Blogger to Author. How did It Happen?

In a few weeks it will be my first anniversary as a published author. The past year has taught me so much as I navigate the publishing world. It absolutely blows my mind that not only am I a multi-published author, but also acknowledged as a respected book blogger. I consider myself to be a blogging author. My roots starting in reviewing books and blogging. I can say with utmost certainty that blogging helped me on my journey from aspiring writer to published author.

How did I go from a blogger to an author? It’s really quiet simple. I love to write. Blogging enabled me to do just that. In the beginning blogging was an experiment, a way to release all my ideas rolling around in my head. I needed an outlet, a place where I could express myself. It really didn’t matter to me if I had an audience. All I cared about was writing and publishing on my blog. But then a funny thing happened. I wasn’t the only one reading my blog posts. An audience slowly started to grow.

Blogging allowed me to be creative and set up a writing schedule. I started writing and posting every day. It became a strong need to write more. From this I connected with various other bloggers and because of my concentration on publishing and authors, I then decided, why not try and write something more creative, like fiction? I always enjoyed writing but was too afraid for anyone to read my writing. Fear held me back. Because of blogging I gained the confidence to allow others to read my writing and give me their opinions, much like people would leave comments on my posts.

I’ll never forget the day I asked an author friend, one who I met through blogging, to read a story I wrote and wanted to publish. She read my work and gave me the best piece of advice I still follow to this day. She simply told me that,“it’s not if, but when”I would get published and don’t give up because it would happen. Those words stuck with me. I continued to blog and write my stories rolling around in my head. I created a writing schedule for myself, a word count I wanted to hit every day if possible. 500 words written a day grew to a thousand. Some days I would hit 3000 words, while other days only half of that. I’ll never forget the day I wrote 9,000 words. That was a high point for me.

Finally that story my friend read was accepted by a publishing house and was published on June 1, 2010. So many told me I couldn’t do it, I didn’t have the skill, that the subject matter was unreadable. My first published work as author KT Grant was a Lesbian Romance called Lovestruck. Since then I’ve written and published many other books that have different types of romantic relationships. How was I able to do this? From blogging. Through blogging I found a network of people who have cheered me on and supported me in my endeavors. I write what I want, much like the posts I put up on my blog and pat myself on the back because I have created something I can be proud of.

So many who blog do go on to become published authors. The need to write grows where it consumes you. It surely has consumed me. And if there ever comes a day when I don’t have time to blog anymore because my writing has become too important, then I will look back fondly on those days not thing, “what if?”, but “what can I accomplish and how can I make it happen?”

If you’re a blogger who writes and dreams of one day becoming a published author, it will happen. Those what ifs will be pushed aside and the when’s and how’s will happen sooner than you think.