Dos and Don'ts for a First-time Author
1. Don’t write the book you just feel like writing.
Simply don’t go with the topic you feel passionate about or have knowledge in. Do your research. Try to find out what is selling & trending.
Plan of Action
- Select a few topics you wish to write about.
- Find & Select the category that goes with your topic.
- Research & find out the trends & patterns: Keywords, Sub categories, common theme among the top sellers.
Combine your knowledge, passion & what is trending to tailor your book.
2. Not Getting Your Work Professionally Edited
Editing can make or break your book. Even if you have already decided to get your book edited, don’t pass on your manuscript for editing to your family & friends.
Opt for a professional editor who is experienced in writing and editing and knows what to look for to make your book as best as it can be for release.
Professional editor will evaluate and critique your manuscript, suggest and provide revisions and shape the manuscript into a nice piece.
3. Designing
If your book isn’t good, your cover isn’t professional, your book description has typos, you can very well imagine your book in the black hole of published books.
Cover is the first thing that will entice the potential reader. People judge a book by its cover. Getting it professionally done will not only make it more appealing but also add value to your book.
Interior should be composed using professional tools or that are available online. If you are well-versed with any one of the softwares, you may compose yourself else get it done professionally.
4. Goals
Be specific while defining your goals. Are you looking to sell your books? Are you looking for more readers? Or Both? To increase your readership you may offer giveaways, free eBook for a limited time period. However, while selling your books, you have to overcome the four roadblocks every author faces. We’ll share that in our upcoming post - Reasons people don’t buy. So outline your plan of action accordingly.
5. Marketing plan
Marketing plan is critical for the book sales. Books don’t sell by themselves. You cannot write a book first and then worry about marketing it later. You need to start building a marketing platform as soon as you start writing. You should start finding your potential readers so you should already have thousands of followers on social media & blog on the day you ship.
6. Not Proofreading Your Book
You should give a thorough read to the final digital or print proof copy of your book. Make sure it is free from all kinds of errors. You may not find many errors, however if you do, it’s better to detect them at the pre-publishing stage.
7. Release Date
It’s always better to be prepared than sorry.
If you want to release your book on New Year, you better have your final product in hand by the end of November.
If you want to make any last minute modifications, you’ll have time to make changes before release.
8. When self-publishing, you should expect to be:
- Doing final checks and edits.
- Responding to blog/book questions.
- Posting on your blog as per usual.
- Sharing content and making conversations on social media.
- Writing guest posts on relevant blogs.
- Generating buzz.
- And more.
9. Publishing Plan
- Traditional Publishing
- Self- publishing
- Self-publish your book to attract traditional publisher
There is no right or wrong plan, whichever you find workable, go for it.