Olesia Hukriede's Blog: Olesia Hukriede. Thoughts about writing and not only.

Well, here I am, with my cat and my book, on the couch in the peace and quiet of my home. I am thrilled and still cannot completely believe that this beautiful object I'm holding is MY book, real and ready to tell my first story to people out there, in different parts of our big and diverse world. Now this story isn't just a faceless Word document that can be deleted tracelessly in a couple of mouse clicks - hard copies of it will live on someone's bookshelves. Tangible and real.
So, what did it take me to write this book and have it published?

Two years of writing, rounds and rounds of editing, times and times of patching up plot holes, hours and hours of staying in my head getting to know my characters better to be able to tell their story right - those are just a few things to name.

There also were the melt-downs from facing plot issues that seemed unsolvable, and all those sleepless nights with my mind restlessly jumping from thought to thought, perfecting the ideas in my head.

Then there was isolation, saying no to invitations and socializing, to traveling and, often, simply going outside on a weekend. You miss out on time with family. Writing wants your full attention. Writing consumes you wholly and entirely. It fills you up in one way and drains you in another.

Finally, the manuscript is ready. Raw. But ready enough for developmental editing. A couple of months and a four-digit amount of $$$ down the road, after all the meticulous collaboration with the editor, your work appears good to go. Your eyes are dry and burning, your brain is fried, your butt is square from sitting at the desk night and day. But now. It's there. Polished and shining. Hallelujah!

Yet. Too early to celebrate. You hire beta readers. You ask friends and family for help, too. You read their comments. You do another round or two of edits. Done?

Nope. You run into a Big Ugly Plot Hole. You break your mind over fixing it. You cannot eat or sleep. You lock yourself in a room and ask your family to forget about your existence. You curse the day you let yourself believe you could do it - you feel like you let everyone down. And then, miraculously, a ray of heavenly mercy falls down to you and lights up the way. Not only do you patch up the plot hole, but make your story stronger and deeper. You fixed it. You're happy.
Now what? Success, book signings, fans? You wish.

You have a polished manuscript - your helpless naked baby. You look for a cover artist. You pick a promising one. Weeks later you learn you chose poorly. You still pay for their work - they did their best, after all. You pick another artist - a ten times more expensive one. A few more weeks later you get your stunning cover art. Buy nice or buy twice, right? And you also get a catchy back cover blurb from another talented pro.

Well now, hello Kindle!

Another week or two goes into learning about the platform and formatting your manuscript to meet its standards. Finally, you manage to upload the trimmed manuscript for approval. You set the prices low - you are still a no-name nobody. The printing costs and Amazon fees will eat up nearly all your book will earn (if you're lucky enough) during the promotion stage. But you weren't doing it for the money, right? I mean, do writers even need money? 🤔

And now, after all your hard work, and all the time and money invested, you suddenly learn that it's not where it all ends. It's only the beginning - time to learn about marketing your book...

I honestly don't want to bore you, guys, with all the details of it.

And I don't want to sound negative. Because this one is totally a happy journey. So, let's keep it that way! 🙂

The most important part still is that it's there, in my hands - my book, a story that came from my heart. Every word of it. And my greatest hope is that it finds the people who will love it.