Advice to New Authors | Mary J. McCoy-Dressel

Tag: Advice to New Authors

#MFRWauthor Week 51: What I’ve Learned #AmWriting

Posted at 9:12 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on December 22, 2017

Countdown. Marketing For Romance Writers 52-Week Blog Challenge Blog Hop.

Week 51: Advice to New Authors

I don’t think I have a right to give advice to new authors, when so many in my groups have been published authors for many years with TONS of books and experience. However, I can mention a few things I’ve learned along the way to this point. Maybe what I’ve learned will work for you, too.

First off, here is an important bit of advice given to me by more than one successful author. I’ll pass it on:

After you write the book, write another one, then another…and another.

What Helps Me Might Help You:

Don’t pay a publisher to publish your book. They should pay you.

Don’t hire an agent who gains most of their income from editing. I nearly fell into this trap.

Well-established companies don’t usually contact you for business. Ask other authors if they’ve heard of the company, promo site, etc. Thank you very much, but I’ll hang on to my hard-earned money. I choose who I want to promote my books, and me. To be fair, on occasion, I hear where authors had good luck with a company that contacted them. Ask questions.

As an Indie author, I’ve learned to write the story that calls to me. I don’t write fast enough to write what is hot for the moment, or trendy.

Commitment to a writing career. This is a job. If you love it DON’T GIVE UP.

At the end of a writing session, stop at a place in your manuscript where you can pick up the next day or next time. This is extremely helpful for me to sit down the next day and know where I’m going.

Network:

Who else understands us like other authors? Successful authors that I’ve met have been encouraging and helpful by forming groups, doing workshops, and more.

YAHOO Groups
Facebook Groups
Author Friends
Bloggers
????

Stay Updated:

It’s easy to fall behind if we don’t keep learning. It’s amazing how fast things change in this business. If it isn’t technology changing, it’s publishers and vendors dropping off the face of the earth, or new ones popping up. Writing tools come and go. Algorithms change. Rules change. Keep learning.

There are so many reasons to continue learning in this business. ~Mary McCoy-Dressel

Editing:

In my early years, like eons ago, I didn’t think I needed an editor. I’m on my fourth one since 2012 after saying farewell to two.

I’ve learned not to pay full-price up front. I’ve learned that an editor shouldn’t keep a manuscript for ten months.

This is a good place to stop.

I didn’t look forward to this topic, but I jotted down some thoughts because I wanted to keep up with the challenge. Before I knew it, I had a few pages of things I’ve learned so far, but I tried to pick out what I thought would help a new author.

We have one more week in 2017 and the 52-Week Blog Challenge Blog Hop. If you haven’t visited the other authors, this might be a good topic to drop in on. Thanks for visiting!

I’m a little under the weather right now. I might be slow in responding.