Hi, I’d like to start by saying I am an indie author, going on a year and a half now. And granted I don’t know a lot.
But what I do know may help you NEW AUTHORS out there. First thing is first. You need a story, something original.
My first book was about a soldier, his life during the war, and then coming home and readjusting to civilian life. So I had some basic knowledge.
Then there comes research. And I did A LOT of it. Google will be your best friend for all things research.
Now you have to pick a POV. Which is your favorite to read? Is it FIRST person, or THIRD? There’s also second POV but it isn’t used a lot. Play around with it and see what’s best for YOU.
While you are writing, make connections. I do NOT advise you to contact people for the sole purpose of advertising your book. I repeat DO NOT reach out for other authors to help YOU. This will get you unfriended real quick.
There are some that will share your stuff, but it’s bad form. I would advise to try to form some friendships, yes you can ask for advice (in a nice way). Find some authors that inspire you. Now there are blogs that are MORE THAN WILLING to help you, by promoting you, your book, your future book, as well as teasers.
Okay, now you have your story outlined and it’s wrote. Now what?
It won’t cost you millions, thousands or even hundreds to write a book. Nope! The only thing I can say is that editing CAN be expensive and it CAN break the bank. But there are some cheaply priced editors out there, it will take some searching.
Do you have a friend that’s good at English, or even an English major that can help? Reach out to them and see if they can proof your book. Maybe you have two friends who can catch your errors.
BEFORE it’s edited though, you could probably use a few beta readers. What are beta readers? Well, they will read your WIP, critique it, and give you feedback on the story. There are some awesome people out there ready and willing to this for you…….and it’s FREE.
Some might even catch some of the misspelled words, or notice something in the story line you didn’t realize at the time. Getting some beta readers on your team is a GOOD THING.
Alright, now you need a cover. Do you plan on having paperbacks, e-books or both? Most authors do both. Look up cover designers, they vary in price. This will cost you, but find someone whose work that you like, that you can envision doing your cover.
This will also take some research. Heck, maybe you are creative enough to do your own.
I think my first book cost me, guessing maybe $25 if that! And still I don’t pay a lot for my books. It’s all about trial and error, finding the right people and making connections with other authors, bloggers and readers.
So after all that, now you have to figure out where to publish your book. You can go to Amazon exclusively or go for ALL the platforms like Barnes & Noble, Kobo and iBooks as well as others.
Then you need to price your book accordingly. See what other books like yours are being priced at and go from there. Again, experiment.
And please DO NOT copy another authors work and pass it off as yours. There are copyright laws that you need to follow.
Okay you have it published now what? Reach out to bloggers to see if they are willing to share your release, send them your buy links and voila.
This concludes my advice on what to do and what not to do. I hope that maybe you learned a thing or two. Best of luck!!! I’m author Renea Porter, and I’m out. J.
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