This guest post was provided by Suzanne Adam, author of Notes from the Bottom of the World: A Life in Chile.

I’m seventy-five years-old and eagerly awaiting the publication of my second book in a few weeks. Looking back, it was just a casual encounter with a friend a dozen years ago that jump started my writing passion.

It was the last day of the school year and the beginning of my retirement from my teaching job. The friend approached me in the parking lot. “Hey Suzanne, I hear you’re looking for an English-speaking writing group! Come and join the Santiago Writers. We’ll meet this Thursday at my house.”

From Dabbling to Doing

I’d been dabbling with writing for a couple of years, but full-time teaching allowed little time. After retirement, I planned to tutor students privately and – well – write. Finding an English-speaking group here in Santiago, Chile was like a homecoming. At that first meeting, I encountered a group of women of varying ages, nationalities and backgrounds. Readings by several members were followed by critiques. The level of their writing and critiquing skills impressed me. As a teacher, I thought I knew a lot about writing, but I realized I had much to learn from this dedicated group. Every Thursday became a sacred day on my calendar.

I knew I wanted to write about my experiences as an expat here in Chile, so memoir was my genre. Maybe a book, I thought. I started a blog and read every memoir I could get my hands on dealing with expat experiences. I submitted my work to professional writers and editors for feedback. I wrote, edited and rewrote, changing the format again and again, finding my own voice so that my book didn’t sound like a travel guide.

It took ten years. In 2015, in my seventh decade, my first book, Marrying Santiago, was published. I was thrilled to stumble upon a publishing niche, the Peace Corps Writers, available for returned Peace Corps Volunteers. I’d served as a volunteer in Colombia over fifty years ago. The editor suggested some changes. I talked my graduate-student son into doing some simple, whimsical drawings. On Internet I discovered the exact photo I wanted for my cover: a California poppy growing at the foot of the Andes. The Chilean photographer was kind enough to grant me permission to use his photo.

After that satisfying experience of seeing my book published, I wondered: what next?

Doubt Doesn't Disappear 

I’ve read and reread my manuscript and am satisfied. It’s ready. Time to make the big leap…. Or is it? Today, as I read the text yet another time, doubts flood me. I’ve read it so often that it sounds flat to me. Will readers actually find engaging this mixed bag of expanded blog posts, travel pieces, and musings from my past? Will a publisher be interested?

There’s only one way to find out. A friend recommends She Writes Press. I check out their website. It’s a hybrid press (author and publisher share expenses), designed to give more opportunities to women writers. That’s for me.

Copy. Attach. Send.

Days later, the publisher’s name appears in my email Inbox. She accepts my manuscript Notes from the Bottom of the World: A Life in Chile! But it needs work. She assigns me to Annie, an independent editor.

Weekly thirty-minute Skype sessions with Annie are equivalent to a full semester in creative writing. We first tackle structure for this essay collection, written over the past three or four years. Picking the first and last piece is easy, as is arranging the essays in chronological order. What satisfaction when themes and chapter titles reveal themselves to me bit by bit. I cut up colored index cards, big pieces for chapter titles and smaller ones with essay titles and set them out on the floor to organize. It’s like a game. As I move the cards back and forth, I see my story gradually taking shape.

Writing is Over, Marketing Begins

In addition to perfecting my writing skills, I must become a saleswoman. It doesn’t come naturally to me.  I dread facing this aspect of publishing, but also see it as a challenge. I can do it! Sales hook, book description, selling points, target audience, biography, key words for Amazon searches, and endorsements. To my surprise I find learning these new tasks enjoyable, as is working on the book cover with the SWP designer. I’m excited when we get the cover just right. It now appears on Amazon Books!

Do I need a publicist? The cost makes me reluctant, but, living overseas, I recognize that I will need help if I want to reach a wider audience. I find a local publicist in the San Francisco Bay Area where I plan to spend a month at the time of my book’s publication. She guides me through this daunting marketing process, contacting libraries, clubs, bookstores, periodicals and book reviewers, even scheduling me for a book talk and signing at Book Passage, my favorite independent bookstore. I must also promote my book on my own, advertising on Facebook and Goodreads and sending emails to friends and acquaintances.

I’ve spent years bending over a computer, dog-earring my Thesaurus, jotting down ideas before I forget, and editing and editing and editing. And now, the publication wheels are in motion. Soon I’ll be holding my second book in my hands. The waiting time brings a mix of excitement and nervousness. My mind spins with questions of what is to come.

Whatever the next months bring, I am ready and I wait.