Intro
I began writing my novel, The Novus, about halfway through my seventh-grade year, which also happened to be the year where virtual school began due to COVID-19. For me, sitting in virtual school wasn't engaging and I found myself zoning out a lot.
With this bad habit of zoning out, I knew two things. 1) I needed to fill this time with something productive. 2) I'd always wanted to write a book.
I knew, however, that I had tried writing many books over the years, most of which never saw past a thousand words. So, what led this book to become over 66,000 words? And what was different this time that let me finish?
In this post, I want to go over my entire writing, producing, and publishing process as a teen author, and hopefully I can help other aspiring teens to pursue the vision they have for their novel.
The Writing Process
In writing, most fiction writers are classified as "pantsers," or "plotters." The philosophy is that pantsers fly by the seat of their pants when writing, doing whatever idea comes to mind. This was my original approach to writing for a few years, until I began The Novus. However, The Novus actually had its roots as a short story, which I just kept on adding to, until I decided I would make it a novel.
Overall, The Novus went through six drafts before I stumbled upon the book presented before you today.
While I was done writing, I knew that the journey was far from over, because after writing, comes the hard part...
Producing
Producing. Some parts are fun, such as cover design, and.... Nothing else. After finishing the writing, I dove into self editing, acquiring beta readers, and the most intimidating part. Showing it to my mom.
Well, after completing all those daunting tasks, it was time to get a real editor. After browsing through Reedsy, an author's best friend, I stumbled upon Saaleh Patel, a wonderful and kind British editor. Besides loving the fact that I could tell my friends my book was being edited by my British editor, he did an excellent job correcting over 750 mistakes in my manuscript.
After taming the beast that is an unedited manuscript, I knew I was ready to format my book. I went on Fiverr and mere days later came out with a formatted manuscript, and I was anxious to begin working on the cover.
For the cover, I also utilized Fiverr's vast number of sellers, and just three days after booking the gig, I had my final book cover!
Publishing
After production comes the most daunting part. After much research, I worked up the nerve to publish my book, and it was soon available on Amazon as a paperback and eBook!
Where I am Now
With my book finally published, I immediately wanted to dive into my next project (the sequel), but I knew that I couldn't just let my book sit on amazon. So, today, I'm working to establish my presence as an author in the world, which is not an easy task, but for me, it's exciting to learn how to market not just my book, but myself as a teen author.
Teen authors might look prodigious to their close friends and family, but outside of that, it can be a huge disadvantage being so young, which makes us have to work harder to get ourselves out there. We're limited by tight budgets, and the most important asset. Time.
Pushing past these boundaries is the hard part, and I'm still working towards that goal, but I'm hoping that one day (hopefully soon), my work will pay off and my book will have reached many.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.