Excerpt
Introduction

“Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book.”
- Marcus Tullius Cicero

If you've picked up this book, the chances are you are one of the many who want to write, but feel frustrated at not having achieved that goal. You may feel quite isolated, fed up with yourself and your inablity to get your book out . Or perhaps you are tempted to give up on your dream, thinking “it's not for the likes of me to achieve fame and fortune.”
You hear interviews with celebrity authors about how they got their break, and you think that the same could never happen for you. After all, many of them started writing years ago, before the publishing industry underwent a seismic shift with the rise of print-on-demand and the ease of self-publishing. Many of them were famous before they wrote their books - and generated sales on the back of that celebrity. So where does that leave you if you are not already famous? Is it too late to become the next big thing? Is it easier to give up?
It would be easier. Oh yes, then you could spend long evenings comforting yourself that it was all just too difficult. But what if the truth is that it can be done. That people just like you are getting their books into print - even finding major publishers?
As part of the research for this book, I asked people to complete the sentence 'I think I would like to write a book but...' and the answers were quite fascinating. They weren't along the lines of 'but…I don't have a degree' or '...I haven't studied creative writing' or even '...it's all too hard'.
No, what is holding people back is fear. Fear that what

they have to say would not be good enough, or somehow worthy of publication. Even those who say 'but…I just can't find the time' don't really mean it. They mean '...I haven't given it a high enough priority...yet'.

I'm going to let you into a secret. All those other people who have published or self-published their books didn't have the time either. They also had fears, and yet something inspired them to carry on and overcome the obstacles. And so that you can't use the excuse that these are somehow exalted beings living in a different statosphere to you, I've deliberately not talked to mega-celebrity authors. These are people just like you and me. They did what it takes to get their book out. And then the next one. And the one after that. They did what they had to do to get their books noticed and guess what? It took them time and effort. But now they are where you could be in a few years time, or less.
In these pages you will find the real story of what it's like in today's world, to write, print and promote a book. You will see that it is possible - that you can do it too. You will even find realism about what you will have to do, and how you will grow in the process. Perhaps you will decide it's all too much for you, that your passions lie elsewhere, and that voice which tells you to write will be stilled. If so, that is not a problem, just an opportunity to turn to other interests.
On the other hand, if that voice is still there at the end perhaps it will have become louder and more insistent. Perhaps you will take the first step and then the next towards realising your dream. I hope so! Someone out there needs to hear what you have to say. They can only appreciate the message (or enjoy the entertainment) in the way you can express it.
Willl your book be a success? Who knows? I certainly don't; I don't even know how you define what success might be to you. It may be that the market will have to decide. But you will have the satisfaction of putting your creativity to work in the service of others. What better life could there be?

“When once the itch of literature comes over a man, nothing can cure it but the scratching of a pen.”
- Samuel Lover