Ten Things Every New Writer Should Know - And Don't
From the desk of
Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy……..
There
should be a manual for new writers and authors, one definitive volume loaded
with insider secrets and a realistic idea of what to expect. After all, such books exist for everything
from being pregnant to almost any career possible. Although there are countless books about
writing, even more articles, several magazines for writers, and numerous online
writing communities, I don’t know of any one source offering everything writers
can expect.
It’s a good thing we’re creative
types because most of us end up learning as we go. So I thought I’d share ten things no one
tells writers to expect…things which WILL happen - sooner or later.
1. So you wrote a novel and someone
offered to publish it. If you’re like
me, first time out, you wonder how this will work. You’ve dreamed about this day but now you’re
a clueless publication virgin and most likely no one will tell you what to do
NOW. If you haven’t already, create an
online presence. Facebook, Twitter, Pin
Interest, LinkedIn, and more. Start a
blog and do it now because it takes time to grow an audience. Establish the idea you’re a writer or an
author. By the time your novel releases,
you should be recognized as an author but if you don’t work at it, no one else
will.
2. Your first edits may seem like Greek to
you. When edits are an unknown event,
most writers dread them with a tight ball of dread in their stomach. Once the file arrives with instructions about
Track Changes and other incomprehensible phrases, it’s easy to panic. I know I
looked over mine, freaked out, figured I’d never be able to do this and all but
decided my career as author would crash before it began. But it’s really not at all hard to
learn. I did and so can you.
3. If you’re serious about writing as a career,
you’re going to work harder than you ever have in your life. Whether you still have a day job or not,
you’re going to be pounding the computer keys at odd hours, on weekends, even
on holidays. No one will understand why
you need to work so hard or long. They
won’t understand deadlines or edits. But
if you want to succeed, the investment of time is vital.
4. Promotion is the dirty word
you’ll come to hate. We all do it and
most of us hate it, whether we dislike the feeling we’re flaunting ourselves to
the world or just because it eats up too much time. But in a fast changing world of books in all
formats, it’s a brave new world and competition is fierce. If you want readers to find your book, let
alone read the thing you have to be as dedicated to promotion as to
writing. And there’s a fine line between
promotion and overkill. You’ll find
resistance and even outright opposition in places like the Amazon forums where
an ever growing group of people who must have way too much time to kill shred
authors who they think are daring to self-promote their work. Of course the flip side is how are we
supposed to spread the word we have a book or books? But they can be nasty so
grow a thick skin and don’t violate their rules or they may put you on their
“never buy” lists. And if you use
Facebook and Twitter only to promote, you’ll lose followers.
5. Speaking of a thick skin and
growing one – do it. Now. When you put your work out to the world at
large, some people will love it. Others
will hate it. Some will hate you for
something you put in your story. You’ll
get reviews so glowing you blush and others so bad they send you for your
favorite stress reliever. If you write
anything with sex or violence or anything which could be stretched to be
controversial in any fashion, get ready for your community response. In the small town where I live, some say I
write dirty books, others call it smut or trash. And still yet others applaud my efforts and
read my books. A few are even proud to
share the city limits with me.
6. Be real. You may use a pen name but your readers still
want to know something about you. Maybe
it’s your favorite color or whose work you like to read or what music you
prefer. Authors are more accessible to
the public through social networking than ever before and people are
curious. So share what you’re
comfortable sharing. You don’t have to
tell them where you live unless you want to or the names of your kids or your
dog but open up and be a real person behind the name and face. By the same token, if you used to dash out to
the grocery store wearing your oldest, stretched out T-shirt with those pedal
pushers your Aunt Susie gave you ten years ago, grimy from housecleaning or
gardening, I’d suggest you stop – now.
If you don’t, it’ll be the day someone rushes up to you, calls your name
and tells you how much they loved your book.
Then they take notes and dish about the author and how grubby you
looked. Yeah, it’s happened…..to me.
7. Think before you post. Like everyone else, I have opinions, many of
them. But I don’t post much on any
social network about my religious views (or lack thereof) or my political
leanings or anything sure to anger someone.
I learned the hard way but after a few simple comments went viral and
started a firestorm, I stopped. You
don’t want to lose readers because you support a different Presidential
candidate or are on opposite sides of an issue.
It’s just simpler to keep your views out of the broad public spectrum.
8. You aren’t going to get rich anytime
soon. Almost everyone I know assumes I’m
very wealthy now, you know, me, Danielle Steele, Stephanie Myers, Stephan King,
and the other biggies. I mean, I have
multiple novels out there in both eBook and paperback so of course I’m rich,
right? Well, no. Actually I’m a long
damn way from it but I am making a little money. It takes a lot of time to
build an audience, to sell books. Oh, and
royalties – they’re months behind. If
your work is sold on a third party site (fill in Amazon, Barnes and Noble, any
online or other retailer), the royalties don’t show up for another
quarter. This means your first quarter
(Jan, Feb, March) may reach you sometime around the end of summer – or
beyond. No one told me this – I learned
the hard way.
9. After the first book or two, some
people who have known you for years either assume you’re somehow working the
system and can’t be a “real author” because they know you. Others become tongue tied in your presence and
have no clue what to say. You’ll bless
the people, family, friends, kith and kin, neighbors and strangers who still
treat you the way they always have, especially if they read your books too.
10. One day, when you least expect it, a reader,
possibly one you’ve never met, will make your day and touch you on a deep
emotional level. When you manage to
reach them with your fiction, it’s a humbling and beautiful emotion. I tend to write about everyday people and
some of my novels are set where I live.
I used to teach school in my spare time as a substitute teacher. A young man who never cracked a book in
school and didn’t even finish high school called me one day to tell me he read
one of my novels. And it also gave him a
sense of purpose. The main character,
like him, came from the wrong side of town.
Now he reads a lot of books – because he found out reading could enrich
from me.
There are so many
other things writers and authors will learn but at least now you won’t be as
blindsided by a few of them.
A Page In The Life: http://leannsontheimermurphyblogspotwriterauthor.blogspot.com
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