Getting Your Writing Out

I've been blogging about writing in a more literary fashion.  This is more about the other end of things, when you have already edited it yourself, taken it to a writers' group and edited it using the feedback, possibly paid a freelance editor to give you feedback, which you've employed, and you're ready for exposure.  There are many ways, more than I could detail here, to get exposure for your stuff.  

A lot of people are happy with getting readership through general writer's websites or specifically teen writers' websites like Wattpad or Inkitt or even a blog site like this one.  Some view these as websites as enough, especially for those who work with fanfiction, while others view them as a place to get further feedback toward publishing their writing elsewhere.  One concern about this is some publishers won't accept work that has received any kind of general exposure.  It's something to research before any decisions are made.  

Another option is self-publication, through Amazon or some other route.  Many modern writers ignore mainstream publishers and both start and end here.  Some mainstream publishers will even search among the successfully self-published works to offer a contract.  A lot of writers start to get a following by publishing short stories or other short works, offering them for free, then sell their later pieces for a small fee.  This route will require a lot of research to know how to self-publicize and get a readership.  A lot of writers go the hybrid route, following more than one path to getting a readership.  

If you decide to publish with a regular publisher, the first step is still to research.  Writer's Market, either the book form or the website, is a great resource.  It does cost money up front, but many find it well worth the cost, especially the access and ease given by a year's subscription to the website.  Writer's Market lists information for those seeking publication in one of just about every genre, along with publishers' and agents' contact information, guidelines, and instructions.  If you don't want to go with a publication like that, you can simply use Google to find lists of publishers and agents in any genre imaginable.  

There are many routes to sharing your works with others.  It depends on what you're seeking.  Any which way you go, I recommend you start by researching and getting a feel for the market, publishers, and expectations.  I wish you the best.  

Fulfillment

For the last year and a half, I have been working on the first novel of a sort of LDS romance trilogy, a tag team novel that starts with After the dream and is about Julia and Pedro, who discover that the illusion of happily ever after doesn't last and then have to pick up the pieces and start anew.  The next one will feature one of the major characters from the first one and will be called Pigs Fly.  It's about Connor, a man who decides he will only marry when pigs fly, then he meets a female pilot with a pet pig.  The third, Drama's Queen, features Connor's mentor, Gayle, who is a woman in her late fifties/early sixties and has decided since romance has never worked out for her, she only ever needs to worry about taking care of her elderly mother and running a community theater.  Then a man comes along to complicate things.

I have been wanting to get properly published in a popular market for as long as I can remember.  I have children's books and other short pieces to send out, but it always feels like pressing things get in the way of moving forward on my dream.  There is no satisfaction like seeing that email that publishers have received your manuscript after a lifetime of wanting that.  Of course, it will be better yet when I get an acceptance.  But that email ranked among the best Christmas presents I've ever had.  It means I followed through on a commitment to myself at long last.  Now, to push forward with the next.

I hope everyone who reads this had a wonderful Christmas season.