Nathaniel Wonderful’s Book Debut
The journey to publishing our debut book was tortuous, costly, and left a bitter taste that lingered for another four years. Yet, we refused to let it break us or sink into depression, even when faced with mockery from other authors. The sad memories of this experience still dwell within us, though time has softened their sharp edges. We learned a valuable lesson and have since avoided all so-called professional and paid services.
The idea to write a book originated in the mind of my wife, Raine Stonewall, who presented it to me one day at the beginning of summer 2019. After much persuasion, I finally agreed to start working on it. Raine provided fragments of Dungeons & Dragons gameplays, which she had previously led as a dungeon master, as a foundation for the story.
By that time, the group was already disbanded, leaving only a young woman, who had played the character Eiri, as the sole cooperative adviser and witness to the game’s events before I joined the group. This woman had promised to handle the book’s typesetting, being a skilled graphic designer employed at an advertising agency. However, her assistance with mapping the gameplay story and its details turned into constant objections regarding the character of Eiri. Matters escalated further when she began interfering in editorial work, and when it came time to handle typesetting, she played a straight bat.
The writing fell solely on my shoulders, while Raine tirelessly contributed new ideas for changes, improvements, and additions to the story. Meanwhile, I was grappling with challenges at work, mostly caused by temporary employees, as well as the collapse of my previous relationship. Having not written for nearly ten years, I was groping in the dark, desperately seeking help and ways to improve my skills within a short timeframe, all under constant pressure.
Raine, however, did not see the situation as stressful or dire. She consistently reassured me that I had great talent that must not go to waste, and she believed in me wholeheartedly. Whenever I completed a chapter, she was the first to read it. While she always offered constructive criticism, she genuinely enjoyed the story. She believed our book had the potential to impress readers and fill a gap in the book market, largely thanks to my writing style. However, she remained grounded, never indulging in pipe dreams of creating a bestseller.
In contrast, I had little faith in the story or the book market in our native country, shaped by my previous failed attempts at publishing. Still, I wanted to believe in the possibility of success, hoping that the market, authors, and readers had changed over the fifteen years since my first try.
In good faith, Raine enlisted the help of an old friend—a professional proofreader and recipient of a prestigious Czech literary award—to work on the completed manuscript, which exceeded 90,000 words. This arrangement began in October 2019. We paid the usual fee for her services, but for the next three months, we endured constant criticism about our relationship and collaboration on the book. The proofreading provided was poorly executed, resulting in our debut book being printed with numerous typos and other errors.
As we later learned, this individual had a personal interest in Raine and strongly opposed her decision to begin transitioning and coming out as a trans woman (MtF). To her, I became the enemy—an alleged demon who had seduced and “desecrated” her idealised image of Raine.
Sadly, she never stopped to consider the possibility that she had been misled, enchanted by the chameleon-like adaptability my wife had developed through years of hardship. It was a survival mechanism in a world of constant masquerade party, where revealing one’s true self often led to rejection.
“I was ashamed of myself when I realised that life is a masquerade party, and I attended with my real face.”—Franz Kafka
Meanwhile, we sought someone to handle the typesetting and an illustrator for the book. We were directed to a renowned graphic studio with a long history dating back to the 1990s and glowing reviews. Their services were not cheap, but they boasted a vast portfolio, numerous satisfied customers, and a seemingly professional approach during our initial visit. However, after two months of waiting, we were shocked by the poor quality of the work they delivered, along with unexpected additional costs for basic features.
The illustrator, who initially appeared to be a stroke of luck amidst our struggles, also proved unreliable. The agreed deadlines were missed multiple times, and he frequently ghosted us. Although he eventually delivered all the illustrations, the cover did not meet our expectations or reflect what we had paid for.
Exhausted by these endless setbacks and lacking both funds and the energy for another round of unreliable services, I took upon myself what I wished to avoid—to handle the typesetting. Although I held a high school diploma from a graphic design school, I had primarily focused on photography and videography, with no real opportunity to apply my skills since graduating.
In other words, I have the knowledge of typesetting, but I lacked the experience back then. With no other choice, I forced myself to do it, pushing through deepening fear and shame that drained my energy and left me dissatisfied and embarrassed by the result.
I turned thirty in March 2020, just as the world was gripped by the hysteria of the pandemic, which created further obstacles to publishing. In the end, we refused the idea of submitting our work to any publisher or waiting indefinitely for an ISBN number, which in the Czech Republic can only be assigned by the National Library. Instead, we contacted a printing office directly.
Following Raine’s suggestion, we opted for a limited print run. On 14th April 2020, we received a box containing one hundred copies of our debut book, Nevyzpytatelné jsou cesty osudu (Inscrutable Ways of Fate).
Since Amazon does not support the Czech language, and self-publishing is largely stigmatised in the Czech Republic as indicative of poor-quality work, we did not even consider selling our debut book. Instead, we distributed all the copies for free to book reviewers and fantasy readers.
Despite receiving mostly positive feedbacks, the writing community responded harshly, using even minor typos as proof of our alleged incompetence and idiocy. This criticism, fuelled by vengeance for our previous unorthodox opinions and constructive critiques of others’ work. But it served as motivation for us to improve and create another book.
Looking back, we do not regret publishing the debut, despite the horrid experience and the ultimate waste of time and funds in the Czech market. We left this market in spring 2023 and have since been seeking ways to publish in English. Currently, we are working on a new beginning for the fantasy series, which will replace our debut.
For those curious about the reception of our debut, I am including links to the Czech book database Databazeknih, which Czech readers prefer over Goodreads, where the book is also listed.
Yours Truly,
Nathaniel Wonderful
This is the fifth in a series of articles Writing journey, and I will post them regularly to slowly uncover the path of my journey as a writer. You can continue reading with the next one: (This will be published soon).
Author
nathanielwonderful@gmail.com
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