On writing

It takes courage to publish your first book

Finding The Courage To Publish Your First Book

 

Many people have an idea for a book but very few actually write one. Why?

Finding The Courage To Publish Your First Book Can be extremely hard. We often hear people say: “That would make a great book! I should write a book.” Sadly that is the beginning and end of the book idea for most people. You have to have the passion, the drive, and the commitment and be willing to dedicate hours and hours of your time to write your story. You want others to hear what you have to say. It’s important to you, that you are heard. It’s a long grueling process that most aren’t willing to take unless you have that PASSION. Most often your first book will take years of dedication. Mine took seven years once I began putting pen to paper. Before then it waddled around in my head for fourteen years.

Letting go is hard

During those years, your book becomes your baby. You know everything about it. It’s your creation. You gave it life and you are watching it grow as you feed it. Like a child you have raised, you don’t want to let it go. It’s been just you and your book. You’ve protected it from the outside world. No outside influences, no possible negative feedbacks. No one has seen it but you. But now the book is finished. There is no more to write. You read and re-read. You edited, over and over again. You have given it all you have to give. It is your best work and you are proud of what you have accomplished.

But now the book is finished. There is no more to write. You should be feeling proud!  You actually started and finished writing a book! Now it’s time to let it go and watch it blossom into the world. You realize this is harder than writing the book. Suddenly you start asking yourself a bunch of “What if?” questions. You start doubting your work.

  • What if I could have done better?
  • What if it gets bad reviews?
  • What if I picked the wrong names for my characters?
  • What if I had ended it differently?
  • What if I fail or succeed as a writer? How will I handle the pressure of failure or success?

You realize that once you let go. You are opening up, not just your book to be judged, criticized and actually read by others, but yourself as a writer also. Will you be able to handle it?

These are all emotions and fears that we experience when publishing our first book. Emotions I am dealing with right now as I anticipate the debut of my first novel “Reckless Beginnings.”

Why do we put ourselves through this and find the courage to publish our book?

Our passion is what gets us through this. We have this deep passion for writing and telling a story. It guides us through the journey from beginning to end. It is this passion that we gain courage and strength to see our book in print for the world to see.

From this passion, we are able to overcome any obstacle or handle any negativity. We learn to stand tall, own our passion and stand up to our fears. We are able to let it go and realize our work is not for everyone. We have accomplished what we set out to do. We told a story, one that was important to us to tell and we had that passion for sharing.

Through the turmoil’s and emotional roller coasters of printing your first book, the end result is priceless. You get to see and hold the book you created in your hands, with an actual cover and your name as the author. Now ask yourself. Was it worth it? I think I know the answer.

Feel free to share your experiences on printing your first book. I would love to hear them.

 

Click on images below for more writing tips

Kayaking solo to replenish the mind
Kayaking solo to replenish the mind

 

feeling the pressure to write a sequel
feeling the pressure to write a sequel
more-than-just-a-view-a-platform-for-a-story
More than just a view. A platform for a story

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134 thoughts on “It takes courage to publish your first book”

  1. It is scary! I found even giving the book to beta readers was tough – opening up to criticism and letting others discover my baby. I imagine getting to the point of publishing is going to be even more stressful!

    1. It’s getting easier as time goes on. But the shock factor once you sign your name on the dotted line of the contract from the publisher is over whelming. Let’s see how I do once the book is in print LOL. I have until the end of the year to prepare for that!

  2. Even though I haven’t finished my first book yet, I can relate to how you must feel. You’re letting your baby out into the world I can imagine how scary and exhilarating this must feel at the same time. Congratulations on getting there.

  3. For so many years I wanted to write a book. This is a great motivational post.. same thing happened to me with blogging. I wanted to blog for so long and then finally I just did it and created a website and i am so glad I did. I love blogging .

    1. I hope it helps you someday. Being critical of our work can sometimes hold as back as you know. We can’t please everyone but pushing ourselves through knowing we have done our best gets the job done. Congrats on starting your blog!

