The Ten Things No One Else Will Tell You That You Should Know Now!
From the desk of author 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. These are things you need to know NOW!
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.
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.
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.
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.
City limits of my hometown
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.
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.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.
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.
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.
Here are a few places
where you can find me:
Twitter: leeannwriter
From
Sweet to Heat: The Romance of Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy
Blog:
Rebel Writer: Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy
Goodreads:
Hi Lee Ann,
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing this post. I just followed you on Twitter.
I'm very uncomfortable about self-promotion but it has to be done.
Your tips may not become useful to me as an author as I don't know if I will be one, but in case I end up working on being one, I'll swear by your tips :)
Have a lovely day!
MsMadge