What it's like having a book published

The magic, as well as the 'bubble burst' moments

Some people dream of writing books from childhood.

I didn’t.

I thought I’d be a teacher.

And in some ways I am.

But after training to be a journalist, and starting to have freelance commissions come in, I thought: what’s next?

And I decided it was probably a book.

Writing is my first love. Words, and structuring them. Storytelling. Reading. I love it all.

I started thinking about what book I might write.

I’d written a few novels in my 20s, but they were a bit shit.

Non-fiction felt like a good fit with my journalism, blogging, love of ‘teaching’ and need to share everything I know with the world.

I pitched to write a book with a parenting theme, as that was my journalism ‘niche’ at the time.

And while there was some interest, it didn’t get picked up in the end.

But I made a friend in publishing and eventually, got commissioned to write The Freelance Mum.

It is exhilarating, getting a book deal.

The ultimate external validation for a writer, I think.

But along with riding that wave of sheer excitement, you will almost certainly find yourself dropping into the water and desperately scrambling to stay afloat…