First of all, congratulations for coming to my website and taking the first step towards being an author. If you want to be an author because you aspire to make millions like J.K. Rowling, please exit and go to a website for Property or Stock Trading instead. If you want to write a book to share your life’s experiences, skills sets or just have a great story to share. Then, please read on.
Before I tell you how you can become an author. It’s only fair that you find out more about me. Don’t worry, I’m going to give you the SDU speed-dating version:
1990: My English compositions were highlighted and circulated around in class but I thought nothing of it back then and went back to picking my zits and checking out pre-pubescent boys playing in the school field.
1996: Graduated from RMIT with a Mass Communications degree and promptly found a job writing about lifestyle trends (well mostly eating and getting fat with food reviews of new cafes/restaurants) with The Straits Times.
1998: Jumped ship to write about fashion for the magazine arm of the newspaper. As a journalist, I was able to churn out articles at breakneck speed, enabling me to leave work early (ok, skive!).
2000: Quit to teach Pilates (completely irrelevant in this book I know!) but continued writing freelance for a gamut of local magazines like Her World, Shape, New Man, Maxim…
2002: Inspired by Timothy Ferriss of The 4-Hour Work Week, I churned out my first book proposal and scored a publishing deal within the week. The rest as they say, is BOOKWRITING HISTORY!
Why I Write
Just like Richard Branson, I am shy and have trouble finding words when I get excited. That is why I write. While my sentences tend to be clunky and short when I talk, they seem to flow like liquid gold when I am behind a laptop.
I have always had a love affair with words and grew up with my nose buried in between pages and my head lost in the fantasy world of make-believe. Add to that mix, a fertile imagination and a writer was born. I would say I have a gift. In university, I made up for my lack of studying with illustrative writing and scored higher than my classmates who memorised every word in the textbook. In fact, for one of my graduating projects, I did an in-depth report of lesbianism and scored an A, even without presentation (it was deemed too controversial!).
Despite this, I always took my gift for granted, waving off compliments dismissively and shrugging this seemingly-sought after ability like they were raindrops on my shoulders. It was only after I embarked on my career as an author and later, as a ghostwriter – writing biographies for successful people and helping budding writers ghostwrite their stories, did I appreciate and embrace my writing skills.
To date, I have helped several people fulfill their dreams of becoming authors. Why do people want to write a book? We all have dreams of telling our stories, of sharing with the world what we think, feel and see, and to leave a legacy behind. Writing is a path where we delve and become intimate with ourselves. Writing is egalitarian - my clients range from millionaire businessmen to housewives - each with their own amazing story to tell.
So why am I writing this blog and sharing my trade secrets with everyone?Truthfully, there are only so many people that my team and I can help at a time. If I had a dollar every time someone asks me how to write and publish books, I’d be rich! No kidding. Case in point: I wrote an article for Singapore Business Review on How To Publish A Book In Singapore and it has received over 30,000 views (and counting)! That is why I feel it is time to write my own blog, to share with other budding writers, my decade-long experience in the publishing industry and to help them fulfill their own dreams. Stay tuned, read on, then go write your asses off!
Aim for amazing,
