Publishing Notices Press

To many people the thought of writing a full length novel or book is a daunting prospect and one which nobody in their right mind would lightly take on. You could say that when faced with the mountain of prose to be put down on paper only the most determined will knuckle down to it and begin.

However, it is said that everybody has at least one book in them waiting to be written and judging from the many autobiographies and family journals that have been produced in the past fifty or so years enough people have taken the plunge. Many are motivated by the ease of modern aids to writing such as the PC and the internet services such as blogging and twitter. The idea that a writer takes a pen and paper or a typewriter to a secluded room and gets on with it is no longer the popular image. Most writers use the PC to write the body and to cut and paste and edit their work before publication.

So what happens when you have that idea and want to put it on virtual paper and share it with the world?

You need a few things going for you to make it possible:

- The time put aside to write.
- A means by which to write.
- A plan.
- A story.
- The tenacity to see it through to the end.
- An editor.
- The ability to write in your chosen language.

Time is different for everyone. I write a little each day and on some days I write much more, spending hours in front of the screen leading my characters through their tale.

The means varies but for me it is a desktop PC. A few prefer to write longhand but if I did that I would never finish the book.

A plan – by this I mean you need to plan out your story whether it is fiction or fact. You need to make at the minimum a rough outline of the story and a notes on how it will finish. Remember that a story is a tale told that has already happened. You should organise your characters and have some idea of what they are like, their place in the tale and the way they interact. You will need to research and avoid making glaring mistakes – write about what you know – and if you do not know it then find out or scrap it.

Do not give up because in the end you will regret not finishing the story. Finishing the tale is not the end; you have to edit and polish and be prepared to draft and re-draft until it is right.

An editor is useful and will save you much hard work as well as being able to pick out the bits that work best and the bits that could be discarded. Editors will also address the last point and help you with language, syntax, grammar, spellings and will have a habit of picking out the bits that do not make any sense.

When all that is done and you are happy with your story it is time to publish, and this is where tenacity and a sense of purpose and your own worth comes into its own. Finding a publisher or an agent is not easy unless you are already well known, have written the latest money-making blockbuster or strike lucky by being in the right place at the right time.

If getting published by conventional means is not possible you can always consider self publishing but please to avoid the vanity publishers who tend to ask for money up front and do not deliver the goods. Taking the self publishing route means that you have to be active in marketing and promoting your work. Today there are plenty of Print on Demand(POD) publishers around with access to Amazon and other distributors. Alternatively or in addition you can always create E-books for sale as downloads and actively promote them through websites, blogs and social networking.

Whatever course you take with that story waiting to be told the telling is better than hiding it up. Do you have it in you to write that story?

James Apps is an artist and poet but is also interested in recreational walking. He has created a blog to keep a diary of his travels in and around the counties of Kent and Sussex and so share his experiences of the lovely part of England with others. You can find his comments on http://jamesapps-motorcyclistandcatlover.blogspot.com/ and also as an artist and poet you can see his work, and that of his friends on http://sites.google.com/site/jabookssite/ for work and publications. James Apps and friends live on the Island of Sheppey and in the small town of Sittingbourne close to the English Channel and like many others in the area are proud of the naval and maritime history of Sheppey and its docks.

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