In the days, weeks and months ahead, thousands of aspiring writers will seek fame and fortune with their first published work. Some will catch the brass ring, but most will not. I'm not saying this to discourage you. In fact, if you read through this entire article you will see that what I have written here is meant to help... not to discourage.
My goal here in is to provide you with a course of action, not a detour. Think of this article as the feedback you get when you go into Google Maps and ask for directions. Google provides you turn by turn instructions to allow you to reach your destination by following the best possible route. But Google won't know about a major wreck that just occurred on the Interstate. So if you follow the directions perfectly, you may still end up stuck in traffic.
Life is like that... it seems that roadblocks are thrown into our path at every turn. Yes, life can be frustrating, and no one knows just how frustrating life can be better than me.
My Story (In Brief)
I had a burning desire to be a writer at a very early age. I signed up for a writing correspondence course using a coupon clipped from a popular magazine of that time, I mailed off the application that included a short story and a check. Well-low and behold-I was accepted as a student. Of course this writer's school probably accepted everyone applying with a check that didn't bounce.
A few weeks later I received the first few lessons, a study guide and an Olivetti typewriter. Remember typewriters? They were machines that printed on actual pieces of paper. I didn't know how to type. Typewriting class in high school was for the girls. It trained them to be secretaries or teachers, the job possibilities that most girls in the 1950s aspired to-since there was little else available.
I still can't type, but I do have two fingers that hunt and peck my way along.
This course had several prominent writers of that era serving As "Guiding Faculty." The only two I recall have long since passed away I gave up in frustration some months later when I ran out of typing correction fluid.
Time Marches On
Over the passing years I still nurtured the desire to write. And I was moderately successful. My first published work was a story about a volunteer fire company, of which I was a member. The only news paper in Medford, NJ was a weekly that carried several of my earliest efforts. After more time, two national magazines carried my stories: What a thrill to receive a check in the mail instead of a rejection slip.
I made several stabs at creating novels. I still may have those attempts somewhere around here gathering mold in their spiral notebooks. It wasn't until 1986 that I really got serious about creating a novel-from start to finish. Two factors influenced this decision:
1. A newspaper story disclosed an FBI sting in which a foreign business attempted to convince an IBM employee to deliver company secrets to them for cash. The worker instead went to corporate security that, in turn, brought in the Feds. The sting was successful and arrests were made. What was most significant about this story was that it happened at North Carolina's Research triangle Park-a mere 15 miles from my adopted home.
2. A few days later, while in route to my job, I chanced to hear an interview of a former Green Beret on a local radio talk show. His statement sent shivers down my back. "We were surrogate warriors-fighting someone else's battles."
And so-armed with a plot and a book title, I bought a new spiral notebook and began to write. After scribbling 70-some pages I learned from a friend about the computer he had bought: Understand that back then, computers didn't have a built-in hard drive or operating system. To "boot up" the 1000S used two 5 ¼" floppy disks. Once activated I put a word processor in Drive A and a blank storage disk into Drive B.
Eventually I transferred my notebook into electronic files.
But I have an impatient nature-and always will-so I rushed through the chapters until I had what I thought was a plausible conclusion-and I cranked up my dot matrix printer and ran it out. I had about 60-some printed pages--and I set it aside.
More Time Passes
In 1987 I had a nagging desire to own my own business, I had been offering my services as a videographer, and I videotaped several weddings. Frustration on my day job led me to quit my well-paying job and open a fulltime video production business. I eventually added photography and moved my business from the spare bedroom to an office park. 10 tears later my wife of nearly 40 years informed me that she had seen a lawyer who was preparing separation papers. The divorce followed one year later.
Without divulging too much personal information, I met a woman who would literally change my life. She answered a personal ad I had placed in the local newspaper. Our blind date took place at-of all places-a nationally known bookstore coffee shop in Raleigh.
At some point I mentioned that I'd had several articles published in national magazines, and at some point she asked, "When are you going to show me your novel."
