Honey Beaumont by Sara Bushway

They say getting started is the most difficult part of writing a book, but I disagree. The hardest part about writing a book is being an author. There is so much more to being an author than just writing books, signing copies, and explaining to friends and family that there is only so much room on a dedication page. I learned that the hard way about a year ago when I finished my first book and started my journey.

It took me 2 1/2 years to finish writing, editing, and polishing my debut novel, Honey Beaumont: Being a Hero is Hard. It started as a character biography for a Dungeons & Dragons character I built, loosely based on Nancy from Frank Miller’s Sin City. I had humble beginnings, some stuff that happened before he became an adventurer, and a bad guy I was seeking revenge upon because that’s what bad guys are for, right? Well, before I knew it, it was 32 pages of backstory. No one, except the Dungeon Master, was ever going to read it. I kept Honey Beaumont private in my Google Drive for weeks while I tweaked and polished it for my own satisfaction. Then I decided I was going to expand on it a little more. I was really enjoying the cinnamon roll-style character I had put together, and I wanted to make it into something I would be happy to share with my friends on Writing.com. While I was working on it, one of my friends asked me how it was coming along. I let her read it, and she loved it too. At that point, it was about four chapters of what I thought was going to be a novella. She wanted more, and so did I. I continued working on it privately for a few more weeks before I showed it to my husband, who also loved it. At that point, I put it up in my portfolio on Writing.com, was soon after invited to join The Novel Workshop, and the rest is history (and a lot of editing).

I spent the better part of a year gathering resources to teach me how to self-publish. I was sure that I would never get picked by a publisher because I hadn’t dreamed of being a famous author since I was 10. I was 30 and accidentally wrote my first book. Well, in the Spring of 2020, I decided Honey Beaumont was done and that I would try to pitch it a few times before I attempted to self-publish it. I had previously self-published a poetry and short story compilation via Draft2Digital in 2019. It hadn’t been a terrible ordeal, but it seemed a waste not even to try to get some feedback from a publisher. Maybe they would say something helpful about my book. I sent my pitch to 9 different small publishers over the course of about four months during the early madness of the Covid-19 pandemic. By the time my birthday rolled around in September, I had several offers on the table. Some were vanity presses, but some were small publishers. I never got the guts to take on querying an agent, but I liked that I had options. I chose a small publisher based in Canada, 5310 Publishing, and fumbled through making my story into a real book that people could buy and read. On June 24th, 2021, my book was for sale in all major stores that sold books, even Walmart of all places.

As someone who didn’t have a degree in English/Literature/Fine Arts and didn’t have the slightest inclination to become a famous author, I had to research every little tidbit of information I could about querying/publishing because I didn’t know anyone who had done it before, and wasn’t sure if anyone else was ever going to want to read my book. I’m here to tell you that it is totally doable, but it’s a wild ride.

The most important things to remember are as follows:

1. Don’t write a book you’re going to hate reading 100 times – because that’s what it takes to have a polished book a publisher or agent is going to want to read

2. Be a part of the process. No, you’re not done when you type the words “The End.” There are still going to be more edits from the publisher, and then there’s selling/marketing this wonderful thing you’ve made. That’s how you reach your adoring fans (and how you get paid).

3. Just be yourself. Authors come from all walks of life. No path is better than another. Don’t be ashamed to tell it like it is. I cannot count how many times I wished I knew of an author like me who had no real background in literature, aside from some poetry and short stories I had written in high school and a few things I wrote later on for some contests on Writing.com. Imagine how strange I feel when someone tweets, “So, at what tender age did you know you wanted to be an author/write a book?” and I come in with, “Uh, 30.” Put yourself out there. You might be giving aspiring authors the courage they need to keep moving forward.

If you’d like to learn more about me or my debut novel Honey Beaumont: Being a Hero is Hard, check out my Facebook page, my Instagram account, or follow me on Twitter.