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.
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