Storytime!

Storytelling was my number one reason for becoming an author. Not book sales. Not fame and notoriety. Storytelling. Stories that have lingered in my head for years. Stories that I have told my friends. One day, I said to myself, “if they like hearing them, maybe they’ll want to read them too.” I didn’t get the results I wanted in that area, because listening and paying to read something is two different things.

However, it’s possible that other people might want to read my stories. They might find them entertaining. That’s why I decided to become a self-published author. I had no desire to go with a traditional publisher. Don’t get me wrong, it’s wonderful when someone gets their book traditionally published. It’s just not for me.

For me, writing stories is kind of like a brain dump. Getting the stories I dream about down on paper. Philosophical and spiritual truths I want to share with the world. I used to draw my own comic books, but I got irritated with it, because I was too much of a perfectionist. It’s more work too — I had to tell the story, draw the characters, the background, format the pages, and write the dialog in small bubbles. I stopped doing it, because the joy for it was gone.

One day, I read an exceptionally bad book. I was mad because I paid for the crap. Then I told myself, if they can do it, I can do it too. Instead of trying to create a comic book, all I have to do is simply write my stories down on paper.

Of course, you know it’s more complicated than that. I learned as I was doing it. I had to re-educate myself on grammar rules. On the importance of editing (a lesson I learned the hard way with my first book). Choosing the right book covers, page formatting, etc., etc. Today, I believe I got most of it figured out. Even if I don’t, I’m content with the work and the abilities I have now.

One thing I’ve never had an issue with is storytelling. Too many times, I’ve been bored to death by books written by so-called great authors. That is why I’m asking you to expand your focus beyond traditionally-published books. Give books written by self-published authors a chance. You will be surprised by how good some of these books are. Are they perfect? No. You might see a misspelling, a grammar issue, or a punctuation error. If they’re minute, hopefully you could look past them. The reason why I’m telling you this is because as a reader, I don’t want you to miss out on a great story. A story that could possibly change your life.