STORIES BEHIND THE PATH TO PUBLICATION
By D.G. Thomas, DBN Magazine Editor-in-Chief
One of the things I’m learning as I revisit these author interviews is that there is no requirement that someone has to dream about becoming an author from childhood. Some authors have been writing stories since they were old enough to hold a pencil. Others discover much later that something they have lived through, learned, or overcome is worth putting into a book.
Tony Green, author of Pick Up Your Own Damn Crutch!, falls into that second group. When I interviewed Tony in 2023, he told me that he had only discovered that he enjoyed writing and wanted to become a published author the year before, in 2022. By July 4, 2023, his memoir had been published.
I think that alone is worth mentioning to anyone who believes becoming an author requires years of preparation before you can even begin. Tony didn’t tell me about a childhood dream of publishing or decades spent working on a manuscript. He recognized that he had a story he wanted to tell and moved forward with telling it.
And Tony certainly had a story.
His memoir is rooted in his experiences with family, friends, physical challenges, depression, relationships, loneliness, and the lessons he has learned about continuing to live and appreciate life despite its difficulties. Tony was born with cerebral palsy, and his life has included surgeries, therapy, difficulty walking independently, and a hearing disability. Through Pick Up Your Own Damn Crutch!, he wanted to use those experiences to encourage other people dealing with trials of their own.
Even the book’s memorable title has been part of Tony’s story since childhood. He told me it came from something his mother said when he was seven. His mother and grandfather taught him to be careful, take care of his belongings, and not depend on someone else to always help him. Years later, that lesson became the title of his memoir.
I think there’s something interesting in that for aspiring authors, particularly those considering memoir. Sometimes the theme of your book has been following you for years without you realizing it. It may be something a parent repeatedly told you, a lesson you had to learn the hard way, a family saying you still remember, or an idea that has shaped the way you approach life. You may not recognize its significance until you begin looking back at your experiences through the eyes of an author.
But there was another part of Tony’s publishing journey that caught my attention when I reread our interview. Tony didn’t write and publish his memoir entirely by himself. He worked with a ghostwriter who assisted him with the book and helped him get it published.
I think that’s an important part of his story rather than something to gloss over because there can be a misconception that becoming an author means you have to sit down and independently transform your experiences into a polished manuscript. Having a meaningful story and having the skills, time, confidence, or ability to structure that story into a book are two different things.
Sometimes you need help, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
That help might come from an editor, writing coach, collaborator, ghostwriter, publisher, or someone else who understands how to help move a book from an idea to a finished product. Getting assistance doesn’t mean the experiences suddenly belong to someone else. In Tony’s case, this is still his life, his family, his experiences, and the message he wanted to share. He simply had someone help him turn those things into a published book.
I think aspiring authors can put unnecessary pressure on themselves because they believe they’re supposed to know how to do everything. They think they have to know how to structure the manuscript, write every word perfectly, edit it, format it, publish it, market it, and somehow figure out everything else along the way. Tony’s journey reminds me that sometimes the most important thing is recognizing the part only you can provide: the story. You can get help with the parts you don’t know how to do.
Tony wanted his memoir to reach people dealing with different kinds of life challenges. He specifically mentioned surgery and pain, mental illness and depression, relationship difficulties, and loneliness. His message is that although everyone is different, everyone also has strengths. He emphasized self-respect, respecting other people for who they are, and caring about their needs.
That brings me to my biggest takeaway from Tony’s interview. When I asked what advice he would give people who wanted to get published, he said, “With your heart and soul in your mind, you can always write a book.”
I like that answer because Tony’s author journey wasn’t built around having extensive writing credentials. It was built around having something personal he wanted to say. There are people who have extraordinary stories sitting inside them but don’t consider themselves writers. They may say, “I wouldn’t know where to start,” “I’m not good at writing,” or “I could never write an entire book.” And maybe they genuinely couldn’t—or wouldn’t want to—write an entire manuscript alone. That doesn’t necessarily mean the book can’t exist.
When I look back at Tony’s interview through the lens of The Author’s Journey, I think his path offers a different kind of encouragement. You don’t have to have wanted to become an author since childhood. You don’t have to wait until you know everything about writing or publishing. And you don’t necessarily have to do every part of the process yourself.
Sometimes becoming an author starts much more simply. You realize that something you’ve experienced has given you something worth saying, and you decide you want to share it with other people. If you don’t know how to turn that story into a book on your own, you find someone who can help you do it. For Tony Green, that realization came in 2022. A year later, the story he wanted to tell had become a published book, and he could call himself a published author.
Read Tony’s author interview on DBN Magazine.
The Author’s Journey: Stories Behind the Path to Publication are from the DBN Magazine archives. Editor D.G. Thomas revisits past author interviews with published authors, sharing her reflections on the stories they shared behind their paths to publication—and the lessons that may inspire the next generation of authors.
Want to Share Your Author Journey? Are you a published author with a story to tell? Be featured in a DBN Magazine Author Spotlight and share the story behind your book, your path to publication, and what you’ve learned along the way. [Apply for an Author Spotlight]
Leave a Reply