How to Write, Publish and Market Your Book?

Start writing

The key to becoming a writer is to start writing. One should start as a blogger so that you don’t have any self-doubt when it comes to the moment when you want to start writing. Many bloggers who had turned into successful writers would also share the same story as a person have to start somewhere, and blogging is a good start for those who do not want to take the plunge straightaway.

There are many paid opportunities available, where you can test your writing skills and further hone them. You will at least get the direction on how to move ahead with your author-preneurial journey.

Decide Your Road

A lot of writers fall into two broad categories. One is the popular writer who writes for the market. They identify a hot selling segment such as Young Adult and then pick a story that would appeal to that segment. Re-tellers of mythology also falls into this category. Books of this kind sell like hotcakes while their authors catapult into media’s favorite poster boys.

The second category would be the writer who writes simply because he/she wants to tell a story. Remember, despite the entire idealistic image they cast, all traditional publishers have the pulse of the market, and they choose to publish only those books that could bring them profit.

Decide your category wisely because your first book’s success will decide your author-preneurial journey.

Build Your Networks

This is an important step. You must have friends who know that you are writing a novel, right from the start. One could be secretive about the plot, but writing in total secret will only lead to fatigue unless the individual is a seasoned writer who has a large fan base waiting for the book to appear on the horizon.

It is also important to cultivate relationships with book bloggers, critiques, avid readers and publishers; right from the beginning, as trying to cultivate them after publishing wouldn’t be of much help. There is an ample number of social media groups that offer networking opportunities with fellow authors-some of them run by popular writers. Try to create good enough hype in the market before you published your piece, for which you need to get your networking right.

Identify Your Sources of Inspiration: What is important is to identify the moments, settings and landscapes that bring out the writer in us. Inspiration is in flowing water and crowded environments. However, we also need occasional moments of silence – it all depends on what we are planning writing. So, we know where to be if we ever hit a writer’s block, unless you are willfully embracing the phase of the block.

Milestones

One of the popular tips given to writers is to set personal milestones and targets. However, it is important to set milestones in terms of when we would want the final draft to be ready when to send it for beta reading, editing, and when to schedule promotions and marketing etc.

Authored article by Merlin Franco, Author, A Dowryless Wedding