The Accidental Author

Chapter 4 - My writing goes public via the internet!

The act of seeing my name and words in print on screen in manuscript format was quite a surreal experience. Ok, so I was not published in the commonly perceived sense of the word, but I had pressed 'Publish' on Authonomy and my writing was 'out there' for the general public not only to read, but also to comment on. The way that Authonomy works for authors is that the more people who read, comment and rate your book the higher your book rises in the rankings. The goal is to get onto the 'Editors desk', for which the reward is to have your book reviewed by a Harper Collins editor. This review, and the prestige that accompanies it, is shared publicly. It is widely known that some books that make it to the editors desk go on to be published by Harper Collins or taken on by literary agents who scour the Authonomy site for new talent.

The process of uploading my manuscript chapter by chapter onto my book page on the site was one thing, however my first attempt at writing the long and short description, or book blurb as some people refer to it, was quite another. You would think, as I did, that if you can write a 60,000 word book you should be able to string together 250 words to entice readers to start reading your book. Not so. My first attempt was heavily critiqued. At the time I considered this to be harsh, but in hindsight and with more experience of reading the book blurbs of my peers I know that some of the critique had merit. I decided to accept all critique graciously, even if the language some readers and authors used to deliver it was unfriendly. I was determined to learn and grow from every contact and that growth continues.

Writing a synopsis, or blurb, as authors call it.

This is how it started: Glass Half Full by Sarah Jane Butfield

Short description

'It has been said that in life there are two types of people: those who look at the glass as half empty, and those who see it as half full. Ironically sometimes life influences our view and changes our perception.'

Long description

'After what felt like a lifetime of adversity including two failed marriages, losing custody of one of my daughters to a philandering freeloader and the death of my mother it was obvious something had to change. I resolved not to waste anymore of my life on people who did not share, respect or appreciate the value of life itself. My new positive approach would help me achieve a good life for myself and my children which we knew we deserved. In 1997 I met Nigel, and together we lived life to the full. Fast forward to 2008 with good times ahead of me my glass was half full, and we made one of the biggest and most difficult decisions of our lives, to emigrate to Australia. We lived the Australian dream and embraced the adventure. Adversity tested us along the way but we stood strong. However losing the roots to our Australian life during the Brisbane floods of January 2011 seemed like a test too far. 'Glass Half Full' tells our story of taking the chance of a new life down-under, achieving it, living it, losing it and finding our way back to what matters most – happiness.'

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By the Summer of 2013, eleven chapters of Glass Half Full were published on Authonomy. Even though the book was finished there were varying schools of thought about how and when to load the remaining chapters onto Authonomy to achieve maximum results. I decided to combine elements practiced by authors who had successfully reached the editors desk, but did not adhere to any one particular method. Therefore, I loaded half the book and waited for critique and feedback to help me edit and polish the manuscript. As my Authonomy readership evolved the demand for the final half grew and after some deliberation and brainstorming with my peers in Facebook writer groups I uploaded the first draft format of the final ten chapters.