New authors often post the question: What advice can you give a new author? My answer is usually:
I write a blog about exactly this. I've made so many mistakes and I share them all.
1. Mostly, read everything you can. Stalk indie author groups and chats.
2. Buy your own ISBN numbers unless you only ever plan to put your book on KDP.
3. Edit like crazy, then hire an editor and a proofreader and edit some more.
4. Also purchase a professional cover. People absolutely judge a book by its cover. You want your genre to be evident in the image.
5. Market before you publish, grow your audience asap. Post often about things beyond your book, and your book.
6. Don't force friends and family to read it, you'll be disappointed.
7. ARCs are great, but a lot of work.
8. Be prepared, not everyone will like your book. Write for the ones who do.
Those are my fast tips off the top of my head.
The newbie question I don’t understand is: I have a great idea for a story, how do you start writing? The answer is, nobody knows. You have to figure it out for yourself. I literally just decided to start writing one day, almost a year ago. I don’t know why or how, I just did it and it worked out. I’ve started books before and gotten nowhere. When you’re ready to write, you will.
I told you last week about the author interview I did; it was so much fun. Much easier than I expected. I’m really looking forward to the virtual Readers Break the Internet Event. I think it'll be a lot like the interview only I won’t be the sole author responsible for answers which sounds amazing. We’re having a practice run on Zoom this week. I hope it goes well.
I’ve made a PowerPoint for my time slot. I have some slides ready to show my books, the book cover reveal for Force Majeure, and the recorded excerpts by Raven Morningstar, voice artist extraordinare. I hope I can make it work properly. If not, I’ll be prepared with something I can read myself. I can always hold up a tablet with the cover for Force Majeure, so I have back up plans if I have to go old school.
I finished my edits and proofread of Violent. The editor is editing Force Majeure, I'll jump on it as soon as I have it back. I’m now working on my edit and proofread for Force of Corruption. I’m redoing it to fix the things that bother me about it. My editor will reformat it for me once I’m finished. I'll probably re-copyright it to make certain it’s protected as a 2nd edition. I'll feel much better about it once I complete these updates. I hate knowing it has typos.
Plus, my writing has improved, it’s a lifelong process. I want it to reflect my current level of experience and expectations. I don’t think I'll go back again in the future, I’m doing it now because it’s still in its first year of life and I hate the typos, if they weren’t there, I don’t think I would bother.
With my impending hand surgery, I have a lot to accomplish on a fairly tight schedule, I’m working hard and I think I can do it. Force Majeure will be released Labor Day weekend, probably the Friday. Origin of Violet the novella and Violent Book One will be released about six weeks later on October 13th. I’m not sure when I'll have the revised copy for Force of Corruption ready, but it will be posted without fan fair, probably after Violent.
Then I need to dive into Deadly-Go-Round, a new short story. I did a new thing; I bought a pre-made cover for this one. I get lots of messages from cover designers all the time and I love looking at them, so many beautiful books. When I saw this cover in an ad it immediately sparked this story in my head, I’ve been planning it for a while. This cover embodies the story I haven’t even written yet and I loved it at first sight.
I usually ask my daughter to make my short story covers, but I think she’s going to like this one. She’ll probably be thrilled to be off the hook for it. My cover designer is fabulous and I love her work but I didn’t have a clue what I wanted for this story. Seeing the cover, I knew. It’s a great option for a lower cost and zero wait time. I wouldn’t do it for one of my novels because I always have the image for those in my head. But for a short story I may end up giving away as a reader magnet, it’s the perfect choice.
I mentioned I’ve been following some funny new authors, I’ve noticed they post a lot of memes, and random thoughts. They have a large following and I think it’s their blunt honesty. Of course, the humor helps, they’re very entertaining. Nobody wants to be bombarded with book sale posts fifty times a day. Everyone enjoys a good laugh. I need to figure out how to harness this power. I’m not quick witted at all, so how do I figure out how to be funny? Is there a comedian course I can take?
I should probably just post quotes from my grandson, those are hilarious. He has some interesting thoughts for a 3-year-old. I also watch a lot of paranormal investigation type videos and maybe I can link some ghostly stuff to humor somehow. I’m pretty sure my house is haunted, maybe I can interview the ghost. Heck, maybe they’re funny!
I have a question for you. How do you find more hours in a day? Does anyone know? Lately I feel like I have so many things to do and not enough time to do them. This week alone I had to get two crowns Monday, see my primary for surgery clearance Wednesday, and my best friend is visiting Thursday for about a week. Thankfully she’s not a high maintenance guest. I established a long time ago, I don’t wait on people, if you want something to eat or drink, help yourself. It works great for me, not sure if my guests like it, but they come back so I have to imagine they’re okay with it.
I want to try out a new platform for selling my books. Draft2Digital or D2D, I’ve heard it’s great. Many authors are using it as an alternative to Amazon or in conjunction with Amazon. I don’t know anything about it yet but when I have time to check it out, I’ll certainly give you the info. I think the more platforms my book is on, the better chance of a reader stumbling upon it. Some may say I'd be better off if I focused on Amazon and sprung for Amazon ads. But I’ve tried doing an ad on there, it didn’t do anything to help my sales. All it did was help Amazon take more of my money. Honestly, they get the bulk of it already, they don’t need anymore.
I have work to do on FOC so I better get on it. Last call for the virtual Readers Break the Internet Event is on June 17th, the host will be closing the tickets that day to ensure she can get all the swag out in the mail on time. So, if you want to attend, get your tickets now before you’re out of luck! Remember it’s free to attend or you can purchase higher tiers for the amazing swag and Eswag.
As always, thank you for reading! Have a fantastic weekend!
Event tickets here:
https://facebook.com/events/s/readers-break-the-internet-onl/797504215772748/
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