There’s a photo of me, wearing my high school graduation attire, holding my first book I published at the age of 18. When I tell people this, especially my fellow English majors, they are often surprised and ask, “how did you do that!?”
My response is always the same: “If you would like, I can help you get published too.”
When I was in sixth grade, I told everyone that I was going to publish a paperback book by the end of the year. A 12-year-old publishing a book? People were skeptical, but I thought that if anyone could do it, I could.
To no one’s surprise, I did not. In my miniscule 12-year-old brain, I thought writing a book was easy. It was simple: write a manuscript, and everything else would follow.
My fellow aspiring authors, do not let your first goal be: Finish Writing the Manuscript. It doesn’t work. My first draft was horrible (obviously), second was salvageable, third needed to be broken apart and revamped. By the time I was 17, I believed I had a good novel … until my professional editor told me to rip it in two and rework it, again.
So here comes my second piece of advice: Be Humble and Prepared to Kill Your Darlings. If you hold your unfinished book so tightly to your chest, nursing it every day like a baby, that baby will be ripped apart by many people wiser, smarter and more experienced than you. Your book is not your baby.
You are a writer, but your written work is not your identity. Be willing to listen and learn from experts, which requires letting some ideas and characters burn so you can sharpen your story.
By the time I had slashed a sword to my work, my manuscript was looking refined and ready to publish. Then, the daunting next steps appeared like muddy footprints on grass, unclear and uncertain as to where to go next.
And here is my third piece of advice: Become a Researcher. Learn how to find a “will-refine-you-in-the-fire” editor, how to hire an excellent illustrator, how to format your own novel, and how to build your book launch. And here’s the reality: most peers our age will need to self-publish to build a platform and grow an audience in the publishing industry. I believe humble beginnings are beautiful, just as our Lord and King came to us through a stable.
And if you think there’s no way you can publish during college, email me and I’d love to talk. I published the sequel during my freshman year.
Brooklyn Maelee is the author of the middle-grade sci-fi dystopian series, The Circle King and The Assassin Circle.