Lesson 6: Author Finance 101
You have two commodities to spend on your writing and publishing: Time and money. It’s up to you to decide which is more valuable and how you want to spend it. Three things you really, really, really should invest in–with time or money or both–are your website, your cover page, and a professional edit for your book. Why? Because these are the three faces of you.
Lesson 5: The Big Bad Interwebs
The internet is your greatest friend and your biggest enemy. The good news is, as soon as you put something out there, it’s there forever. Your website, blog, books, etc. Bad news is, as soon as you put something out there, it’s there forever. Do your research and plan it out.
Lesson 4: How to Deal With Reviews
Reader reviews are both an honest critique and word of mouth about a book that begins and propagates itself naturally without an author’s interference. If your book made your readers feel strongly about it, your reviews are likely to end up on opposite ends of the spectrum. Keep an eye out for the Goldielocks reviews.
Lesson 3: The Nitty Gritty Meta
Metadata is data about data. In this case information about your book. Blurbs, keywords, genres, and ISBN numbers are all metadata.
Lesson 2: What’s In A Name?
Your name is your brand. It’s how people know you. It will be in your web address (when you’re ready for a custom URL) and on the covers of your books. The more you put it out there, the more people will see it, so be sure it’s a good one.
Lesson 1: KISSASS
Keep It Simple, Stylish And Self-Sustainable.
This year will mark the 3-year anniversary of my first big acceptance letter. I’ve gone through a lot of ups and downs in that time, learned tons, not just about writing, but also publishing and everything that surrounds it. I’ve also learned a lot about life in general and my life in particular. I am not one of those people who can take a wild leap and believe everything will work itself out. When I approach that ledge, I make damn sure I have a parachute strapped to my back and a safety net at the bottom just in case it fails. That basically means I didn’t drop everything the moment I found out I was getting published. It also… Read More »Lessons In Life and Novel-ing