  4. I can completely identify with that fear of letting go! I have written tons of fiction over the years but never been able to follow through on it. A good part of it is that I’m too critical of my own work.

  5. This is so true, I am always scared that the thing I write is never good and that I can do it better. SO if I had to publish a book I will be stuck editing and proofreading for ages.

  6. Tina, I work with authors a lot. It is not uncommon to go through similar emotional reactions to letting your baby go. I hope your book finds many appreciative readers. Congratulations on completing this journey!

  7. I admire those people who have that courage. Am not in the hurry yet, only time could tell if I’m ready to publish my own book. For now, am enjoying my blogging life.

  8. This is why I have manuscripts locked away and tell people I can’t write a book. I have no courage to do so. No faith in my writing beyond a blog post from time to time to give the boost to share. Its a hard feeling to shake.

    1. Taking the step to have your book published is huge. What matters is that it’s your book, your writing, your style. It’s impossible to please everyone and not everyone will like it but that’s okay. Not every likes my cooking either :). I hope some day you will find the courage to publish your manuscripts. Good luck!

  9. I don’t have any desire to be published as an author, but my therapist sure did. He said he knew that he wanted to write books since he was 12 years old. His first came out in late 2015 (this is my author’s interview with him https://girlintherapy.com/psychology-book-author-steve-hauptman).

    Blogging has helped me grow confidence in my writing ability. I’m happy where I am right now, but who knows, one day I might have a burning desire to publish a book!

    I understand the trepidation that comes with the birth of a book, or anything, really. The birthing pains, both the agony and excitement while “carrying” your growing “child” until due course… I’ve felt like a proud mama a few times in the last twelve months; once was when my Etsy shop was finally open late 2016.

    My sincerest wishes on your journey… Here’s to the day you hold “Reckless Beginnings” in your hands!

  10. First off, congratulations on publishing your first book and best wishes for more in your future! I’ve held off publishing mine for a variety of reasons including some you mentioned… I’ll get there eventually. 🙂

  11. Wow congrats on publishing your first book! I’ve never really thought about what that means, courage-wise but can see how courageous it would be to do so! I have been told many times that I could write a book about some of my life experiences but never really thought much of it!

  12. I agree with your post. I’ve been working on my book for a couple of years now and a couple of months ago I contacted a publishing company to work with me in getting my book published.

  13. I wrote to heal after leaving a dangerous relationship and told the story of my escape. It is so healing to write. It sits on an Amazon shelf, Love Should Not Hurt: Letting Go of the Pain to Live in Freedom and it doesn’t sell a lot but it’s not why I started writing it.

  14. Congratulations on publishing your first book!! You must feel such a sense of accomplishment. It would be so hard for me to let go after putting so much work into it.

  15. I would say writing a book is itself quite difficult job and than having guts to get it published is another one. Putting all thoughts before you even plan to publish it is too scary.

  16. Congratulations on completing this part of your journey! How exciting! I have often thought about writing a book.

  17. Writing a book is on my list of life goals. I have the idea, and I know what I want it to be. This is inspiring me to make it happen.

  18. This is awesome information for those trying to find the courage to publish their first book. The most important things you have to have for publishing your first book is passion and dedication. Courage is something that goes hand in hand with passion and dedication I believe. Thanks for sharing the information and your experience.

  19. It is nerve wrecking to think about publishing a book. I’ve been sitting on mine for a few years now and have just gotten the push to go submit it. But so exciting.

  20. Motivating post, yes it isn’t even easy to show commitment to 2 blog posts per week.
    A book is something big with bigger levels of commitment & passion.
    Thanks

  21. Thanks for sharing! I use to write novels when I was younger but I only let one friend read it. And I am still not confident until now but it’s good to know other people’s perspective too.

