My Journey to Publication

It took me almost eleven years to publish The Girl with No Sol, my debut young adult fiction novel.

I was thirteen years old, an eighth grader, when I had one of the most vivid dreams. I’m a heavy sleeper. Usually I don’t remember my dreams. But when I do, I know it’s something significant.

I saw a girl who looked just like me, holding a diamond necklace in her hand. She was running through a barren area that looked like Area 51. The sun was shining so bright, and I knew immediately that this was a sign.

I woke up and wrote down everything. The title flashed in my mind. This was the birth of The Girl with No Sol.

I had the names of my main characters, the setting, and the basic plot divided into three parts. I wrote everything down on index cards. At the time, I didn’t have a laptop, so I grabbed some loose-leaf paper for schoolwork and placed it inside a binder. I began writing. The paper eventually ran out, so I bought a three-subject notebook from the dollar store. I continued to spend the next few months writing my “sol” away.

I finally finished my handwritten manuscript, at almost 400 pages. One summer during high school, I borrowed my sister’s laptop so I could take my manuscript from paper to screen. I began querying literary agents. Since I never heard back, I figured I would wait to publish once I was eighteen.

Life happened. Things got busy. As a high schooler, I was taking AP classes and was involved in every single music class I could be in. I began working one part-time job, which eventually turned into two. The desire to be a published author was still burning inside, but everything was at a halt.

My manuscript was untouched for months, maybe even years. After graduating high school, I started college. My major was music, and my mind was set on becoming a professional flute player. At the time, I kept thinking music was the only path for me and that I wouldn’t be happy if I did anything else. Boy, was I wrong.

To be honest, I was unhappy in college. I hated where I was, I felt like I didn’t have any friends, and like I truly didn’t belong there. Everything was stagnant. Three jobs and schoolwork were sucking the life out of me. I was not motivated or disciplined to finish my book. There were times I would randomly work on it, but it was never anything consistent.

Let’s face it. If you’re in a bad place, you can’t really give things your all. There were so many blocks in my creativity. So many instances of writer’s block and procrastination, that I just quite couldn’t figure out how to get out of. All I needed was to find the light at the end of the tunnel, and chase after it.

For years, I was all talk. I remember telling friends and classmates in high school about The Girl with No Sol. Clocking in for my shifts, I would talk to coworkers about my book. Every year, my new year’s resolution was to publish my novel. If I wanted to make my dreams a reality, I realized I actually had to take action and do something about it.

In 2019, I graduated and received my BA in music. It’s one of my biggest accomplishments. This was the moment when I decided to finally get my stuff together. It was time for me to put myself first and go after what I wanted. I started saving money to be able to invest and self-publish. I’ll be honest, it was really hard to get into the habit of editing my book daily. I came across roadblocks, and there were many times I wanted to give up. Don’t even get me started on my book’s ending! It was a struggle finding the perfect words and deciding on how I wanted it to end and resonate with my readers.

Time is precious. Initially I wasted time taking naps, checking social media, and watching Netflix. It was energy I could have invested in my project. Getting back into the swing of things was difficult, but it was during the pandemic that I realized how much more time I had, and how badly I wanted to be a published author and share The Girl with No Sol with the world.

I took things one step at a time. Focus on re-writing. Finish editing. Figure out how I want the novel to end. Search for an editor. Hire a cover designer. Research marketing. And so on. There were so many pieces that went into this. Once I got into the groove, it was smooth sailing, and nothing was stopping me from publishing.

Fast forward to today. I overcame all those roadblocks. I pushed through, and I’m so proud of myself.

Whatever you wish to accomplish in life, you can do it. Set your mind to it, and your heart and soul will follow. It doesn’t matter how long it takes. You’ll get there eventually.