The Insecure Writer and Entering the Publishing Phase

 

Today is March's contribution to Alex Cavanaugh's Insecure Writers Support Group.

Why am I an insecure writer this month?

Because I’m just about finished with the edits suggested by my editor.

Now that may seem like a strange reason to be insecure, but with that hurdle almost cleared, I’m nearly done with the writing phase of this journey and about to move into the publishing phase. 

(Shudders)

Before I can publish, I need to find a cover designer, a proofreader, and either find an formatter (both ebook and paperback) or learn how to do it myself. 

I have to decide if I want to stick with Amazon exclusively or go wide with all the major retailers. 

I need to write the back matter content, sign up for accounts at all the retailers, and decide if I should go through each store separately, or go through a distributor such as Smashwords.

These little details probably don’t seem a big deal to those of you who have published multiple books, but right now, it seems as if there’s just as much to learn about the actual publishing process as there was for the writing part of it. I’ve been scanning publishing blogs for tips and tricks on the subject, and it seems there are traps and pitfalls everywhere. I'm quickly learning that I don't know what I don't know.

I know I can go back and fix any mistakes later, but I’d rather just do it right the first time, especially for my debut book.

What kinds of problems did you have when you published your first book?

March 2 question - Have you ever been conflicted about writing a story or adding a scene to a story? How did you decide to write it or not? 

The only conflict I've had in this regard was deciding whether or not my story needed an additional scene to tie up loose ends, and if that scene was strong enough to stand on its own. Nothing worse than an unnecessary, bloated scene bogging down a story.

Take care everyone, and stay safe! 

ChemistKen

The Insecure Writer and Taking On the Publishing World

Today is February's contribution to Alex Cavanaugh's Insecure Writers Support Group.

What makes me an Insecure Writer this month?

All the things I have to do before my book comes out.

Those of you who stop by this blog on a regular basis know I’ve started a new series of posts chronicling my journey into book marketing. Now that the first draft of my debut urban fantasy is finally finished, I’m entering a whole new world of publishing. There are editors to find, email lists to build, social media sites to conquer, cover designers to interview, a dedicated author website to construct… 

And here I thought editing my novel would be the hard part.

So, if you’re interested in seeing how I approach this book marketing stuff, stop by every now and then and I’ll keep you updated. Comments and suggestions will be welcome. Who knows, maybe you’ll pick up a few new tricks along the way, too.

I took a little break from writing these last couple of days and focused on getting my office back in order. The first order of business was to dig through the huge stack of papers handed to me by my critique partners over the past year and confirm I’d added all their suggested changes to my manuscript before tossing the papers away. Yes, that empty space on the shelf looks really nice. Too bad it'll probably fill up again soon.

I also cleaned up the filing system on my computer. I had too many versions of each chapter. Before crits, after group 1’s critiques, after group 2’s critiques, plus a slew of other variations. To be honest, I wasn’t completely sure where the most recent version of each chapter was located. Now that’s all taken care of and it feels good.

Anyway, the year is one twelfth over, and if last year was any indication, this year will fly by so quickly I’ll need to maintain my focus to get my book out the door before it ends.



ChemistKen

The Road To Publishing – Part 1

This is the first in a series of posts chronicling my journey to publication.

Photo courtesy of Visual Hunt

“So much to do. So much to learn.” 

Okay, I finished the first draft of my debut urban fantasy last month. I’m pretty much done, right? All I have to do is polish up the manuscript, have it edited, and then upload it to Amazon. The champagne is cooling even as I type.

Hold on, not so fast. According to everything I’ve read, I should have been working on my author platform long before now. I should already have an author website, an email list, and a tribe of followers on social media. I should have already begun connecting with other authors in my genre. I should already have a small, yet rabid, group of superfans.

The sad truth is, I don't have any of those things. (Hangs head in shame) My focus the last few years has been on finishing my book, not worrying about how I would sell it. Luckily for me, I’m a slow writer, which means I still have plenty of time to accomplish these things before my book comes out.

But where do I begin? I know I need a dedicated author website, but what should it look like? How often should I send out newsletters, and what should they contain? Which social media platforms should I focus on? What should I put into my automated email welcoming sequence? I’ve spent the last two years researching all this book marketing stuff, but there’s a big difference between knowing what to do and actually doing it. 

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. In the end, I have to decide which approach works best for me. So, with all the aforementioned questions, what should be  my very first step in my grand plan to conquer the book-reading universe?

Build a list of comp authors.

Not what you were expecting, was it? Think about it. If I want to evaluate the various techniques for building an author platform, what better way is there than studying how other authors go about it? Having a list of authors will allow me to:

• Compare their websites
• See how they engage with their readers
• Discover what social media platforms work for them
• Find out which editors and cover designers they recommend
• Lots of other things I haven't even thought of yet.

So how am I compiling this list? 

Step 1. Find 20-30 authors in my genre, urban fantasy. I'll want a nice mix of A-listers, B-listers, as well as authors who are just starting out. Each group has different strengths. Finding them is easy. I read urban fantasy, so I already know seven or eight names of authors whose books I enjoy. By entering their names on Amazon, I can peruse their “also bought” lists and find more authors. This shouldn't take more than an hour.

Step 2. It’s important to find authors outside my sub-genre, too. In my case, there's epic fantasy, magical realism, dark fantasy, etc. Do their platforms differ from urban fantasy authors? If so, how? And I don’t want to forget science fiction authors either. My story weaves in some science along with the fantasy elements, so finding authors that mix fantasy and science is a must.

Once I have all these names, what am I going to do with them? I’ll tell you next time.

ChemistKen