In one of my featured interviews, for a question about my best dream, I answered – it would be when I will publish my first book as an author. After a few months of that feature, my book “A Girl In The New Town” was up on Amazon. A few of my readers who read that feature said, “we didn’t know it was coming this soon.” I will not say I didn’t expect it to happen this quickly as I was already working on it when I got featured.
Debut Author Of A Children’s Book-Reason To Choose This Genre
Writing a book is not like writing a blog post which can be written in 30 minutes. It needs a lot of planning, desire, right mood, correct words and above all motivation. When I was discussing my book with a co-blogger, she said “writing a children’s book is hard. You have to think from their perspective, at their level. Writing a novel is much easier.” I said, “I always wanted to start my Author journey by writing something for children. It may be because I feel connected to kids. Also sometimes, kids go through so many things but they are not able to express it. Through book they should find some connection. I want to write something light that every child can relate to it. They should be able to see themselves in the characters.” And that is one of the main reasons why I chose to write a children’s book as my first book.
About the book: A Girl In The New Town
This book revolves around a girl named Ria and her family. They are going to move to a new town and Ria is nervous about the move. She has lots of questions and is looking for answers. How her parents help her in dealing with her emotions? You will get to know through this book. Grab your copy soon. Here is the link.
How it all started?
Was it something that just clicked and I start writing it? No. I was on my India trip and I didn’t carry a lot of books with me. Once we were done with our books, I used to make up new stories every night for my daughter and niece. So, I decided to create a character and started to build my story around her. Every night, there used to be a new chapter. Girls used to look forward to the new chapter. I could see the curiosity in their eyes. The easy part of such storytelling was I could finish it up in time and there was a surprise element for them every night. So, unofficially, that was my first narrated story:) Bedtime stories always excites kids. And if we choose the characters that they can relate with then it’s a win-win.
A couple of kids who read the book asked me how did I write a book? Was it easy?
Whoever is in this filed would totally understand that writing is not a joke. It might look simple but when you want your readers to get involved and feel connected to your writing, you have to keep in mind many things. Putting together a Children’s Book was definitely not very easy. I won’t call it way too tough than what I expected but it was a bit challenging as I had to think from different character’s point of views. While writing the dialogues, I had to picture myself in that role and think how I would have reacted in that role? I had the storyline of the first 4 chapters in my mind. Later, my characters guided me as I progressed.
Why a Children’s Book?
When I knew it is not going to be an easy project considering the age I will be writing for and also this was my first experience writing a book, why I chose to be an author of a children’s book and why not a novel?
I wanted to put together something that kids can relate to. Sometimes, kids go through many things, emotional roller coasters at school, among friends. They behave in an unusual manner and they cannot explain everything. Things that look not so big to us can be a “big deal” for them. Through this book, I tried to capture the emotions and dilemma of young kids.
What have I learnt in this process?
I learnt so many things during this author’s journey. Designing cover page, drawing illustrations, contacting professionals who can help me with the other aspects of book like formatting, proof-reading, and working with them as a team. Initially, I felt my manuscript is done. Now rest will be quick but I was wrong. Later stages were even more important. All this was a part of the book. The biggest thing that I have learnt is Patience. Yes. Since I was self-publishing, there were so many things that I was unaware of. I made mistakes and learnt from them. I learnt about the other details of self-publishing like page number requirement, cost, cover page requirements, positioning of the text for printing etc. Now when I see my book, I feel happy. I know this is not the best. I have to write many more. But I am happy to finish what I dreamt for – “publishing my book as an author.”
Do you plan to write a book? Do you have any question related to self-publishing. I would love to help you.
