Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Authors: Letter to a New Author


Letter to a New Author

I consider myself an accomplished author. I’m not a best-selling author . . . yet. I’ve learned a lot over the five years that I’ve been “writing as more than a hobby.”

I was asked by a friend to contact another of her friends. The other friend had finished writing a novel and was wondering what to do with the manuscript.

In recent weeks, I’ve read several blogs about this situation. A common theme is to find an agent. That is the mantra if you plan on submitting your manuscript to a mainstream publishing house. I do not have an agent. Perhaps I should. But, that’s for another blog.

Today, I offer the content of the letter I sent in response to my friend’s request for her other friend. It is a succinct presentation of the publishing world as I see it at this time.

Congrats on finishing your novel!

I've had several experiences in the world of publishing. I'm happy to share with you.

I'm going to direct you to my blog first. This link
http://crdowning-author.blogspot.com/2015/05/mapping-path-to-your-book-on.html
leads to a post on publishing through Amazon. I'd start there. 

Questions for you to answer:
1.    Have you had any professional editing or proofreading done on the manuscript? If no, you need to rethink that position and pay to have at least a proofreader go over the manuscript. See this blog post: http://crdowning-author.blogspot.com/2016/02/editing-lessons-learned-hard-way.html
2.   How much control do you want over the book's look, advertising, and cost? Traditional publishers are decreasing in number and number of publications. Most won't accept manuscripts unless they come through an agent. Independent publishers are located along a continuum. Nearly all require money from you to publish your book. The return on your investment varies, but will most likely be less than you thought or hoped it would be. Self-publishing is the biggest now. It's fast. It can be free. It can be a great route to take. However, if you don't have a clean manuscript and an eye-catching cover, it can be your death as an author.
I've also published a booklet on story writing and another on self-publishing. Those are available through Amazon. https://goo.gl/q6bXs7

I recommend you have a website as opposed to just using Amazon's author page. I invite you to check out my website, www.crdowning.com, and other author websites. There are many options when it comes to building a website. WordPress - https://goo.gl/M2W5Ij - is the platform used by many authors. They have several levels of support/cost.

I use Adobe Muse and build, revise, and update my site myself. My website is hosted by a private group at no cost to me. There are many options for website hosting. A Google search will provide more than enough options. Many hosting sites offer website-building software a little or no cost as well.

If you're not on social media, start immediately. That's the quickest way to get the word out about your book(s), but it's time-consuming. I'm on Twitter, facebook, and LinkedIn every M-F. Most of it is through Hootsuite, but I also do "real time" posting and reacting each week.

If you have specific questions, let me know.
I can provide additional information about most of what I've presented above.

Next Author’s blog: Lessons Learned from Young Authors

At least that’s my plan!

Follow me on Twitter: @CRDowningAuthor and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CRDowningAuthor
My website is: www.crdowning.com

I'd appreciate your feedback as a comment on Blogger!

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