I did. I gave her the 60-some dot matrix-printed pages. She tore into them with a vengeance. She could visualize a better order, deeper characterization, and a more realistic outcome. We worked together-me taking her suggestions and filling out the story, while she kept critiquing my efforts. When we finally reached what we considered to be a workable manuscript.
The Search for a Publisher
The 21st century became a reality as we printed out sample chapters, and together with a synopsis, began mailing off packages to publishers. This went on for a year or so. What we learned mostly is that most publishers will seldom consider any manuscripts unless they are submitted through a genuine, established literary agent. And literary agents told us that they were too involved with their successful writers to bother with a wannabe author like me.
The century crept on and it wasn't until 2008 that I learned about "print-on-demand publishing." I found a publisher that "never charges a fee" to its authors. So my novel finally saw the light of day. Can you imagine the thrill of seeing your novel appearing on Amazon or Barnes and Noble?
Yes... I was thrilled on one hand but discouraged on the other. The retail price for my 274 page novel was $24.95 for a soft back (paperback) book. Most hardcover novels sell for about the same price. It didn't sell.
End of Story... Not Yet
One difficulty I had was the credibility of my publisher. The only marketing effort they made was to sell printed copies of their novels to the authors of them. We were obliged to buy copies and set up our own book signings. But the economy went sour and every book store I contacted either ignored me or begged off due to the downturn in printed book sales. Industry statistics tell us that only about 30% of all book sales now occur from brick and mortar book stores.
The Electronic "E-Book" Phenomenon
It began with Amazon's introduction of the Kindle. This handheld mini-computer downloads complete novels in a flash through local cell phone towers. My wife bought a Kindle when they were first offered and currently has over 100 novels in storage. Not long ago she bought an iPad and transferred her library to it.
But my publisher had an on-going feud with Amazon, who wanted the publisher to convert all of its books to the Kindle format. My publisher refused. The answer was, of course, to charge the author's to format their works. It cost me about $30.
Getting Your Novel on Kindle
My advice is to skip the middleman-the publisher. Amazon uses a company called CreateSource that offers the tools needed to correctly format your novel, and most of their services are at no cost. I have a second novel in the works and this is the course I will follow. Sign up for an account with CreateSource. Even though my new novel isn't finished. I am also looking at Barnes and Noble's Nook, which is their competitive offering with Kindle. I can do this if I am not encumbered by a contract with a publisher.
Writing a First Novel
Many literary agents and publishers agree that first novels are often somewhat autobiographical. This is true with my novel. But I won't specify what parts are true and what parts are pure fiction. I drew from my own real-life experiences and suggest you do the same. Surrogate Warrior deals with industrial espionage and a retired CIA agent's efforts to find the leaks of corporate secrets.
My second novel tells the tale of a serial killer that sets up shop in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Is this autobiographical? Am I an experienced serial killer? No... I am not, but I am somewhat of an expert in criminal and crime scene investigation. So you see, a novel's success is partially based on its credibility. Draw from your experiences, things of which you have some real experience. If your novel is ready, check out e=Book formats. If not-get started on it!
3/4s of a Century is behind me. Am I really too old to be seeking a new career as a novelist? No way! I have reasonably good health, but more importantly, I still have a burning desire to achieve a level of self-satisfaction, while providing a measure of entertainment to my readers. You might say I wasted a lifetime getting to this point. But the real point of how this story became a reality is based on words spoken by Winston Churchill to a graduating class, "Never, never give up."
The link below is to Amazon's Kindle page for "Surrogate Warrior." My hope is that this novel will serve as an inspiration to you. Purchase a copy of "Surrogate Warrior" and see for yourself. Analyze my character and plot development. The cost is just $9.95-but if you look at it as a How-To-Guide, it will be the best investment you can make. Surrogate Warrior.
Remember this, "If it is to be-it is up to me!"
Expert Author Don Penven is a freelance writer and professional photographer based in Raleigh and Morehead City, NC,
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