What’s it like to be an Author?

By Maria Vassilopoulos- Organic Books

I don’t know.  I can’t write all that well – although one of my fondest school memories is of penning an A5 sticky backed plastic novella called “Small Adventures” which was about Titchyfoot the little little person who had got shrunk by a witch and was trying to get back to her mother.  I got 5 house points and staples to hold it together.

However, when I have tried to write anything else, my brain gets bored and my inherent laziness takes over.  I stop the story, give it a bad ending and leave the characters I partially created hanging in limbo and feeling pretty cheated.

Blogging is better for me as it’s shorter and punchier.  At one point I thought maybe Journalism was for me but as I found out when doing work experience at a local newspaper whilst at university, it really wasn’t.  I didn’t enjoy the structure of how I had to write and there wasn’t a lot going on that summer.

It was more about the actual books for me.  I didn’t have a lot of friends as a child and I would sooner sink my vivid imagination into a story than hang out in the park pretending to smoke.

Authors were the bringers of my escapism and I wanted to find out what I could about them, but in the 1990′s all I could really do was read the blurb at the beginning of the book and imagine the rest.

If I was a kid now, I would be able to find out anything I wanted about those same authors.  Even as an adult, most of my book knowledge comes from online.  Wikipedia, Google searches, Amazon, bloggers and publisher’s Twitter feeds.

Authors also do more events than they did 10 years ago, mainly because it’s a way to get out there and sell the mind behind the book, and I encourage it.  After all, who knows about what they have written more thank the writer?

Many people get involved in the creation of a book, and there is nothing wrong with that.  If you are picked up by a big publishing house they will have experts trained to help and guide you, yes you have to sign contracts but it depends on your own individual ambition.

It’s a saturated market.  When I was a bookseller I used to have authors coming into me all the time asking advice.  I liked it.  That’s why I created Organic Books in 2010.

Being an author puts you at the top of the pecking order of your book- you created it and nothing will change that.  All that is left to do is get people to love what you have written.

Follow me @organic_books

Read more at http://organicbooksblog.com/

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About Maria- I have worked with books for 10 years, selling, stacking, event hosting, marketing and even making posters of them!  I have double-stacked shelves at home and want to offer advice to authors that may need some clarity on the book trade from time to time- you are not alone!

by

Laura

I'm Laura. I started Novel Kicks back in 2009 as I wanted a place to discuss books and writing - two loves of my life. As someone who has anxiety, these two things give me, and I am sure countless others, a much needed escape.
There is a monthly book club, writing exercises, prompts, reviews, author interviews, competitions and guest posts. I cover many genres and I hope there is something for everyone.
I grew up by the sea in Dorset and currently live in Poole with my husband, Chris and three cats. I love writing and have a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing from Falmouth University. I am writing my first book. If only I could stop pressing delete. Chris has threatened to stop it from working. Haha.
I have always loved creative writing since I was in first school and would very much like to meet my teacher, Miss Sayers, to say thank you for all the encouragement she gave me then.
When not writing, I love reading, cats, Disney, singing (I can't sing but this doesn't stop me,) and falling into a good TV show or film. If I could step into any fictional world, it would be amongst the characters in ABC's Once Upon a Time.
I love reading many genres and discovering new authors.