Becoming an Author: Learning to Be Seen
What Happens After You Finish the Manuscript
Publishing a book isn’t simply about taking a manuscript to print.
Sometimes, it’s about becoming the person willing to let themselves be seen.
Throughout the book-writing process, I had no idea of the depth of healing that would happen.
When I attended the online Hay House Writers Workshop over my lockdown birthday in January 2021 and they spoke about “the book before the book,” I immediately wanted to skip that part.
Really, I envisioned writing an international bestseller without doing any of the inner work.
It came as a shock to my system to discover what exactly was involved, and what the journey of writing a book really entails.
Particularly memoir.
Over the weekend, I shared Becoming an Author: What Writing a Book Really Asks of You.
But finishing the manuscript isn’t the finish line.
In many ways, it’s where another journey begins.
Later, as I was announced as one of three competition winners (two years ago - the prize being the publishing of an ebook), the front cover became the first part of the publishing journey.
It also became my first real lesson in trusting the process.
I adored the cover.
The woman looking up towards the heavens represented so much to me.
Her breath.
Her spoken words.
Giving voice to everything that had perhaps once lain dormant.
Everything that had been suppressed for a really long time.
What I wasn’t so keen on was the font used for the title and my author name.
But a book cover no longer only needs to stand out on a bookshop shelf.
It also needs to catch the eye of someone scrolling online, where it appears no bigger than a thumbnail.
At that size…
It worked beautifully.
Publishing was already asking me to loosen my grip.
To trust people with expertise I didn’t yet have.
The next stage of the journey was editing.
I’ve since learnt through various writing communities and conversations with authors that editing is not one thing.
There are many different stages.
And perhaps the biggest surprise is just how long they all take.
My online, and real-life overseas friend, Willo Sano had already written her book when I met her in Thailand.
She was just as surprised as I was that editing took an entire year.
Author and book coach Eleanor Baggaley says,
“Great books are shaped through editing, not just writing.”
How true that has proven to be.
Although it only took a few days to write my one-year memoir and accompanying three-part journal, it took four months to edit.
Editing Unleashing My Inner Power also meant completing every journal prompt myself.
Even though they were born from the exploratory work I’d already done over many years, walking through them again helped strengthen the flow, improve the reader experience and refine the book itself.
The same has been true of Migraine, now available for pre-order.
So far the links are live through Waterstones here and The Great British Bookshop here.
The cover artwork might take some time to upload and as you can see below, this isn’t the final cover in any case.
Part of my publisher’s feedback was that there is something special about the action guide element.
That it feels like it will genuinely deliver on its promises.
A confidence shines through in its language.
Reviewing the editing stage of both books, I’ve learned it’s not about fixing the book.
It’s about deepening it.
At the same time as editing Unleashing My Inner Power, I continued plodding along with my own healing work.
One of the books I was reading was The Energy Codes.
One practice within it helped remove an enormous obstacle on my pathway to publishing.
An obstacle I didn’t even know existed.
Looking back, publishing wasn’t the obstacle.
Being seen was.
Like so many of us, I had been parented through fear, order and control.
Particularly around how I performed and behaved.
Somewhere along the way, I learnt it was dangerous to want what I wanted.
Dangerous to stay true to myself.
Unsafe to do what I loved.
That being seen meant being judged.
Ridiculed.
Misunderstood.
I love writing.
I want to help people.
A desire I’ve carried since I was young.
Yet my fear of repercussion had kept me compliant.
Doing rather than being.
Giving far more than receiving.
Moving further away from my true nature.
Performing in the ways everyone else expected.
Allowing the judgement, opinions and assumptions of others to become louder than my own truth.
Then something shifted.
The day this energetic healing happened - and a five-year forgiveness practice reached its deepest point - I felt lighter…
Freer…
Happier…
…than I had at any other point in my adult life.
For the first time…
I felt ready.
Ready to publish.
Ready to cross that line.
