Get help with your work in progress or let people know about your published book!

For any authors who are struggling with the daunting task of finishing a book or still figuring out how to show your completed masterpiece to the world, I'd like to make a little corner available to anyone seeking help.  The process can be so overwhelming that sometimes it may be helpful to take a break and read about how others have done the seemingly impossible.

I know that there were times for me when I would spend tons of time searching online for one answer, only to find ten more questions that I hadn't even thought about yet.  It's quite a learning experience, to say the least, especially for someone like myself who is only moderately prepared to take on the challenge.

I started with an incomplete manuscript that I had begun when I was much younger.  The editing and rewriting was a massive project, and that needed to be completed before I could even finish the story. I would also like to mention that I was doing this on an extremely limited budget.  There are so many free tools out there available to you, and they can help tremendously once you know about them!

My story is mostly geared toward younger readers, but I encourage anyone with questions to post here, regardless of your genre.  My goal is to create a space where we can all help each other.

If you are already published, whether independently or otherwise, please feel free to post a link to your book.  Marketing your work is another gigantic hurdle and I admit that I've spent very little time on it.  I hope that we can all help each other with that aspect as well.

Questions are not limited to any particular subject or problem.  If you need an answer or just somewhere to vent a little frustration, please feel free to post.  I will help wherever I can.  I know that there are other people with a lot more knowledge than myself and hope that they will also contribute.

I used Smashwords (one of many options) to publish my book.  I'm still looking into different routes to produce a physical book as well.  Believe it or not, that's a little more frustrating for me. (The darn cover won't load right!)  You need to be spot on for a printed version because you cannot change things as easily as you can in an ebook.  I've taken a break from that for now, lol.

Bottom line, I guess, is that you can do it!  Please ask for help if you need it.  I don't even have Word and I did it ~ all of it, all by myself.  You can, too!

Here's a link to my book.  (It's also available at many other retailers.)  It's not perfect, but I'm proud of it.

The result of all my headaches

If you have a story to tell, you should tell it to the world.

Good luck!

Cathy