I’m a Fiction Writer! Will Steemit Get Me a Publishing Deal?

I Believe It Will Be a Game Changer!

By: @Lymmerik

I have been writing a children’s novel literally for years, and only have 60 pages written. Why?

Lack of inspiration, motivation, determination, publication and a whole list of –ations!

Image Credit

The Adventures of Zachary Bragg: The Secret Fate of the Winking Witch is a story that I started back in 2013. When I started it, I was on fire. I was ablaze with enthusiasm, inspiration, motivation and determination.

Some days, I would write a whole chapter; other days, I couldn’t get a line written. I outlined it, created a cover for it, and illustrations, etc., but somewhere along the line, I lost the “want-to” to write it. Did I lose the –ations? Yes!

Image Credit: Rickie O. Pauley

There was no motivation to write, no inspiration.
Years have past by and I coulda, shoulda, woulda had it finished, submitted, edited, and perhaps published.

Then I joined Steemit on August 31, 2017. I had no idea what Steemit was. I just knew that I could earn the cryptocurrency Steem for blogging. I thought it would be like Facebook and Twitter.

Holy cow was I wrong. I hardly go onto the other social media sites anymore.

Yes I’m a minnow. At first, I wrote about Steemit things, of which, I know very little, but I could see all the big guns doing it, so I thought that I could too. WRONG!

Then I found a contest and wrote a short story, I won 3rd place. I got a little Steem Dollars for it. I thought, okay, if there is one contest, there are two or two-hundred and two! I entered them all the time; I got great comments and upvotes.

One day I logged onto Steemit and one of my short stories had jumped to $60+ and I was in shock! Then I entered another writing contest; a good story but not my best. I got a reply on it. I was asked to expand on it. (I don’t feel that it is appropriate to reveal the identity of the requester). But I did.

I entered more contests and got great feedback and upvotes. I also got a boost from another curator and another. I wrote more and more for the writing contests and won runner up.

My favorite contest have a prompt, either a written prompt, like this one from @OriginalWorks
"Two invisible people bump into each other on the street, what happens next..."
Here is my story on that prompt:

Image source
I'm Sorry, I Didn't See You There

Or, an image prompt, like this one from @gmuxx, #thewritersblock

Image Credit
Traveler's Rest - A Memoir

Ah, this was inspiration, motivation, determination, well you get the picture.
So SBD is my motivation to get inspired. Yes and No!

It is the outlet, Steemit! I get replies to my stories that inspire, and yes, I get SBD from upvotes, and motivation from the curators who like my stories. But no, the motivation is not necessarily from the SBD’s! It is from all of you who read my stories and are transported inside the story of my mind.

When I write from an image prompt, I study the image and let it tell me the story of, not just what is in the image, but what is around the image that is not photographed. For example, I look at the image as if I am standing there looking at what the camera is looking at, and then I turn around and imagine what is to the left and right and behind me that is not shown in the image. That is usually what I write about, what is NOT shown in the image.

Okay, so how will Steemit become the game changer in publishing?

Here on Steemit, there are many curators, like @curie, @sft, @OriginalWorks, and so on. These Steemians are more than just whales or curators – they are editors, publishers, writers, and the like. They are experienced, I believe in most cases, but some may even be amateur authors looking for an outlet and happen to stumble upon my work.

There are also many writing contest on Steemit as well and I have entered a lot of them. @steemit-virus, is one that comes to mind. or @gmuxx #thewritersblock Art Prompt Writing Contest. I actually take the time to read the other entrants work and I am wowed by the talent of these authors. Therefore, I enter another one and another one!

I have written since I was a child, I had journals and have written many books, poems and short stories. Unfortunately, I lost the vast majority of them on an un-backed up hard drive that crashed. I didn’t even have a paper copy. I know, I know, what is the first rule of electronic storage devices? B-A-C-K…I-T…U-P.
Period!

Through Steemit, I believe that these contests and curators will discover many “JK Rowlings!” Many will be published in physically bound books, others will publish online and still others will self-publish because of Steemit. The SBD’s earned through upvotes and curators on Steemit will allow for many of us to earn enough to get published or self-published.

I would like to curate as well, to inspire, motivate and influence other writers, but I have a lot to learn before I can take a bite out of that.

There are many ways new authors are discovered. Why, look at JK Rowling, for example, she took notes for the Harry Potter series on café napkins while rocking her child’s stroller with her foot. She sent submission after submission to publishers and was turned down, but look at her now!

Steemit is not just another vehicle toward the dream of being published. Many of us will be discovered and mentored by the editors, curators and perhaps the famous authors (who we do not know are writing original content on Steemit), and perhaps earn a publishing contract.

Steemit may or may not get me published with the famous writers like JK Rowling, Stephen King, and so on, but guess what, I AM being published, I’m doing it myself by writing on Steemit and my stories are getting read. Isn’t that the point of being published?!

Ultimately, it is not up to Steemit to get me published, it is up to me and how I handle the -ations!

This is my inspiration, motivation, determination and all the other –ations! Steemit!

After I have enough contest submissions for short stories written, I plan on compiling them together and either submitting them to a publisher or self-publishing. I hope to get more feedback from the editors and curators here on Steemit to do so.

Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings!
@Lymmerik