we know only happens in our fantasy worlds. Other days I desire mystery, suspense-the kind that allows you to follow the clues, peeking your interest until the last leaf is uncoved and you almost fall out of your chair with a "Oh, my gosh! I can't believe he was the killer!" kinda moment.

Similar to the feelings that a reader experiences when delving into a new book, as an Author, I get to experience the flip-side of things. I get to allow my story to travel to whatever depths that my mind's eye dares to go. I also feel what my characters feel: sadness, horror, embarrasment, happiness and so on and like a parent, I am proud of their accomplishments and disappointed at their mistakes.

So, why do we as Authors write? Is it because of money, adventure, the love of the written word or a void in our lives that we are trying to fill? The answer: Different strokes for different folks. Meaning, that I am sure that different Authors write for many different reasons, possibly one of the above mentioned reasons or maybe even a combanation of them all. The only certain answer that I can honestly provide is my own personal reasons for writing. What motivates me to go home after a long day at work, pick up my computer and unload the thoughts that are hybernating in my head? My answer: To escape reality, of course, fill the voids in my life, go on a new adventure of my own making, explore the world of the written word and finally, yes, it is nice to make a little money while doing what you love.

The Ups and Downs of Book Writing: So, I wanted to write a book...hmmm!

The Ups and Downs of Book Writing: So, I wanted to write a book...hmmm!: So, I love to read...I mean really love to read and then one day it hit me: I could do this, I could write one of these books that I really ...

The Ups and Downs of Book Writing: What Books Sell?

The Ups and Downs of Book Writing: What Books Sell?: As an avid reader, I must say, I don't know about everyone else, but for me (even as a nurse making a fairly comfortable income) I am on a t...

What Books Sell?

As an avid reader, I must say, I don't know about everyone else, but for me (even as a nurse making a fairly comfortable income) I am on a tight budget. Our economy continues to deteriorate despite encouraging words of improvement from our (very depressing) government. So, with that being said, I don't care what others say about $0.99 books not being up-to-par, I love choising from the cheaper section, not only due to the fact that I need to save money but I have actually found alot of good talent in that section. I have purchaced many, many books in the past year and most were only $0.99. Out of all of these books, 80% were readable. Sure, not all of them were as professional as the more expensive brands but on the other hand let me say this: I bought a Dean Koontz book (a new release) and paid about $15 on my e-reader for it. Sitting down on about twenty different occasians, I cannot for the life of me get interested in this book. It is all over the place! I had another similair experience with a new Stephen King book, however, my problem with his book was that I paid $9.99 for it, only to discover it was a short story (and not a good one at that). And before you begin throwing rocks at my head let me add that I am a huge Stephen King and Dean Koontz fan.

Now, getting back to the topic. What books sells? Well, I guess my answer would be that it depends on who is reading what at that particulair moment. When I began writing my book, The Gifted, me and my children (who are avid movie goers) watched many movies (based on novels of course) of teens with magical powers: The Lightning Thief, Harry Potter and so on... I wanted to write a book for my kids with a similair topic in mind. I wanted it to be kid friendly (meaning no cursing or sex scenes) but with enough adult context to attract the attention of a wider audience. So, I sat down and wrote and wrote and wrote, doing exactly what I set out to do. I centered it around the main character, Flower, who lives in an isolated town in rural Alabama. An entire community is suddenly built next to her (which is odd in itself because she lives almost in the middle of the woods) and the children appear with strange glowing eyes. Another Vampire book you ask? Nope, I wanted to be original!  I even tried to keep it realistic. The glowing eyes are due to the discovery of a formula by some government scientists. The formula changes the cell structure in the eyes causing the user's eyes to glow and have a magical power. Sure my book is selling, but at a slow and dreary pace. I guess I just assumed that due to other books in this genre being so popular, that mine would be as well, especially since it is original! Well, we all know what assume stands for right? Making an ass out of u and me, lol.

So, knowing what I love to read (Horror, Romance and anything with Ghosts)! My best guess is that right now, fiction is selling, but only for well know Authors. People read what they are used to reading. Meaning that when I find a good Author, I stick with them. I found a free E-book called The Mating (about werewolves and such) and it really peeked my interest (even though I usually don't read that kind of stuff ) so, I got all of his books in that series (which were also free) but my point is that after reading the first one, I would have bought the other ones even if they were not free. So, maybe us as readers should branch out and give other (not so well known) Authors a chance because like my experience with the above mentioned book, there are so many talented, undiscovered Authors out there! Keep reading...books are our adventures into other worlds!

So, I wanted to write a book...hmmm!

So, I love to read...I mean really love to read and then one day it hit me: I could do this, I could write one of these books that I really love to read and then the characters that I love so much would always be with me. Okay, I thought, no problem, I will just sit down and let all of the ideas that swim around in my head flow onto this paper. HA HA! Not as easy as I thought. Evently, however, the thoughts did come, the words evolved and before I knew it, I had written a 60,000 word novel about people with glowing eyes and magical powers with a nice romantic twist in the midst. I AM GOING TO BE RICH! I remember thinking. HA HA, joke is on me! What I didn't know is that once you have written your novel, you can't just walk up to the publisher (waiting with open arms) and hand them your manuscript (that they immediately love)  and BAAM out pops your book (that brings in the Cha-Ching!). No, it's rather sad actually. I learned that I had to write a QUERY letter, a synopsis and send it off in a nice little package to many different Literary agents, who in return showered me with automated, cut-and-paste rejection letters. I was no longer Heather Aplin, NO, I became Dear Author. Deciding not to give up on my dream, I joined a wonderful site called Critique Circle. I critiqued other peoples stories and in return was allowed to post pieces of my book for others to critique for me. After getting many helpful tips, I went back to the drawing board: Editing one-0-one LOL! Yeah, I had a lot of work to do. So, I applied myself everyday after work and I went through my entire manuscript, changing and adjusting. I asked a close friend to proof-read for me and after getting a thumbs up, decided to try again. The second go around, I got nothing but positive reviews and only minor mistakes found so I decided to re-send to Literary agents. How about this? We are sorry that we cannot invite you to submit your work or offer to represent you. Moreover, we apologize that we cannot respond in a more personal manner. I saved all of my rejection letters and 50% of them were identical.
Me, being the impatient person that I am, (so funny cause I'm really not) decided that I would try self publishing. THEY MAKE IT LOOK SO EASY! Yeah right, (if you want to half-tail do something). I also paint in my past time, so, I wanted to create my own book cover, which is exactly what I did. It took me a week to figure out what cover creator to use and how to get it to meet KDP's guidelines and then, when I uploaded my book, I realized, after some friends had purchased it, that my indented paragraphs did not tranfer and my formatting was so AWEFUL!! Another week passes...more work after work...and I finally (with more help from friends at Critique Circle) fixed my messed up formatting. So, after all of this hard work, I sit back and allow my book time to reach people. LOL LOL LOL LOL HA HA! All I can do now is sit back and laugh. In a weeks time, I have only sold a handful of books. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? Well, what I have discovered now (through lots and lots of research) is that I have to advertise my book because noone knows it is on Amazon Kindle along with the hundreds of thousands of other books. All I can say now is...So, I wanted to write a book...hmmm!