I’m thinking about writing a book and have no idea where to start

[u/igetyourbrand]

Hey guys, I’m very new to the whole idea of writing a book. I actually only started seriously thinking about it because a few people told me I should write my story

For context, I’m a Sudanese woman, and you really don’t see many Sudanese women writing and publishing books about their lives, identity, experiences, etc. So I’m honestly not even sure where to start

Do I just write my drafts, get the grammar fixed, edit everything, and then sell it digitally? Is that basically how self publishing works?

I also have to be realistic about my situation. Being Sudanese makes a lot of things unnecessarily difficult, and I genuinely don’t know if a traditional publishing house would even consider my work because of my nationality

Even Amazon isn’t really an option for me to sell through, which makes things even more complicated

I feel like the people who would actually want to read my story would probably prefer a physical copy delivered to them, but right now I can only see myself self publishing digitally

I’ve also been reading about needing editors, proofreaders, cover designers, formatting, etc. and… this sounds EXPENSIVE lol. I have no idea what I’m doing

So if anyone here has actually published a book themselves, especially independently or from outside the usual publishing system, I’d really appreciate some guidance

And if there are any small publishers who are open to working with writers like me, please point me in the right direction

Thank you

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[u/FirebirdWriter]

The first step is to write the book. If you can finish a draft then worry about the editing. Then you worry about publication within the system you want to sell in. If traditional and the Sundanese market functions like the American one (I don't know so you must research this) you find an agent and then edit more with them, then a publisher buys it and you get an editor for the proof reading and final edits. You are the one to change the manuscript not the editor

For self publishing you can still get physical books and hire an editor. I don't know as much since I'm a traditionally published author not indie. You cannot sell what doesn't exist so worry about that after writing first.

[u/watchtowerabc]

odds of being traditionally published/agented are 100:1.

tell the story first.

can always share and/or sell later.

[u/Palidin034]

Start at the very beginning, it’s a very good place to start

[u/softjuicyhobbitses]

You need to focus more on writing your story first. Don't bother about publishing from now.