The one thing learned during the creation of Cerberus that other aspiring authors should know
I would have to say that the most important and also most surprising thing I learned while writing and publishing Cerberus is that writing a book is the easy part. In fact, surprised is not even the right word: shocked and appalled would be more apt. After all, creating believable characters, crafting realistic dialogue, organizing a compelling plot, and seeing the entire thing to its 75,000+ word completion is by no stretch of the imagination easy. It takes time and effort, and it’s easy for an aspiring author to expect all that effort to be instantly rewarded. After all, you’ve now got an awesome manuscript, a winning personality, and a willingness to set out on your book tour as soon as you’re asked. Why shouldn’t you succeed?
The answer, I discovered, is simple: in order for your book to succeed, the right people have to know it exists. This goes for both indie authors and those pursuing traditional publishing. The fact of the matter is that there are literally millions of books that look just like yours: they are typed in black ink on white paper in a standard font. It doesn’t matter that the words are different or that yours is the best manuscript out there if the book doesn’t stand out from the sea of other manuscripts for sale on Amazon or in an agent’s inbox.
And making your book stand out takes work. It takes getting out of whatever shell you might be in, relentlessly pubbing your work, posting it to forums, paying money for promotional materials, cyberstalking industry professionals, or stalking them in real life if you’ve got that type of proximity and are unbothered by the potential for restraining orders. It takes resilience against all the rejections and rebuffs that are a part of every writer’s life. Everyone gets rejection letters. Everyone. J.K. Rowling can tell you so, as could John Steinbeck if he weren’t dead. And obviously, Rowling and Steinbeck weren’t rejected because their books were no good. It’s a sad, disappointing truth, but you have to remember that while books are art, publishing is business. It’s not enough to write a good story; it has to be a marketable one. It has to be something some suit in New York thinks can sale copies, spawn movies, and just in general be the next big thing, and your story will not always fit that person’s vision of what “the next big thing” is. You just have to develop a thick skin, learn what you can from each rejection (which unfortunately may not be much since more often than not, you’ll receive form rejections), and move on. There are more than 7 billion people in this world. Statistically speaking, at least one of them has to like your story. You just have to remember that publishing your work takes work and a level of mental and emotional fortitude writing never required.
That said, there’s no feeling quite like finally getting that acceptance or making that sale, especially when you’ve worked for it. As my favorite platitude goes, “No one said it would be easy. They only said it would be worth it.”
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Cerberus: Book 1 of Parish by P.K. Gallagher
Paranormal YA Fantasy
For Kaeden Parish, life in Solace has always followed certain rules—everything makes sense, everything can be planned for, and everything is as it seems. Unfortunately, the secret harbored by his gorgeous, albeit guarded girlfriend is about to shatter all of that.
After a successful attack on his life opens his eyes to a world of war, shadows, and supernatural creatures—a world he didn’t plan for—Kaeden finds himself resembling the sort of monster he has always feared. As he desperately struggles to resist a new temptation, danger draws ever nearer, threatening the ones he loves most. A prophecy tells of a final battle and great destruction, and Kaeden must decide which side he is on, a choice that could mean the end of the world.
In Book 1 of the Solace Series, P.K. Gallagher pulls readers into a realm where good and evil are at war, and the outcome of it all rests on one young man’s decision to either go and live...or stay and die.
This is where the story of Parish begins.
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Author P.K. Gallagher
Despite writing stories that take place almost exclusively in New England, speculative young adult fiction author P. K. Gallagher has lived in the suburbs of the south her entire life. It is to this that she attributes her love of the fantastic and the supernatural—writing such things was her only escape from the monotony of Suburbia. Gallagher graduated from Florida A&M University in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a fervent desire to never set foot inside a newsroom again.
She currently lives in Atlanta and divides her time between working a day job, finishing her works in progress, and perfecting her plans for world domination.
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