Writing is only the beginning

Reading books from my favorite authors through the years, I had a silly notion that I can write books too. Hey, if they can write books, so can I. So, I put pen to paper and started to write. Needless to say the words I put to paper weren't the best writing in the world. But it was a start. After years of doing this, I had another silly notion. Maybe I can publish my work. I sent in pieces to magazines to only be rejected. Years later, the self publishing industry took off. I spent hours every day writing a book. Soon the book was published. Boy, the reviews were terrible. I didn't have a clue about the self publishing process. To have even a little success, I needed editors, proofreaders, critiques, and beta readers. With a limited budget, I couldn't afford half of those things. I tried self editing and proofreading. The same results. Bad reviews. As of today, I took two of my books off the market and getting them professionally edited and proofread. The other book is in the process of getting proofread and should be ready in another week or two. Years ago when I first decided to become a writer, I thought writing was all there was. Now I know writing is only the beginning. I'm sure other writers found out the hard way too.