Fire Starter at White Day High

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Extra: Thanking Readers

A Thank You Letter To My Readers

Nicole Heck // 16 March 2017 // Albany, New York

Where do I begin? The last 365 days of the past year have been a total whirlwind. It is honestly hard to believe it has been a full year since I became writing a novel that I hid for so long. Since that was the one thing I wanted to be since I was 8 years old —publish a novel; I never thought I would be able to achieve that at 18; this year. But— I owe it all to all of you.

Many of you do not know this but if it was not for all of the continued support, I probably would not have followed through with actually posting this novel. Putting my writing out there was scary… it still is. Two years ago, I took a gamble and posted on We bN ov el and f*******:, how I was near completion of my very first book I would want to publish. Only a few reacted to the post and I thought to myself, "Who is even going to read this thing?"

I questioned my writing and the idea of publishing it for a while. Then as I dove deeper into my novel, I decided to I would publish the first chapter unedited on my blog to see what would happen. That was the reason why I posted the first five chapters of my novel unedited. Those bare drafts shaped my novel because my ideas came from that poorly written draft.

I do not know what I was expecting— well, I do, I was expecting people to not even read it. So when so many people reached out saying they wanted to read more, I was in a state of disbelief. That made my confidence on my writing more and more, so I tried finishing it, or at least drafting chapters and chapters.

Fun fact: the amount of time I spent researching how to publish a book and actually writing my book probably would equal to about the same. I tried to get a contract from app to app. I tried to get my writing picked up by a publishing house. The answer was always the same, "We were sorry but this is not what we are looking for at this time."

It was sad…

Why? Because I was not an established author. I was only 17 years old that time. Who would want to risk taking on a young boy who has never published before? Well— none of the 50 I queried. I received 50 rejections.

Fifty.

What was I to do now? Was my writing not good enough? Would I ever make it as an author? Would it even be worth publishing a book? Would everyone hate it? These questions ran continuously throughout my mind as each rejection letter hit my inbox.

But— because of how many of my readers expressed heavy interest in reading my book, and continued to support my desire, I decided to post it all over the place and try to get a contract. What did this mean? It meant doing it all by myself. It meant I could have my book posted within months only if I picked up and moved back home.

At this point, I was not barely making enough money to cover all of my bills and posting it all by myself without any help would cost thousands of efforts, and money, of course. As much as I hated saying goodbye to the new place I had come to love, I called my f*******: readers and told them I was moving back to achieve my dream.

Flashback to years ago— January 18th, 2020. After moving back, I worked on editing my book and building up the hype for the seven months leading up to this day...release day. At exactly January 1, my novel got contracted here. I announced that my book was available and was posting daily.

The emotions I felt as I hit post every time were a combination of nerve-wracking, excitement, terrifying, and the greatest sense of accomplishment. I woke up to messages, phone calls, and so many posts on f*******: that books were being read. It was overwhelming. That first day I had over 10 or so reads and to my honest surprise...it did not stop there.

Today— almost a month later, my first book, "Fire Starter at White Day High" will make it as a contracted book that will help me earn money. Although it is not technically a best-seller, it is in my mind and YOU helped me achieve that.

Thank you to those who read my first chapter and asked for more. You gave me the courage and the belief that I could really do this.

Thank you to those who continued to encourage me throughout the entire month of posting process.

Thank you to those who added my book to their library and helped diminish my fear that I would not have any of those.

Thank you to those who recommend it to their friends and continue to spread the word.

Thank you to everyone who showed up to show your support.

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed my book— there is no greater gift to an author.

Thank you to everyone who has taken time out of their day to read it.

Thank you to everyone who has sent me honest and kind words— it means more than you know.

Thank you for my editor that helped me familiarize with the things I needed to know.

And, the most important thank you...THANK YOU to my parents, my brothers, family, friends, and every single one of you who have supported me from day one. You have inspired me to continue to go after my dreams. You have brightened my dark days. You helped me to believe that I can do anything I set my mind to and you have helped me achieve what I once thought was impossible.

For that and for all of you— I will be forever grateful!