Plot Twists in Publishing: How My First Book Almost Went Off the Rails
When I first decided to publish my children’s book, I thought the hard part would be writing it. (Spoiler: that wasn’t even close to the hardest part.) The real rollercoaster came with all the things I didn’t know I needed to learn.
Like the time I uploaded too early to Amazon. Yep. I hit publish before I was truly ready. There’s nothing quite like realizing your book baby is out in the world… with typos staring back at you. Cue panic.
And then there was the name. I had fallen in love with “Ziggy” as the title character — it felt perfect. Except it turns out, someone else thought it was perfect too. Hello, trademark issues. So I pivoted, brainstormed, and rebranded. Enter Wigby. It was a reminder that sometimes creativity isn’t just about imagination, it’s about flexibility.
That was just the beginning. Suddenly I was knee-deep in tools I’d never touched before. KDP rules about trim sizes, front and back matter, and metadata. Canva for layouts. Grammarly catching what my tired brain missed. AI tools for images and brainstorming. Even something as simple as line spacing (1.25? 1.5? Did I just add ten extra pages?) became a rabbit hole. Every decision felt like a mini crash course in publishing.
And honestly? It was stressful. I had moments of second-guessing everything — from whether kids would connect with the story, to if the cover design looked professional, to whether I was completely in over my head. I re-outlined, adjusted, swapped directions, and patched together a final version that felt right.
But here’s the thing: all that chaos taught me something important. Publishing isn’t a straight line. It’s messy. It’s stressful. It’s full of plot twists. And that’s okay.
If you’re in the middle of your own project — book or otherwise — and it feels like everything’s going wrong, you’re not failing. You’re just in the middle of the story. And trust me, the middle is always the messy part.
In the end, my book made it into the world — a little scruffier than I imagined, but also stronger. And so am I.
5 Lessons I Learned the Hard Way
Don’t hit publish too early. Give yourself a buffer to review, reread, and breathe.
Research names and trademarks first. Falling in love with a name is fun — until you realize you can’t use it.
Expect a learning curve with tools. KDP, Canva, Grammarly, AI… they’re all powerful, but they all come with quirks.
Build in room for mistakes. Extra time (and grace) makes the difference between chaos and collapse.
Embrace the plot twists. Every mess-up is part of the story you’re writing about yourself
