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| Karin Beery |
Why I Chose the Long
Road to Publication
Road to Publication
“I love writing books! It’s so much fun, and really easy to do.” (unnamed writer)
The ease of publishing all depends on what you want to achieve as an author. There are writers who simply want to get published. They don’t necessarily care about industry trends, genre rules, book sales, or reviews. They have stories to tell, and they want to make them available to everyone. There’s nothing wrong with that. It works for a lot of people.
I, however, have different goals.
I want to write as many books for as long as possible and sell them to as many people as are willing to buy them. I want to share my advice with other writers and help them do the same. In a perfect world, I’d like book publishing—specifically fiction publishing, including writing and editing—to be my full-time job. More than a hobby, I’d like to actually get paid to spend my life writing, reading, editing, reviewing, marketing, and publishing novels.
Most of the time it’s fun, but (like any job) it’s also a lot of work. I often hear new writers talking about self-publishing because they’ve spent 1-2 years writing and pitching a book that’s getting rejections. 1-2 years.
I wonder if those writers have any idea how long doctors and lawyers go to school before they’re allowed to do their jobs.
I wrote my first novel in 2007. My second in 2008 (and 2009 and 2010—it went through several revisions). Then I had to stop for a while because I couldn’t handle any more rejections, but I knew what I wanted (full-time fiction work!), so I got back to it. While I worked on another novel, I wrote for the local newspapers and learned to write marketing content (I needed something to pay the bills).
In 2014, with my third novel, I finally landed an agent! He submitted my manuscript everywhere, and I received some of the nicest rejections ever. It took four more years (three weeks before my 40th birthday) before I signed it—my first book contract. It took 11 years and three manuscripts to make it happen, but it did.
Last month, I celebrated the release of my second novel, Practically Married. I’ve also edited five published novels, teach writing and editing at conferences and online, and even work for a small publishing house.
I could have taken a different route and published a book a decade ago, but that wouldn’t have helped me achieve the publishing goals I’d set for myself. It’s been hard (and not always fun!), but this path put me exactly where I wanted to be, even if the timing wasn’t quite what I’d expected. I decided to take the long road, and I’m glad I did.
The ease of publishing all depends on what you want to achieve as an author. #seriouslywrite #encouragementforwriters via @karinbeery
I decided to take the long road, and I’m glad I did. #seriouslywrite #encouragementforwriters via @karinbeery
Practically Married
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| Practically Married |
Ashley moves to a new town to marry her fiancé. Instead, she buries him.
Ashley Johnson moves to northern Michigan to finally meet her fiancé face-to-face, but she arrives in time to go to his funeral. With no home back in Ohio, she decides to stay in what would have been their house, except his cousin Russ lives there too, and Russ has never heard of Ashley. To complicate matters, her fiancé accidentally willed her the family farmhouse. Eager to please everyone and desperate to disappoint no one, she proposes a marriage of convenience that could solve her and Russ’s problems, if they can get past her aunt, his sisters, and an ex-girlfriend.
Karin Beery grew up in a rural Michigan town, where she wrote her first novel in high school. Today, she writes contemporary stories with a healthy dose of romance. When she’s not writing fiction, she’s reading, editing, or teaching it. In her free time, she enjoys watching University of Michigan football and action-adventure movies with her husband and fur babies.
Connect with Karin and learn more at these online sites:
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/authorkarinbeery/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/karinbeery
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karinbeery/
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/karin-beery
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Karin-Beery/e/B07HQ2GZQS
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2666258-karin
