LitPick Review
My Journey As An Author by M C Ryder is a memoir where the author describes her journey in the self-publishing world. She began publishing her first book using New Book Authors Publishing to save time and avoid facing rejection from the big publishing houses. The book is filled with sensible advice for the new authors, commendations, and warnings of pitfalls. Ryder describes how the lows and highs can affect new authors and discourage them from wanting to see their work in print and cautions that success requires grit and determination. The road to self-publishing is fraught with all kinds of decisions and dangers, which the author goes on to describe elegantly.
Ryder describes her experience with getting her books in libraries and bookstores as adventurous but inspiring; while her efforts failed with Barnes and Noble, she not only succeeded with Cupboard Maker Books but also learned valuable lessons. She ventured through writer's conferences and discovered that even professional writers had their shortcomings and still could be successful, reinforcing that what one lacked confidence could learn through practice and hard work.
The writing is personal and from the author's heart, as she describes the bullying she faced and how she overcame it. In the last few chapters, Ryder goes in-depth about her interactions with her furry friends, which she mentions throughout the book. The book is filled with many tidbits, warnings, and tools that new authors can use for their own success.
Opinion:
I usually skip the introduction for most books, but with this one, I was hooked by the introduction itself—with the question, "Who am I?" and the intrepid answer, "I'm no one of importance." As an author, I felt this book was written to express my feelings and saw legitimate reasons not to hang my head in shame for not finding a big publishing house.
I loved the statement, "I will go through hundreds of names until I find the one," as I do the same, and in my last novel, I changed the name of half a dozen central characters after more than half of the book was written. So many different techniques are laid down in the book, to name one, using Google Maps and Zillow to find places and descriptions. I was shocked by the commonness. I didn't even trip when I came across the statement, "If only more people used the right ones instead of the wrong ones," because similar thoughts had passed through my mind.
While reading this book, I felt Ryder's frustration as my own. When a fellow author didn't respond, I felt the pain, and my heart jumped when she mentioned she was able to sell more than 100 copies of her debut novel in the very first month.
The way the author laid bare her sense of humility and vulnerability for all to see is genuine and bound to give confidence to many. This can be a handbook for any aspiring author as Ryder describes her methods of developing characters and stories and takes cues and encouragement from the setbacks she explained and how she overcame them.
After the fat lady sang, this struck me: "At the end of the day, it's not about the writing style; it's about the magic of a story and how it changes lives." A very bold statement bound to embolden even the meek.
