Do You Need an Incentive to Write Your Book?

We’ve all been there… You’re excited about your decision to write a book and you start talking to people about it. And then—

The conversation you, as a writer (especially a first-time book writer), don’t want to have:

Interested Party: “What are you doing lately that’s interesting?”

You: “I’m writing a book.” [Now you briefly tell what it’s about.]

IP: “That’s awesome! How’s it going?”

You: “It’s going.”

IP: “When will it be available?”

You: “Umm…”

IP: “How much have you written so far?”

You: “Umm…” [Maybe your “Umm” is a result of having a challenge with motivation to work on your book. Maybe it’s a result of not feeling sure about how what you’ve written so far reads. Maybe it’s because so far all you’ve actually done is talk about it and the only thing you’ve typed is the working title.]

The conversation you, as a writer (especially a first-time book writer), can have instead:

Interested Party: “What are you doing lately that’s interesting?”

You: “I’m writing a book.” [Now you briefly tell what it’s about.]

IP: “That’s awesome! How’s it going?”

You: “Really well! I’m working with a writing coach. I write a chapter, or up to three chapters, a month and then e-mail it to my coach so she can critique how it’s going. She tells me what’s working and what isn’t and offers suggestions for improvements. She also gives me notes about technical and creative aspects so I’m not only writing but improving my skills as I go. Because of this feedback and because I invest in myself through the reasonable fee she charges to do this each time I send her a chapter, I stay motivated and I’m making progress that I used to only wish I was making.

Work with a writing coach! Details about The Chapter-by-Chapter Get-Your-Book-Written Writer’s Incentive Coaching at http://editmybookandmore.weebly.com/writing-coach.html.

Make Your Indie Novel the Best It Can Be

Guest Blogger: indie author Kia Heavey

Do you have a completed draft of your novel? Congratulations! Writing a full manuscript is certainly something to be proud of. Take a breather and pat yourself on the back, but then it’s time to hone and refine your project into a truly praise-worthy literary work for your readers.

I recently completed this process for the second time. It’s amazing how much I’ve learned since the first time around and using this perspective, I put together this list of best practices to help indie authors get their projects into tip-top shape for publishing and marketing. Of course, what works for me may not work for everyone, but hopefully you’ll find something useful in this post. Here’s what I’ve learned so far…

Your book isn’t finished.

Just accept this. You may think you’ve written a complete novel and maybe you have, but it’s probably not a very good one – yet.  Remember the old adage about success being 5% inspiration and 95% perspiration, and read on…

You need feedback readers.

You may think your book is complete, but that is often because in your head, you know what you meant to say. Unfortunately, your readers aren’t in your head. It’s not apparent to you, but there are places in your manuscript where something doesn’t work. Trust me, there just are. You’ve been so engrossed in this project for so long, you don’t have the perspective to see the issues.

But feedback readers do! And their input is the difference between a quirky, promising, but not-quite-there manuscript and a compelling, polished page-turner.

Choose appropriate feedback readers.

I belong to a local writers’ group, but I do not rely on them for critiques of my work. This is because they are not representative of my target audience. For example, the last novel I wrote was for teen girls and their mothers who enjoy YA fiction. The average age in my writers’ group is north of 60.  So when I needed feedback, I sought out readers among personal acquaintances as well as Goodreads connections. I pre-screened them according to their reading habits and sought input only from people with a track record of reading YA who also possessed the psycho-demographics I wanted to serve.

Choose what feedback to use.

You’re an Indie author. Maybe you don’t have an agent or a six-figure contract, but you do have something wonderful: autonomy. You aren’t bound to make every change some egghead editor tells you to make. This is your project, and you make the calls.

In fact, it’s not uncommon to get conflicting comments from different feedback readers. It’s literally impossible to implement all the advice you’ll get. Once you have read through all the comments, you ultimately decide what fits the story you’re telling and the philosophy you’re conveying. Accept that you will never please all the people all the time, but you can learn to balance your own creative integrity with marketability and audience appeal.

You need an editor.

No, I’m not just saying this because I’m guest-posting on Joyce’s site and she’s my friend. You really do need one. Even if you got straight A’s in English class. Even if you yourself are a professional editor.

There are two main points at which you might invite an editor into your project. The first is when you are ready to show your manuscript to beta readers. At this point, consider getting a comprehensive critique from a professional. (If this is your first book and you can afford it, a comprehensive critique is almost a must. It is worth every penny because of all the things you’ll learn.) The second point is when you have a final, tight manuscript that you think is ready to publish. This is a great time to run it past an editor to clean up grammatical errors, typos, etc.

If you publish a book rife with editing errors, it will not be taken seriously. Please don’t do that to yourself after you’ve worked so hard.

Find friendly reviewers.

Got your book published? Now it’s time to send out review copies and start building up Internet buzz. Many prolific readers have book review blogs, and many more post reviews on important sites like Amazon and Goodreads. Make a list of potential reviewers, order up some review copies of the paperback, get the ebook file ready to email, and start sending out review requests. As with feedback readers, look for reviewers who represent the correct psycho-demographic to appreciate your work. Do this part well and not only will reviews pile up, there will be plenty of four– and five–star reviews among them.

Don’t quit your day job.

The good thing about being an Indie author – no agents or publishers telling you what to do – is also the bad thing – no agents or publishers sending you royalty checks. The odds against you becoming wealthy from a single indie title are astronomically high. They get a little lower with each additional book you publish and with competent marketing, but no one knows for sure how to make the lightning strike. In fact, the only indie authors I know of who make a living off their writing treat it like, well, a job. They put in many hours and re-invest royalties in their business.

Decide what purpose your writing will serve for you – creative outlet or moneymaking business – and treat it accordingly. May you find it as rewarding a pastime as I do!

Kia Heavey is the author of Night Machines (2011) and Underlake (2014). You can read about her books on her website: kiaheavey.com.