The road to having a book published can be bumpy. Author Angy Tsafos kindly agreed to share her story and advice with us in this interview to help authors of the future on their journey.
Q - How old were you when you first wrote something substantial?
A - I loved writing stories ever since I was a little girl. I had an active imagination and always had ideas coming up. I loved telling stories to my younger nephews and nieces. However, in my teens, I started putting pen to paper and writing my stories. Often the stories that I wrote for school were read out to the whole class and I have to say, it was always fun to see my classmates’ reaction to the stories.
Q - Did you ever have aspirations to become a writer?
A - When I was younger, I did consider being a writer or journalist. I studied English and French literature in high school to set myself up for this career. I really enjoyed reading the various books from different genres and dissecting the meaning behind the story line, the protagonists and their actions. However, when it came to university, I went for one of the popular courses that were in demand at the time from the job market perspective.
Q - What is the best piece of advice you’ve received?
A - To not give up despite all the rejection letters and having people constantly say that it’s near impossible to get your book published in my chosen age group. Follow your dreams and keep taking action towards making it happen. Every little step counts.
Q - What advice would you give to an aspiring writer?
A - To talk about your passions and projects and ask for help when you are stuck or are not quite sure what to do. I received the best advice and feedback from the most unlikely sources when I shared my passion about my books to others. Their advice made me find my illustrator and rework my book to a version that got selected for publishing.
Q - What did you find easiest and hardest about writing?
A - There are days where I really struggle to write or get inspiration. Being the determined person that I am, I have pushed through on such days. I found that after maybe 25 minutes of trying, the words do flow. It does mean though that the first 25 minutes are not as enjoyable, making writing feel like more of a chore. I take a slightly different approach now when this happens now. When I have a block, I don’t push myself and I leave the writing to another time unless I have a deadline. I think that when inspiration strikes, it’s best to sit on and write it all out. There were times when I didn’t because I was either feeling lazy or had other things on. Coming back to the idea at a later stage and writing it out just didn’t feel as easy.
Q - Was it faster to write your book or to have it published?
A - It was definitely much faster to write my book. Once you have the inspiration, you are in the flow and the book is brought to life quite easily as the words and ideas just come pouring out. You can also control the amount of time that you dedicate to your book when you are writing it. However when it comes to getting published, you are competing with so many other submissions and you are bound by the publisher’s timelines and schedule.
Q - What was your favourite part of your book to write?
A - I enjoyed writing the whole book so it’s quite hard to say. However I can say that making sure the illustrations reflected the text was quite fun when it came to the next steps of producing the book.
Q - Do you have any plans to publish more work?
A - Absolutely! This is my first book in my series about a little boy who travels around the world, discovering new countries and ways of living. I also have lots of other ideas and I would love to get more of my work published. I have quite a few stories that I have started writing and not yet finished. I have recently launched my coaching business and right now, it’s really about being more disciplined and allocating time to sit down and develop the storyline.
Q - If you could review Olympia Publishers in just a few words, what would they be?
A - I am very grateful to Olympia Publishers as they saw my vision and supported me in publishing my book without requesting any changes. They took the time to answer all my questions and were easy to deal with.
Click here to order Angy Tsafos' book "Global Sebbie Goes to India" now!
