And just like that, we slammed and locked the door on 2020! I’ve thrown myself feet first (or is it head first?) into planning for 2021, and not only is it going to be jam packed with books galore, but I’ve got some exciting non-book-related news coming up as well, so stay tuned!
Anyway, as I have been sorting through my taxes (1096s, anyone? lol), drafting my final reports for 2020, and laying out my plan of attack for Q1 of this year, I’ve also been ruminating on beginnings.
On March 25th, 2013, I published my first book, The Clock Winked. And for the last several years, I’ve viewed the decision to publish at that time as a mistake.
The original edition of that book was, at best, poorly edited, poorly designed, and certainly not even close to my best work. I didn’t have a lot of money so I couldn’t afford a professional cover or editor, and so I cobbled together friends to help me make the best version possible without spending too much. Not to mention it was the second book in the series, not the first lol.
Of course, hindsight is always much better than 20/20, but I have often wished I’d taken even a few extra dollars or a little extra time to really improve the quality of the product (and maybe publish book 1 first lol).
But now, I’ve begun to change my mind--because the things I learned from publishing that first book were immense, regardless of what "mistakes" I may have made.
I learned that I could persevere through the entire process of writing, revising, editing, and publishing a book. Because whether you go the traditional route or indie, it is a loooong process with a lot of work and very little reward throughout.
I learned that I loved writing. The feeling of bringing a plot together, the feeling of going back over a manuscript and shaping and loving and crafting it into the best story I can is exhilarating (a slow exhilaration, but exhilarating nonetheless).
I also learned that I loved publishing, and the emotional/psychological boost I got from holding that first copy of my own book in my hands was more than sufficient to push me through to finishing two more books, and even more importantly, to push me through the next three years after that, during which time I wouldn't publish at all, but instead focus only on writing (in my spare time) and surviving. But I learned that I loved it so much, I would never stop, no matter how infrequent my published works or what challenges I had to get through to succeed.
And now here we are, 7 (going on 8) years and 21 books later, and an entire publishing career laid out before me.
And those lessons, I think, were as important if not more important than everything I learned about the actual process of writing, revising, designing, publishing, and marketing a book.
Because ultimately, I learned that this is where I want to be right now. This is the work I want to be doing. And all of the challenges inherent within this path I’ve chosen, I’m willing to face them, one by one.
So when I think about beginnings, about the choice to start or not start doing something, I think my perspective is to go for it (as long as it’s safe and doesn’t harm other people).
Because one of two things will happen: either you will learn that you love the process and everything about that thing more than anything else, and that love and passion will sustain you through all of the challenges and stress and failures; or, you will learn that it's not the path for you, which will free you to pursue something else that does fill you with that sense of purpose and excitement.
Any passions you’re going to pursue this year?
Adios, buffalos!
-Ariele
PS I had some trouble picking art for today, but I opted to go with this piece, done in ink, which reads "everything forged in the heart of an exploding star" because it is from the time when I was first writing The Clock Winked and The Wounded World and represents the beginning of everything, both literally and figuratively.
