It can’t be that difficult, right?
Once upon a time, I thought that a writer sat at their table with pen and paper or at their desk with fingers on keys, pouring out their thoughts. Maybe it would be challenging to find an agent, but once one believed in them and their project, they’d be on the downhill – whooshing by the next steps while the agent nimbly guided.
-Insert screeching halt right here.-
It turns out it’s a bit (code for a lot lot lot) of extra meetings, requirements, things, and to-do’s, and it could make a person say never mind. Unless…..you’re wealthy and can self-publish.
Alas, I am not.
So if you are ‘not’, like me, and want to publish your book with a publishing company, follow along with me as I go before you and share the good, the bad, and the amazing!
Thus far, this is the order of the steps I wish I had known about from the beginning.
1. Decide if you will house-publish or self-publish.
2a. If you will house publish, decide which one or two platforms you will use to grow your followers while you write. Watch how-to videos or read blogs about them. There are so many tutorials for growing your followers!
2b. If you will self-publish, decide how much money you must put away each month to cover the upfront costs of that route. And see 2a – because you will still need it every bit as much!
3. Write
4. Talk yourself back into writing when you feel overwhelmed.
5. Write a little each week. Leave yourself iPhone notes, voice notes, and sticky notes of ideas.
6a. When you finish your first draft, go back and review for timing, plot holes, and obvious character mistakes. This is not the time for grammar and punctuation edits.
6b. While you are revising your first draft, begin writing a long and short synopsis of your story. This is a requirement for both a One-Sheet and a full book proposal. I am on currently working on that long synopsis now and I’m finding it more difficult than writing the entire book.
7. Continue to revise and edit while you search Agents and Publishing Houses that take your particular genre. Each have specific guidelines for quering and they all make sure to let you know that if you don’t follow their guidelines, they will refuse to read your proposal. Yikes!
The remainder of the steps will be coming as they happen with my book journey. I hope you will come back and see what happens next. We will both be surprised!
Platform-Building Blueprint
Recently I was blessed to listen to Mary Marantz talk about building a platform in preparation for your book sales. I learned the following key things:
Social Media is 101; blogs & emails 201; books 301.
Use Canva to create documents, free printables, and things your readers are asking for.
Use quizzes - people love quizzes. I love quizzes! I will be doing quizzes.
Grow your email subscribers!
Where to go for info?
Here is the link to Mary Marantz’s website:
https://www.marymarantz.com/quiz
{I promise, you won’t regret heading there to take the quiz. I learned a lot about myself.}
Here is the link to Canva:
{I utilize this tool every day for my EA role and now I will be using it for my platforms. It is So MUCH Fun!}
Here is the link to Crystal Paine’s website:
https://moneysavingmom.com/about/
{She is a mastermind in social marketing.}
Crystal Paine
Additional points from Crystal!
Five Things ‘I’ Should Stop Doing
1. Stop making it about ‘me’, I write for you!
2. Stop posting and ghosting.
3. Stop promoting.
4. Stop expecting people to read the caption.
5. Stop posting every day.
Bread Crumbs of Wisdom:
Help, inspire, challenge, laugh, encourage.
Build Community.
Share ideas.
Put auto-captions on stories or reels.
30 min/day – 6 days a week.
Follow along
Join
Work With Me
0 Comments