The Writers Journey by Eshetu Petros

Author:Eshetu, Petros
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inspired Mind Publishing
Published: 2020-12-28T16:00:00+00:00

Having the Courage to Share Your Story

I went on to ask Otakara what beliefs or myths she had about writing before writing her first book?

I think the biggest one was that I would have to have great English to write a book. I had lived in the United States for fourteen years by the time I published my first book. I’d learned English way before at school and had traveled the world already.

I always wanted to write a book as I always was good at writing. I felt like a writer at heart. I always loved books.

I don’t speak my own language, which is Czech, good enough anymore because I don’t use it enough where I could write a book in it. I felt like my English wasn’t substantial enough to write a book in English, until I was told, “You’ll get an editor.”

Then, my first book was my own birthday present for my fortieth birthday. I wanted to turn the decade with something meaningful, something that I would do.

I truly wrote a book for myself. The book is meant for people, but the reason, the core “why,” was just for me. It was my own present to myself. I gave myself permission to suck. I was done being a perfectionist. I decided to write a book, and I would expect nothing out of it. I wasn’t putting any stipulation on a book.

I was just thinking, “If I get this published, I’ll be happy.”

Well, not only did Otakara get the book published, but she also became an international bestseller.

I asked how that felt.

It just floored me. I was really successful with my first book becoming an international bestseller. I didn’t even know any marketing, and it sold 10,000 copies in less than nine months. I was not even advertising the book. It just went out, and people were talking about it, and people were contacting me about the book.

The book really resonated with people. It was a great thing because that helped me to want to stay in the book industry.

It helped and encouraged me to go on with other books. However, it also made me afraid to write a book in the same genre, because I thought if I want to write anything else, I’m going to disappoint someone because the bar suddenly existed so high.

I published three other books, now I’m working on a fifth book that is going back to the same genre of my first book. It took me publishing three other books to gain enough courage to face my defense of that first book and continue to write on that same subject. So the doubts are there.

Right before you publish your first book, you’re terrified. I don’t think there is a more terrifying feeling like you’re at the edge somewhere looking down and you’ve got to jump. You’re just going to be exposed. You’re going to be out there.

The feeling of actually publishing, it’s worth the entire journey of getting there to launch it and bring it to the people because the book all of a sudden gains its own life.

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