10. 10. Find at least 2 editors who know HOW to edit and 2 readers to evaluate your work from a reader’s perspective. Have the editors edit your work, preferably people who know HOW to edit. Professional editors and English teachers/professors/majors are your best choice. Once they’ve gone through your book, really weigh their suggestions. If what they say improves the book, make the changes. The trick is to be able to remove yourself from the personal attachment of your work so you can recognize when someone else’s suggestions will make it better. Sometimes you’ll need to think on their feedback for a day. Once they’ve given you their feedback, make changes and go through the manuscript one final time.
9. 9. Read your book aloud. Reading your work aloud, chapter by chapter, helps you focus on the rhythm of your words, not just the words themselves. Think of it like music. A well written book has a natural flow. If you find yourself hesitating, that usually is an indication of a problem area. Mark it with a highlighted dot so you can return to it after you've read the entire chapter. Edit all highlighted areas, then review it (aloud or silently) again.
8. 8. Mix up the chapters and edit again. Take out individual chapters at random and edit them without the benefit of the preceding or following chapters. This helps you focus on the actual writing. You can also pull random pages and edit them out of order. This gives you a bit of a break from the story, so you can focus on technical issues.
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10. Belief! Without belief in yourself and your skills as a writer you won't go far. If you don't believe in yourself, why should anyone else? You must believe without a shadow of doubt that your work deserves to be on a bookstore shelf. Without BELIEF, the first 9 must-haves will be useless.
9. Dedication - you must dedicate yourself to writing the best possible works you can and to always learning about the craft of writing and the business of publishing and promoting.
8. Persistence - this is a slow moving business and you must be able to persevere no matter what. You WILL get rejection letters. Your work WILL be rejected. But it's a numbers game. Wade through the nos to get to that yes! Keep moving forward no matter the roadblocks.
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10. There is danger looming for her, and for everyone Rhianna holds dear
9. Rhianna is stranded on a private island--with a handsome but angry recluse
8. He has a secret that could destroy Rhianna's trust
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10. Edit, edit, EDIT! Writing a novel is one thing. (And congrats if you do!) But in order to make it readable, you MUST edit your work. Every sentence needs to be aalysed. If it doesn't ADD to your story, cut it. If it doesn't reveal something, DELETE. Once you think you're done editing, find someone else to edit it--a friend, teacher, English major, or actual editor. Hire an editor and learn from them. Editing is a skill that must be learned in order to become a successful novelist. Happy writing!
9. Set writing goals. Set daily goals as to how many words you expect to write, adjusting them to life's ups and downs. Set mid-size goals, then larger ones (such as finding a publisher) to keep you focused on finishing your novel. Tweet your daily goals so you'll feel like you've committed to them.
8. Up the ante with unexpected twists. When it looks as though things are going to come to a satisfying ending, up the ante and throw in a twist. Readers love unpredictability.
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10. Contact media for every event or set of events. If holding a bunch of signings during October, call it your "fall tour" and promote it. Send out press releases to local TV, radio, newspapers and magazines. Send out online releases to services like 24-7pressrelease and free online services. Just Google 'press distribution services'. Many authors consider interviews a form of success, and the more you create a need for your area of expertise (whether writing, getting published, or a particular theme from your book), the more media will want to interview you.
9. Cultivate personal relationships with bookstore staff. Most authors underestimate the power of signing books in a store. Too many authors focus entirely on sales, or lack of sales. Forget sales! Think about relationships instead--with store staff, customers and potential fans. That is what is important. When you build these relationships you will have store staff who will hand sell your book and go out of their way to promote you, invite you to special events and feature you on special front-end shelves that publishers have to pay for. Customers can turn into media contacts and interviews. Potential fans can turn into lifelong fans who will buy everything you write and recommend you to their family and friends.
8. Find out where your readers are. The goal is not to have your book in every bookstore. First, very few books achieve that. Second, having them in a store is no good if no one is buying them. So find out where your readers are. If you write mysteries, find out where mystery readers meet in your town. Become a guest author at a book club. Look for online reading groups or sites like GoodReads and start schmoozing with readers.
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