I have no formal writing qualifications except for school certificates, but I did spend a lot of time in the Army writing classified reports as well as reports on sports matches and plays etc.,
After leaving the Army in my mid-twenties, I went into sales and have been self-employed for much of my working life.
I have been writing for my own amusement since I was in my teens. Song lyrics, poetry, adventure/mystery thrillers, name it, I had a go at it and generally speaking, I thought the output was of a good standard, and that gave me the confidence to venture out into the world and try to get published.
However, not all roads run smoothly.
At the time of my gallant first attempt, I was, like most inexperienced writers, sensitive about having the nerve to submit a query letter for a series of songs that I had written, but nevertheless, plucked up the courage and with a trembling hand, posted them to a song publisher in London and sat back nervously awaiting a reply.
Therefore, I was astonished when the rejection slip hit my doormat faster than a return serve from Roger Federer, and this shook my confidence to the extent, that I never attempted to get published again; that was not until now.
I was once told, to ‘Dream big dreams, they have a habit of coming true’ and with that as my mantra I gave it another go and have recently completed the Hellfire River Rangers; a six-book adventure series for the YA market, set in the ‘mysterious’ lands of Cornwall, England.
Completing the books took 3 years, which equated to approximately 2610 man-hours and through the editing process, Grammarly checked some 17.6 million words; it was a thorough edit.
The publishing industry has changed dramatically since my first attempt and now everyone has a fair and even chance to see their work on the bookshelves. Get your head down, believe in yourself and give it the best that you can.
Walt