Ready to be seen.
Yet when publication day arrived on 30th September 2024, a tremendous amount of insecurity rose from within.
I was so nervous.
Had I gone too far?
What would people think?
All the familiar worries returned.
It was time to tell people.
Time to say,
“It’s here.”
“You can read it if you’d like.”
Towards the end of that day I wrote a post called Sitting With the Nerves, Being With the Wobbles.
I questioned the relationship between what I was feeling emotionally, what my body was communicating and the increase in illness I’d just experienced.
I realised I was seeking distraction…
When what I really needed was validation.
Only I’d spent a lifetime believing validation had to come from somewhere outside of me.
Am I good enough?
Have I done enough?
Have I done anything wrong?
Reading those words back now reminds me just how far I’ve come.
At the time of publishing my first book, I was still learning how to reassure myself.
How to validate myself.
At the end of the above post I wrote:
“I’ve been writing a series of books for three years and this is the first one out to be published. It’s freaking me out.”
Nowadays…
I can reassure and validate myself.
I no longer need the world to tell me I’m safe before I allow myself to be seen.
I can hand on heart say I feel no doubt.
No insecurity.
No panic.
Only excitement.
I am elated to have crossed this line once more.
I am proud to share my work with you.
And I am ready for it to be seen.
Perhaps this is what becoming an author asks of us after all.
Not simply to finish a manuscript.
Not simply to publish a book.
But to gently unravel every reason we’ve ever believed our voice wasn’t welcome.
To trust the process.
To trust ourselves.
And, when the time comes…
To let ourselves be seen.
What’s Coming Next
One of my intentions throughout writing this book has been to make the most of the journey itself.
Not to rush towards publication.
Not to burn out.
Not to become so focused on the destination that I missed everything unfolding along the way.
Instead, this has become an opportunity to create conversations that help us feel a little less alone, a little more supported, while making space for insight, understanding, and gentle reflection.
Over the coming weeks, I’d love you to join me as we journey through the opening chapters of Migraine here on Substack.
Each Let’s Talk About… Live will begin with me sharing a chapter read aloud, followed by a grounded space for reflection and conversation.
There’s nothing to prepare.
The invitation, as always, is simply to come as you are.
Our first gathering
Let’s Talk About… A Beginning I Didn’t Expect
Together, we’ll explore the unexpected beginnings that change us, the moments we never planned for, and how struggle can quietly become the beginning of something new.
🗓 Tuesday 7th July - and every Tuesday over (UK) summer
4pm BST
5pm CEST | 8:30pm IST | 11am EDT | 8am PDT
This is a free gathering.
A circle of people coming together.
A ceremonial space.
A gentle ritual of reflection in community.
A sanctuary to pause.
A haven to belong.
There will be no camera.
You’ll be able to see me. I won’t be able to see you.
Sharing in the comments is always an invitation, never an expectation.
Join us from your bed, your sofa, your favourite chair, or wherever you feel most comfortable.
Bring a cup of tea, a notebook or journal if you wish, or simply come to listen.
Come exactly as you are.
You are warmly invited.
Reserve your space for next Tuesday (7th July) here.
If you’d like to follow the journey beyond these lives, you can also pre-order the book here:
Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise.
So far you can pre-order it through Waterstones here and The Great British Bookshop here.
Whether you’ve been here since the beginning or you’ve only just found this space, thank you for walking alongside me.
Everyone who pre-orders the book will also be invited to an online Activation Ceremony on Tuesday 13th October 2026.
Simply email your order confirmation to amberhorrox@yahoo.co.uk once received.
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I can’t wait to hear a chapter on Tuesday!
This felt like it was about so much more than publishing a book. It felt like an essay about slowly giving yourself permission to take up space in the world. I loved the idea that the greatest work wasn't simply writing the manuscript, but gently unravelling all the reasons you believed your voice wasn't welcome. That is courageous work. Wishing you every joy as your book finds its readers. X