I am the author of 41 books and I would like to use this space to give you tips on the profession of writing and how to write and publish a book—for those of you who never have but always wanted to.
There are many reasons to write a book. You have an experience in life that you feel is interesting enough to share with readers. Or, you feel a creative urge that has been stymied by the dreary nature of your day-to-day regular job. Perhaps you are the type of person who is frustrated, not recognized for the talents that you have inside you.
Much like a beautiful flower not allowed to bloom; because of unfertile hard-pan earth and lack of rain.
Take it from me becoming the author of a book can give you recognition. It can even save you from the professional disaster you might feel represents your working life. Or, if you are retired, can give you a new exciting job with a sense of purpose that you yourself control and where you can do it almost anywhere and anytime.
…In your home or on a park bench….
Most of us today do it on a computer.
Despite advances in technology, cell phones, computer games, AI, media frenzy, space travel… nothing remains as respected by people as the written word….from the Bible to our Constitution.
But don’t go into it if you simply think it will make you rich and famous because that’s not likely to happen, and in my case I traded the income I could have probably made as an accountant (if I was smarter), for the allure of being an author.
I never wanted to be an average guy. Doing a job that millions of other guys do I’m not knocking it if that kind of job makes you happy. I wanted to be different than most other people. I had a woman once tell me, “I have never met a published author until I met you.”
That was music to my ears. It more than made up for the five-figure income I could have had in a job where perhaps I have to take high-stress abuse from a boss in an office workplace setting.
Being an author gives you a kind of power. Like that kid in the Star Wars movie with the force, that super flashlight beam in his hands. It’s something that even the most arrogant no-good strutting corporate head ego-maniac in his 25th-story office in a skyscraper in a big city doesn’t have….because he can’t do it, or won’t bother to.
But you can.
You can become an author.
The purpose of this column is to show you how.
This is not about fame or monetary success. I’m far from being a nationally known best-selling author. That requires skill, timing and luck. However, I am respected particularly by my publisher. This column will be more about….if a person like me can do it…you can too.
The rewards can be enormous. Becoming an author can erase low self-esteem and the prior pitfalls and failures we have all suffered. A published book can give you immortality of a sort. Someone 150 years from now can read it….if there is someone 150 years from now (and we don’t blow or pollute ourselves off the planet).
More next time….
John Sammon is a freelance writer and the author of 41 books, many of which can be found here on Amazon. He is a resident of El Dorado Hills. His commentary is the first in a series on the trip of self publishing.
