by Tonia Gütting
Read: The Big List of Books by Military Spouses
“You could write a book!” people have exclaimed when hearing about your military life.
Or maybe you’re always dreaming up plot lines and playing with characters. Or you feel you’ve figured out how to do a part of life that could benefit others. Or maybe it’s just good therapy for you to write out your thoughts, and you wonder if others would be interested. Statistics suggest 80% of Americans want to write a book someday. Perhaps that number is higher in the military circles with all the adventures we experience. But how does one even begin? How do you get it published? Is it a viable option for income?
“But why do we write? We write to remember, to pass on some of what we’ve experienced in this life. Our families need to know where we’ve been and who we are,” writes Leslie Leyland Fields in her new book “Your Story Matters.” One of many great books on the process, Fields mostly focuses on how you can tell your own story and walks you through several exercises to think through your past, give flesh to the scenes, find meaning, and decide how to publish it. How to begin?
“Don’t try to write a book,” she suggests, “Just write some stories.”
If the starting point is to simply start writing, the next is to learn to do it well, which a plethora of resources address. Check out books, blogs, conferences, workshops and podcasts. Like any business, it takes a whole lot of market research, practice and effort.
Finally, you need to decide how you wish to share it. Is your story simply for your family? For your own therapy? Are you willing to put in the money and marketing it takes to self-publish? Or is it your goal to work through traditional channels with industry publishers?
“You never know where a dream will take you if you never let it out of the closet. But I’ll add that dreams will never be anything more than that unless you’re willing to do the work,” said fiction author and Army wife Becca Whitham, who worked for 5 years on her stories before landing a book contract with a traditional publisher—“which was lightning fast! The industry average for starting the process to publication is ten years.” she said.
To grab a publisher’s attention in fiction, a writer should have a recommendation from a known author. In nonfiction, publishers are looking for how big of an audience a person already has through things like blog post followers or speaking engagements.
Whitham suggests joining professional writers’ groups and attending conferences to learn from the experts.
“Writing is a tough business. You’ll be critiqued at every turn. Some of it is good and necessary. Some of it is just criticism that accomplishes nothing worthwhile,” she warns.
“Seek out people that have done what you want to do, and learn from others that have been where you are trying to go,” concurs Air Force spouse Kennita Williams, whose nonfiction book Free to See will be out later this year. Williams attended a speaking and writing conference where, “I was afforded the opportunity to present my book ideas to publishers, editors, and agents.”
Self-publishing by-passes the publishing gate-keeper system for those who want to take the risk, but it means everything is up to the writer. Publishers have whole teams of professionals doing the editing, cover design, and marketing. In self-publishing you are either doing these things yourself or paying to have them done.
Claire Wood decided to self-publish her book, Mission Ready Marriage.
“I was fascinated by the self-publishing process and ultimately felt it gave me greater creative control over the entire process,” said Wood. “I wanted to share my story and see the project to completion within a fairly short timeline.”
A prolific blogger for many years, Wood already had a following of people asking for her book.
Wood went with the company BookBaby which allowed her to design the cover, self-edit, and get the book into markets like Amazon and Barnes & Nobles. “Everything was up to me. That said, I am not a professional editor or book designer,” she said. “There are elements of my book that are definitely amateur and could have been improved; while I wanted complete control, in hindsight I can say I was too close to the project to be impartial. I was okay with imperfections and felt that the pride of completion of the project trumped perfection.”
As an English teacher, Wood felt confident in her editing abilities, but her advice is to “proofread, proofread, and proofread some more.” Most self-publishing writers really should pay for professional editing.
Either way, don’t expect a quick paycheck. Whitham has published stories in collections, novellas, and co-authored a series of books. Still, she says,
“To make real money, you either have to be lucky or stick with this for at least thirty books.”
Five years after Mission was released, Wood has just now broken even on the project. But that doesn’t phase her:
“My greatest payoff has been from the feedback I’ve received from friends and strangers who have shared with me how much my story resonated with them. To me, I didn’t go into the project thinking it would be a money maker. It was a fun process. I learned a lot and feel that my book continues to reach people. That in itself is kind of an intrinsic reward.”