Enjoy all!
10
Things You Didn’t Know About Being a Published Writer
Writers work tirelessly, often for years
with little encouragement and little hope, dreaming of the day they’ll be
published. Then one day it happens. Here are ten things that might surprise you
about being on the other side of your dream:
- Selling
books is hard. Really hard. Even a really great book can be hard to sell.
You can have 5 authors who are equally talented all published in the same
way (i.e. by a Big 5, a small press or indie) and even if they all did the
same things, only one of them might sell enough books to buy a cup of
coffee. It is a total crapshoot and you cannot be in this for the money.
- You’re
going to get bad reviews and they are going to cut you. That’s just the way it is. You can’t
please everyone. The good news is
that after awhile, they don’t really bother you anymore.
- There
will be mistakes in your book and readers will call you on them. Yes, even
after a very exhaustive editing process, some mistakes can still sneak in
and readers will definitely let you know.
- You’re
going to need your writer friends more than ever after publication—to
commiserate, to bounce scenarios off one another, for advice and for help
with promotion.
- On
occasion, you will get a very personal, very heartfelt letter/email from a
reader that will make your entire struggle worth it.
- You need
to have swag on you at all times! Invest in bookmarks and carry them with
you all the time so you can give them out or leave them places when the
opportunity arises. It really can help with sales.
- Nearly
80% of your time will be spent not on writing, but on social media. Invest
some time in a Hootsuite account or another site similar to it to stay
organized and pre-schedule important posts or tweets.
- Some
genres just don’t sell as well as others. Period.
- Books
don’t sell themselves. They need to be promoted. No promotion equals no
sales.
- Writing becomes a lot more work
post-publication. Suddenly you’ve got deadlines and promotion to keep up
with, a brand to build and maintain. But it is totally worth it!
About the author:
Lisa Regan is a crime fiction author. Her first novel, Finding Claire Fletcher won Best Heroine in the eFestival of Words Best of the Independent eBook Awards 2013. It was runner-up for Best Novel. It was also a Digital Book Today Best of 2013 ebook selection. In December 2013, Finding Claire Fletcher and her second novel, Aberration were #1 Amazon bestsellers in the Kidnapping and Serial Killers categories, respectively.
Lisa is a member of Sisters In Crime. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Master of Education Degree from Bloomsburg University. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and daughter.
A bit about Hold Still:
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