Starting Out As A Writer – 5 Things You Should Know.
You need a good cover.
What's the first thing that attracts you to a book in a store? For me, it's the cover. A good, clear font and a memorable image. The cover is what makes someone look twice and pick the book up.
What's the first thing that attracts you to a book in a store? For me, it's the cover. A good, clear font and a memorable image. The cover is what makes someone look twice and pick the book up.
It shouldn't be any different online - in fact, it's even more important when you're publishing an ebook. The icons are tiny, so unless you have something that shouts 'check me out!' chances are, people will pass right by your book.
It is expensive to hire someone - especially if you want to make it big. If you have a friend that's a pro on Photoshop or GIMP, talk to them and see if they can do you one for cheap. I hooked my new beta readers & editor with free ebook copies, 20% off the print price when it's arranged and a mention in my books. They're happy with that - maybe your graphics pro friend will be too.
Choosing a title isn't easy.
A title - the single most important thing about your book, even before the cover and synopsis in my eyes. I look at a title first.. Is there anything in it that appeals to me?
You have to have a title that conveys your story and it's meaning. People see 'The Witch Hunter' or 'A Magical History' and without even reading the synopsis they know there's magic/witches involved.
That's what you want. You want a title that's memorable but clear.
A catchy synopsis that leaves the prospective reader
wanting more is a definite.
The second thing you look at when deciding whether or not to buy a book is the synopsis, or blurb.
The second thing you look at when deciding whether or not to buy a book is the synopsis, or blurb.
I've spent a lot of time reading e-books from indie authors and one massive flaw I see is a super long synopsis. Usually, unless their cover (!!) is amazing, I pass them over.
You don't want to give away what will happen before your reader has bought your book - where's the point in buying it?
You need it to be catchy so people think 'ah - what's this all about?' Even if they only download a sample. Usually, if you've got them to a sample, you have them getting the book pretty soon.
If you remember to have it informative without giving away your secrets, almost like a pre-reading cliffhanger, then you should be pulling in the downloads.
You won't sell thousands of books in the first week.
When I published A Magical History, the first part of The Mauve Legacy, I expected my downloads to come flooding in. After all, my book was free, and it was a good story - but they didn't. I think I've only just passed the 1000 mark.
Unless you have the time to promote, promote, promote, downloads will be slow coming in. Make sure you have at least a Facebook page to update your readers and advertise.
You will get bad reviews.
Your book won't be to everyone's taste, some people might read it and genuinely not like it.
In fact, my first ever review was a 2* review, and very critical.
If you're in that situation, like I was, don't give up. Don't view a bad review as a put down, view it as constructive criticism. People are telling you what they don't like and in most cases, how you can improve your work.
Listen to them!
Remember, the reviews are from people who have read your book, and it's always better to hurt someone with the truth than it is to soothe them with a lie. You wouldn't leave a good review on a book you didn't enjoy, so it won't be any different when the book is yours.
Your Writing Process
I never would have considered myself as having a 'process'. I mean, how I write is pretty random. I get an idea, grab the nearest phone or computer and put it down. Job done.
Thinking now though, since I started writing The Mauve Legacy, my process has changed. A lot. With A Magical History, I just wrote as it came to me. I didn't have a clear idea of where my book was going, if anywhere. When I started it was going to be a single book, but it's now a six book series.
The first thing I do when I want to write a book is a rough timeline and ask myself questions. Who's in it? What's going to happen? When is it going to happen? Who is it happening to?
For Just A Pawn, I had two pages of notes for scenes, in chronological order. It helped me so much. It meant that when it came to actually writing the book, all I had to do was basically fill in the gaps with normal stuff.
Research - I had so much to do even after I'd published the first part of the series. For one, I knew nothing about Salem or the witch trials, nothing about Wicca, and (as I was reminded) nothing about American slang.
I've probably spent about an equal time researching and writing. But you can't just log onto Wikipedia and boom there's your info. I scoured several sites about the Witch Trials, and I have more Wicca sites in my favourites than I'd like to count (which frequently causes my partner to ask me 'what the hell is that crap in the favourites?') I had to know the ins and outs of everything, and if I'm going to be honest - and I always am - I might have enjoyed the research a bit too much. It was fascinating for me, especially when I was scrolling through numerous spells on every site in view to find one perfect for my characters' needs. Now, however, I write them myself because I've read so many, and they all rhyme!
By this point, I'm thinking of ideas for covers and the book description. I like to be organised. I usually do my synopsis and book covers when I'm having a bad few days of writing and the ideas just won't flow. That way, you're still focused on the book without being too far away from it. By the time I've got that done, the ideas are back and I'm ready to start writing again.
