Writing My First Book: My Publishing Journey
Discovering the writer in me
As a kid, I loved writing: I would take every opportunity to journal my thoughts in my pink diary, write poems in different languages and translate the chaos of thoughts into a polished canvass of words.
My first published work was a poem I wrote in French at the age of 11 or so. I composed it in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as we were living there at the time. My mum always loved it and years later, she decided to write it with black paint on one of the walls of her cozy home in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands (Spain) to remind her of that little poet who grew into a woman.
That was 20 years ago. The black paint has faded a bit throughout the years but every time I walk into her house, I remember there is a young poet in me, a writer’s soul waiting to be unleashed…
Writing the first page
It took 30 years for that young soul to be released. Life goes on, we get trapped into mysterious ladders that take us to remote places far away from our true passions.
I wrote the very first page of my very first book at the sweet age of 41, just a few days before turning 42. I was unemployed at the time, alone in a new country, Australia, and looking after my 2 little girls by myself. I had been trapped out of my home country, Hong Kong due to COVID and I had a story to tell the world. And so I did.
The 63,000 words’ book is a collection of memoirs from living in 9 countries and speaking 6 languages. It talks about the challenges of living across 4 different continents, the cultural experiences and how to overcome challenges in life. It’s an easy read for anyone interested in cultures, languages and looking for some motivation to step out of their comfort zone. Sounds like you?
6 weeks later, my book was finished. I worked on it day and night, every minute I wasn’t busy with the kids. From page 1, I felt my destiny was to become a writer, to tell positive stories to a world that much needs them.
I also discovered it’s never too late to become a writer: you just need to find the courage to write your very first page…
The title will be decided at a later stage after a social media poll, as I want my audience to be active participants and play a role in my book!
The publishing dilemma
I am currently in the process of editing and self-publishing and will be sharing my journey here, week after week: the learnings, the wins, the mistakes and everything in between!
If you are interested in writing your own book or learning about what happens behind the scene, I invite you to follow me. In my next article I will be talking about the different types of publishing: traditional, hybrid and self-publishing.
I look forward to embarking you on my journey!