In a few weeks or so, my debut novel will be released out into the world. I’ve dreamt about publishing a novel ever since I started writing back in the spring of 2011. Now, six novels and many short stories later, something that I wrote is actually going to be made into a tangible book.
Am I excited about it?
Absolutely!
Am I terrified about it?
Absolutely.
I wish I could sit here and say that I’m comfortable with writing just being a hobby of mine that I do from time to time, but I can’t. Currently writing is a hobby, but I don’t want it to be forever; my passion for writing is too great for it to remain a hobby. I want to make a career out of writing, someday. So few writers manage to make enough money to where writing can become their full-time job; but one day I’d like to be one of them. I’ve heard that it takes year after year of writing book after book for an author to reach that level in their career, which makes sense; but the journey to reaching that level starts with a debut novel.
So what am I terrified about? Three things: rejection, failure, and disappointment. What if the majority of readers don’t like the book? What if I don’t receive a single positive review? What if my (publishable) writing career is over right after it starts? Sure, I probably sound a bit dramatic, but these thoughts have entered my head at sometime or another. As much as I have faith in myself and in my small publisher to produce the best book possible, it still scares me that something will go wrong. What scares me even more is that I don’t know what that something will be. I can be a perfectionist, which probably doesn’t help the fact that once your book is out there, it’s out there—no take backs.
Will I be able to survive off of my earning from my debut novel? Probably not. After all, who am I? I’m just some young, new writer in a sea of amazingly talented writers (aka a small fish in a big pond). But there’s always that hope, that hope that maybe, somehow, my debut novel will be successful; that maybe, somehow, I’ll be able to become a full-time writer sooner than more writers are able to; that maybe, somehow, my book will become a bestseller. I have to be honest and say that I have daydreamed about how amazing it’d be for one of my books to be as successful as The Hunger Games, Twilight, or even Harry Potter. But I still live in reality; I know that the chances of that happening are slim to none. (As you’ve probably figured out by now, in addition to being a perfectionist, I fluctuate between being an optimist and a pessimist). But hey, an author can dream, can’t she? After all, these dreams come from the same wild imagination as my stories.
I’m J.B. Kantt, author of Roses Are Red (Book #1 in the Blood, Sweat, and Tears Series), which is set to be released in the spring of 2015.
Am I excited about it?
Absolutely!
Am I terrified about it?
Absolutely.
I wish I could sit here and say that I’m comfortable with writing just being a hobby of mine that I do from time to time, but I can’t. Currently writing is a hobby, but I don’t want it to be forever; my passion for writing is too great for it to remain a hobby. I want to make a career out of writing, someday. So few writers manage to make enough money to where writing can become their full-time job; but one day I’d like to be one of them. I’ve heard that it takes year after year of writing book after book for an author to reach that level in their career, which makes sense; but the journey to reaching that level starts with a debut novel.
So what am I terrified about? Three things: rejection, failure, and disappointment. What if the majority of readers don’t like the book? What if I don’t receive a single positive review? What if my (publishable) writing career is over right after it starts? Sure, I probably sound a bit dramatic, but these thoughts have entered my head at sometime or another. As much as I have faith in myself and in my small publisher to produce the best book possible, it still scares me that something will go wrong. What scares me even more is that I don’t know what that something will be. I can be a perfectionist, which probably doesn’t help the fact that once your book is out there, it’s out there—no take backs.
Will I be able to survive off of my earning from my debut novel? Probably not. After all, who am I? I’m just some young, new writer in a sea of amazingly talented writers (aka a small fish in a big pond). But there’s always that hope, that hope that maybe, somehow, my debut novel will be successful; that maybe, somehow, I’ll be able to become a full-time writer sooner than more writers are able to; that maybe, somehow, my book will become a bestseller. I have to be honest and say that I have daydreamed about how amazing it’d be for one of my books to be as successful as The Hunger Games, Twilight, or even Harry Potter. But I still live in reality; I know that the chances of that happening are slim to none. (As you’ve probably figured out by now, in addition to being a perfectionist, I fluctuate between being an optimist and a pessimist). But hey, an author can dream, can’t she? After all, these dreams come from the same wild imagination as my stories.
I’m J.B. Kantt, author of Roses Are Red (Book #1 in the Blood, Sweat, and Tears Series), which is set to be released in the spring of 2015.
Author Bio:
The first story J.B. Kantt ever wrote was for a creative writing class application during her college days. Little did she know that a step towards fulfilling her undergraduate language arts requirement would also be a step towards fulfilling a passion for writing she never knew she had. Now, despite her dreams of becoming a developmental pediatrician, not a day goes by that J.B. doesn’t think about becoming an author as well. When she’s not hitting the books, she’s working on her next book (in between volunteering and practicing taekwondo).
Her debut novel, Roses Are Red, is the first of the Blood, Sweat, and Tears Series. J.B. hopes that her journey to publication helps other writers realize that through hard work and dedication, anything is possible, no matter how old you are or how long you’ve been writing.
Her debut novel, Roses Are Red, is the first of the Blood, Sweat, and Tears Series. J.B. hopes that her journey to publication helps other writers realize that through hard work and dedication, anything is possible, no matter how old you are or how long you’ve been writing.