Friday, September 30, 2016

How I Became an Author

How I Became an Author

1. Decide what genre you want to focus on. Do you like horror? SciFi? Mystery?
2. START WRITING
3. Self-Publish. Start a blog. Publish online. Print your own or find a Print-on-Demand company such as createspace.com (I’ve been publishing with them for years now. They do fantastic work!)
4. Run yourself as a business. It’s great to be creative, but you also have to think like a business. Set a schedule like you would a job. Set aside time to write. Plan out your goals. Are you setting up a web site? Social media sites? Are you hiring artists for book covers or illustration? Graphic Designers? Printers? How are you going to handle sales and royalties? Do you want to be a sole proprietor or incorporate? In other words, also plan to the business side so you can reach your goal of publishing your work. It will also make you look more professional. Copyright your work. Here's a link to the Copyright site.
5. My planning looks something like this: I have two files I keep: One if for “Writing and Ideas” and the other is for “Publishing”.

Writing and Ideas Planning Sample:
Write for an hour every day
Research ideas and locations to better describe a location
Develop characters
Devote a weekend to writing a chapter
Have a friend read a passage to see if it flows

Publishing Planning Sample:
Research online DIY/Print-On-Demand Publishers
Find a graphic designer for book covers
Find events to promote book
Find online sites that sell PDFs of my book
Create social media site to market book
….. and so on

This will give you a better picture on how you can reach your goal, and become an actual published author.

You basically are becoming your own publishing company.

And now the fun part!: Promotion! Make it fun! Really!

I take it a little further to promote my image as an author through these steps:

1. Create a persona. Are you a Vampire writer? You don’t need to dress like Elvira but you can create a mood and look about you that people can identify with. Steampunk fiction? Dress the part!
2. Create a logo. If you are doing a series on Vampire books or SciFi books, a catchy logo will be great on stickers that you can have on hand with your web site.
3. Create a web site. It does not have to be an expensive one, but it can be your online “booth” for promoting and selling your work. Or even a blog.
4. Have photos of you as an author with your books, in costume.
5. What is a one line that you can come up with that would describe your work? For me, my “tag lines” are “A New Breed of Vicious Vampire” or, “Your Guardian Angel is now a Vicious Vampire.” What’s yours? What would you say that would catch people’s attention? Another way to do it is to write your description after the words “What if………..?”
6. Start “living” in your world. Decorate your writing space. Visit places for atmosphere. “Co-Splay” your character. People are visual. Create an audience for yourself and your work.
7. Don’t be afraid to promote and market your work through web sites, business cards or stickers, blogs, social media, instagram. If you are passionate about your work, share it.

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