Stop Overthinking it. You Can be a Published Author Before You’re Graduated
How Zoey Reade published her first novel at age 17
By Kelsie West
When it comes to writing a novel, the dream of becoming a published author seems impossible. But Zoey Reade, a freshman from California, would say otherwise — and she’s got proof. She published her novel, The Misunderstoods, the summer before coming to college.
Reade knew she wanted to be a writer from the time she was a young child. As a freshman in high school, Reade was struck by inspiration and started writing. She worked on two different stories for a period of time until deciding to combine the two stories into her novel, The Misunderstoods.
It took her almost four years to complete the book. “I always started stuff but never finished, which I feel is every writer's problem. But I finally was like ‘I want to do it! I’m going to publish it!’”
“I want to do it! I’m going to publish it!”
Reade had two options for publication: to self-publish or to hire an agent in hopes of catching the attention of a publishing house. Reade decided to self-publish, and she needed an excellent editor to do so. She talked to, met with, and sent sections of her story to various local editors that she and her mom researched online.
Reade eventually narrowed her options down to two editors. The first woman reviewed Reade’s submission and returned it with positive remarks. “She made me feel so good inside about what she had to say about my book. She rarely had any criticism to give.”
The second woman, Christine Miller, also read Reade’s story and gave her feedback. “She had so much to say! And I didn’t really like it. In the beginning, I did not like Christine,” Reade recalled. “Here’s one woman who makes me feel awesome about my writing, and here is this other woman who kind of makes me mad a little bit. But I had to choose which one was going to make me a better writer.”
Reade and her mom decided on Christine. “I really felt like she was supposed to help me. And now I love Christine! I would give her anything that I write.”
Reade advised, “Don’t pick the person that is going to make you feel good. Pick the person that’s going to get the job done and make you better. Even though you might hate it in the beginning, you’ll probably love it in the end. So make sure you pick the right editor that is going to push you. Sometimes it’s okay to get angry because that means you’re learning and getting frustrated with yourself, and sometimes you need that.”
“Don’t pick the person that is going to make you feel good. Pick the person that’s going to get the job done and make you better.”
Writing and editing her story was a long process. Depending on how quickly she wrote, it took approximately two weeks to write half of a chapter. Christine would edit and return the chapter to Reade shortly after. Reade would then make the necessary adjustments to the manuscripts. They continued this process until the book was done. Together, they reviewed the entire book two or three times before deciding it was ready for publication.
“It took a lot to stick with it and keep going. Especially the parts where I was like ‘I hate writing right now!’ There would be times I would just have to take a break because it was like, ‘I am so sick of this. I can’t stand it.’”
But Reade was determined. She self-published her book, The Misunderstoods — a Dystopian novel consisting of 21 chapters — in July 2018.
When asked if she would have done anything differently in the process of writing and publishing her book, she said, “It was such a process to learn from that I wouldn’t change my experience. But one thing I would do differently is schedule time to write.” Setting a goal to sit down and write for a certain amount of time every day not only gets the writing done but also establishes the habit of writing regularly.
“You just gotta stick to it. Everyone says that; it’s so cliche. But you have to be determined enough to do it. You have to really want it… Once you get towards the end and you look back on everything you wrote, you’re like ‘Wow, that’s kind of cool.’ And after you publish it, you’re like ‘Wow, this has my name on it.’ It’s definitely worth it in the end. But it’s going to be hard, I’m not going to lie.”
As a writer, Reade said it pays to be observant. “Inspiration comes from everywhere. You could be walking down the street and see somebody, the way they talk, or the way that they move, or the way they look — that could be a character.”
For writers who are more private with their art form, Reade advised sharing their writing with others. While writing her book, Reade would share sections of her story with some of her writing friends. “It’s definitely helpful to get criticism from a reader’s perspective. If you don’t get it from the reader’s perspective, then honestly, who are you writing it for?”
“If you don’t get criticism from the reader’s perspective, then honestly, who are you writing it for?”
After a break from the completion of her manuscript, Reade is back to writing. This time she is working on a four-book series. She does not see herself publishing the series anytime soon. “I want to work on the series for quite a while and make it really good. So I want to write a couple of other books beforehand and self-publish those to try and get more recognition.”
You can expect to see more writing from Zoey Reade in the next few years. You can find her novel on Amazon or on blurb.com. You can also read Zoey’s writing right here on The Herald!