  22. I think you hit the nail right on the head. It does take courage. So many people are afraid of failure that they defeat themselves before they start. Reading some of the comments on this post I hope those feel like taking that leap of faith and publish their book. You won’t know unless you do right?

  23. I had a friend who published a book a couple of years back. She was SO nervous to release it and finds things she wish she would have done differently all the time.

  24. I’ve never published a book but I know how hard it is to submit my writing for my editors for the paper that I worked on or the scripts for the shows I’ve done. I never feel 100% about them but sometimes you do just have to let go.

  25. I have dreams of being a children’s book author, but too scared to take the first step. I needed to read this to let go of my fears a bit.

  26. Great post! Congratulations on publishing your first book and wishing you the best of all in the future. Courage is the key to success.

  27. Wow!! Congratulations on publishing your book and courage is so important to make my dreams come true.

  28. I think the best way to start is that you just write a couple of smaller books not for sale, but just as a giveaway freebie.
    Doing that will get you ready for the “big performance”.

  29. I’ve never had the desire to write a physical book but I found some of this resonated with me for blogging. I’ve always wanted to start but feared criticism and judgment. Once I finally took the plunge I feel so great being able to express myself and I love entertaining people. Like you said, I breathed life into it, I know every aspect of it. I chose every font, every word and every color. Opening it up for criticism and letting go is the hard part!

    1. So true and like I said, we can’t please everyone. Everything we do in life is up for criticism, books are no different. We learn from them, tuck them away and move on. Congrats on your blog.

  30. When I was younger I would sit and write drafts for books all the time. I had so many ideas, but never went through with any of them! I wish I had the courage!

  31. Congratulations on being able to go through with it, I know I don’t even have to courage of writing one since it would take me so long to make up my mind.

  32. I often think about writing a book and publishing it, but I don’t know where to start and what to write first. I definitely need some courage to take that first step.

  33. I have never written a book but I can imagine how scary it might be. Any one that writes a book, whether in print or online is amazing.

  34. Most often we are our own worst critics and once we get past the limiting thoughts (whatever they are) we get to experience the true value of how we can help others by doing something so selfless as writing a book. Thanks for posting.

  35. I know many who have been putting off writing their first book for quite some time and I think they are doing a disservice to themselves. I can see how worried they are, how much work it is, but they are just lacking the courage. I hope they publish one day!

  36. I love your post. I can really relate to the fact that we are all afraid of failures, and stepping out and taking the first step is the hardest. Thanks for sharing.

  37. I think it is really not easy and you will face many struggles. But once you do it, it feels much better. Good luck!

  38. I’m more of a reader than a writer. My sister, however, had always wanted to publish a book and I’ve been trying to find her tips and tricks to get started so she can fulfill her dream. I’ll send your post to her.

    1. Start writing about something you know, even if it’s not going to be your main project. Writing something you know, even fiction based on real life, will get you started. That’s the hard part . . . getting started. Read your favorite author and emulate their style; that’s what great writers do, until they develop their own style.

      Good luck, and enjoy writing.

  39. Critisms could make or break someone. Good thing is, it is up to him how he takes criticism. Then, there comes optism.

  40. Does is take courage? . . . or patience? . . . or money?

    I finished the writing . . . most of it . . . ready for a couple beta readers. I may bite the bullet and pay a ‘professional’ reader. I already have a list of questions for the right reader.

    After beta do I play the lottery and start ‘playing’ the traditional agents and publishers? That takes a lot of patience to sit back and wait.

    Or do I ‘find’ the cash and ‘buy’ a self publisher? The problem with those is, and I’ve already had a ‘bad’ experience with one, will they do what they promise to do, and will their effort pay off? After self-publishing, is my book going to languish on Amazon, ranked at 4.8 MILLIONTH because people can’t find it?

    I’m still uncertain. . . .

    1. When it comes to the decision of writing a book and publishing it, so many questions will follow. Explore all the different venues and go with what feels comfortable and pursue the choice you have made.

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