There are so many people out there who want to become authors and just don't know where to start. Some may have always wanted to be authors. Others may have discovered their desire to become an author later in life. Whichever category you fall into, I hope my advice will help you to realize your dreams, and whatever I might have left out, I host an online self-publishing course that will be a great help. I will share the link at the end of this blog.

If you have read my previous blog posts, you will know that I published my first book in November 2020. Since then, I have added another 16 titles and 4 more picture books will be finalized by mid-June. I also completed my middle-grade novel and it is in the editing phase, we hope to have it published in September. My memoir will also be released before the end of the year. I have done all of this in less than 2 years and prior to this, I hadn't the faintest clue of what it took to become a published author. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would be sitting with all these titles and have a memoir and a novel on the way. It took a lot of research, reading, networking, and most of all dedication and hard work. Perseverance is also very necessary. Mistakes will be made along the way but as the old saying goes; We learn from our mistakes.

The internet is an amazing tool and search engines such as Google helped me to find out how to become an author. Knowledge is key and to quote Benjamin Franklin  "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.". I read hundreds of articles, blogs, and books. I subscribed to various newsletters and watch videos. I also took several online courses and eventually I started my own! As I am writing this, I still have a huge pile of articles and newsletters that I have to read, I don't throw any of them away in case I miss an important piece of info.

Social media also played a huge part in my becoming a successful author. I met so many good people via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. The Writing Community on these platforms is truly supportive, don't be afraid to ask for help and advice.

The best advice I can give to an aspiring author is to gather all this information, some of it may not apply to you, and some of it might be duplicated but at the end of the day, the amount of knowledge that you will have achieved will be enough to get you started on your author journey. 

I know it's not a long-drawn-out post with bullet points and stats but I hope it will help.

The link to my online self-publishing course is https://kamulengaselfpublishing.thinkific.com/

Keep a daily or weekly writing routine and most of all, KEEP WRITING!