MY JOURNEY IN WRITING – A City Without Walls

As long as I have been able to write, I have always imagined becoming a famous writer one day.

I fell in love with the written word and in the places that the stories took me.

I published my first work in a literary magazine while in high school, but it wasn't until 2009 that I finally held my first book in my hands.

My books are of a Spiritual nature and I believe were inspired by God.

I knew that I wasn't writing in order to get rich; I just wanted to get my message out there in hopes of helping or inspiring someone else.

When it came time to actually publish my book, I searched different avenues in order to get it done.

Most sites that I went to wanted to charge me large fees, which I didn't have at that time.

I even found sites that wanted me to sign the rights of my work over to them!

Finally, I discovered createspace.com. It took a few tries to get my book just the way I wanted it to look inside and out.

I had to edit it myself, however, and that was the hardest part.

We all know that, when we read our work, our minds usually see the words the way we think it is and not how it actually is. It is always good to have someone else edit your work for grammatical errors before you self-publish.

Another big thing is that you will have to do your own promoting if your intention is to sell your books for profit. One more thing I like about createspace.com is that you can set your own price and it breaks the price down to show you exactly where the money goes and how much your profit will be. I also enjoy the fact that I can order as many copies of my books as I choose to at a much lower rate.

I really love the fact that my books are sold on Amazon.com as well and since createspace.com is a print-on-demand site, I don’t have to worry about a huge amount of overstock in my house!

This journey as a writer has been a remarkable one for me.

There is no greater feeling than seeing your work, something that came from your own heart and mind, in print, bound together with your name on it. I love hearing from my readers about how much my books have meant to them.

People have told me how one of my books helped them to deal with cancer and how my second book helped them get through a traumatic time in their lives.

My advice to a new writer is to just stick with it!

Don’t give up on your dream and more importantly, don’t allow anyone to tell you that your work isn’t worth publishing! Keep writing, keep editing and rewriting until you get it exactly the way you want it to be.

“This is your gift to the world!”

Laura Smith
Author of “A City Without Walls” and “Consider the Wick”