Watching the red and golden leaves fall and rise again in a gust of wind outside my window, I think of the upcoming Thanksgiving season. Happily, as a writer, I can be thankful for my connection with a new (new to me) self-publishing family. Previously, my experience was with a “corporate” self-publishing business—one that started out as one person’s dream but eventually became noticed and was “bought out.” That’s when my helpers began telling me “this is the way we’re doing things now,” and I realized my book would no longer receive the personal attention I appreciated.
However, my desire to write—or more accurately my passion to communicate in writing—continues to pull and tug and nudge and jab me until I get those words put on paper. I could show you about a dozen book starts on my shelves. But that’s the way it works when a person not only loves to write, but also loves to encourage other writers. When someone calls needing “just a bit of time,” my head becomes full of their project and OFF we go until their manuscript is ready for the TLC of their self-publishing team.
On the days that I may feel a bit discouraged about whether any new books of mine will make it to that finished stage, I look above my desk to a sticky-note quote from Mark Twain: “My books are water; those [books] of the great geniuses are wine. Everybody drinks water.” Ah! There is such encouragement in knowing that readers will always be “thirsty.” I have time.
Recently I’ve been working with folks who know—without doubt—that their books must “get out there” immediately. And, as I experience their passion and resolve, I can understand the benefit readers will receive. These authors are writing in two genres: Christian nonfiction and Memoir. They have shared several points that motivate them to write: 1) the world environment has become so negative—so warped with uncertainty about who can be believed—that truth needs to be told; 2) our children need to know they are not alone in their struggles—that their parents, grandparents, great-grandparents have survived terrible things and grown into thriving and enriching lives; 3) families who stick together are the best support system in the world; 4) the old cliché that “hard work is its own reward,” is still true. The man or woman who is willing to work hard with a smile on their face will succeed.
It is such a joy to be the ghostwriter working with authors who convey such passion. Their writings encourage me and make me even more thankful that I am allowed to “work hard” for them. Tonight, as I close this blog, I look forward to starting a new project tomorrow for a previous client—her third book. Her passion radiates off the page and the truth she tells will bless many people. I will be introducing her to my new self-publishing contacts and looking forward to her continued success.
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ABOUT ROYALENE DOYLE: Royalene Doyle is a Ghostwriter with Outskirts Press, bringing more than 35 years of writing experience to authors who need “just a little assistance” with completing their writing projects. She has worked with both experienced and fledgling writers helping complete projects in multiple genres. When a writer brings the passion they have for their work and combines it with Royalene’s passion to see the finished project in print, books are published and the writer’s legacy is passed forward. |
