Signing a book deal is often one of the top accomplishments for aspiring authors. It tells you that someone noticed your hard work, liked it enough to pay you for it, and could lead to popularity and an audience for your future career! It might seem easy to just write a book, but the road to authorship isn’t usually quite so linear.
What if you aren’t sure if you want to write a book? Perhaps you have tons of ideas for smaller, individual projects. No problem! The best thing you can start doing is getting your writing online where someone can read it. Whether it’s a personal blog or social media site, building an audience that likes your writing will take you far in your writing career.
Once you feel comfortable writing online, you might want to look for an agent. An agent can connect you with editors, publishers, and PR teams that can help make your dreams a reality. It’s important to do your research on the type of agent you’d like to work with, because some may work within a special niche and want you to fit that mold as well. Others might be money hungry and give you tight deadlines for your writing. Choose your agent wisely!
Lastly, you can always take the route of self-publishing your work. Thanks to the internet, there are plenty of free and low-cost options to publish your writing either digitally or in print. Maybe you could pitch your book to a local bookstore and see if they’d be willing to give you some shelf space.
The biggest piece of advice Walt Chantry can give aspiring authors is to keep writing! Make it a personal habit to write every single day, or at least a few times a week, without judgement. Simply put pen to paper and see what kind of ideas flow from your fingertips.