Andrea Andreou
Berengaria, The Hotel of the Kings - study

| iWrite Family of Writers

How important is writing to you?
In one of his letters, the Russian writer Chekhov writes about writers that they write because someone closes their doors and they have nowhere else to go. The Cypriot writer/journalist Elita Michailidou stated that "you write because you have to communicate your truths, because otherwise it is not possible". Writing is an outlet. For me, writing is power. It is creation, redemption and release… It is part of my ego. I think we are all writers more or less. Some of us are born with talent. Some of us get it afterwards. It is up to us to evolve it. I believe that everyone has at least one great story to tell. If he believes in its importance, it can do wonders.

If indeed every person has innate talents, then mine is that of writing. I remember that from the first grade of elementary school, I would hold the reading book for hours and get lost in the texts and images.

Somewhere in the fourth grade I started reading literary books. It was then that I discovered the magic of writing. It was around then that I began attempting to write my first book – in the sixth grade. I remember thinking of the title before I even started writing it. "Adventure in the Peking Sea". When I realized that Beijing has no sea, I replaced it with a small seaside town that I found in the atlas! I wrote about 100 pages which I unfortunately lost. That was the beginning. Writing has always been in the back of my mind. At 15-16 I started writing my next book based on Harry Potter – my favorite book series. It reached about 150 pages. This is thankfully well kept in my library and I hope to finish it one day. At 18 I started writing the story of Berengaria. Third attempt and fruitful.

"Undoubtedly iWrite is a golden choice. It was kind of karmic I think. Years ago I started reading a Greek magazine, one of whose columnists was my favorite. When I started working online to raise awareness about the Berengaria Hotel, he "quite randomly" approached me and wished me luck. A few months before I finished my book, this person became a co-founder of a publishing house."

How did you feel when you published your book?
The feeling was indescribable. I can't (de)fine it in one word. I felt that my thoughts, a great love of mine, a part of my spirit, became flesh and blood. The publication of a book for its author is something like the birth of a child. For months I took it daily in my hands, leafed through it, smelled it, caressed it. A book is a perfect combination of matter and spirit. Spirit over matter. Thoughts captured on paper. Creation from nothing. I felt that I have powers. That I can realize my dreams, if I am passionate about them.

Why do you think you made the right choice with iWrite.gr?
Undoubtedly, iWrite is a golden choice. It was kind of karmic I think. Years ago I started reading a Greek magazine, one of whose columnists was my favorite, because it dealt with issues that interested me. I was also impressed by the fact that he was young in age – only a few years older than me. When I started working online to raise awareness about the Berengaria Hotel, he "quite randomly" approached me and wished me luck. We found each other interesting. We started communicating. A year later, a few months before I finished my book, this person co-founded a publishing house.

I didn't even get into the process of actively looking for a publishing house. The trust and help I had from Nikolaos Koumartzis was so intense that without much thought it made me want to become a member of this writing family that took its first steps in the field.

Of course, that's not all. Even if Nikolaos and I didn't know each other, I'm sure iWrite would be my choice. The incredibly low costs of pagination and publication, the possibility of publishing as many copies as the author wishes (and his financial situation allows), the philosophy behind the founding of the publishing house, the understanding of my concerns as a writer, the absence of complex processes that have major publishing houses that often tamper with the author's original text for commercial reasons and more, undoubtedly make iWrite something special in the book publishing space.

I will never forget the company's devotion to my book, their flexibility, their persistence with my "quirks" and the fact that my perfectionism was a pleasure to them rather than a nuisance. The way of approach was very friendly but at the same time extremely professional, while the result left me completely satisfied. In fact, I got my hands on much more than I dared to dream. Being a dreamer, I think that says it all.

Thanks to iWrite, my work has been published and circulated in hundreds of copies, both throughout Cyprus and in Greece and abroad, through the official website created by the company. I'm glad to see this writing family growing week by week and gaining in its bosom remarkable people. I am proud to be a member of iWrite as well and thank them from the bottom of my heart. I look forward to our next collaboration.