Beyond the Writing

By Kimberly Jay

Almost one year ago, I embarked on the journey to become a published author. Having had plenty of experience in writing, I believed this next progression in my career would be a cake walk. I happily got to it and approximately six months later, I had a ‘finished’ product. 

I was so naïve. 

Early on, I decided against traditionally publishing, however, I was oblivious to the work required for self-publishing. I believed completing my book was the end goal; to some degree, it was- after all, you can’t publish something that isn’t finished- BUT, there is so much more to becoming a ‘published author’ than writing the last word of your book. 

As I was making through the writing process, several people told me I would need to take a month or more away from my book, before I could successfully complete any type of self-editing. I smiled politely, reminding myself that these well-meaning people didn’t know me and confidently ‘knew’ this would not be my fate.

Yet, by the time I typed ‘the end’, I had zero desire to open the document I’d poured my heart into for so many months. I sent an email to the few people who had agreed to read my book in its rough state and then I sat back and waited. I didn’t do anything related to my book, because I was confident in my writing ability and believed my circle of supporters (or some other type of book promotion fairy) would propel my book onto the best seller lists. My book was so good, I was sure it would be it would sell itself.

If everyone is giving you the same advice, you should probably pay it some attention…

Perhaps, I had a bit of a hard head, because I didn’t take heed to any of the ‘well-intended’ advice I was given. When my beta readers came back with questions, I thought they didn’t get my writing; they weren’t the readers I had originally thought them to be, and I didn’t really care about their questions or concerns-

This is of course until I revisited my beloved manuscript (nearly two months after closing the file). I was shocked at the amount of unfinished thoughts, run on sentences and missing pieces my book had. If you weren’t sure, the self-editing process is a humbling experience.

Listen to your Alpha/Beta Readers. They are only giving you information to make your book the best it can be…

There I was, going through my manuscript with a fine-tooth comb, still debating on the need to have a professional editor because I had written and edited for others, I thought I didn’t really need an outside source to provide me with that skillset. After a second run of editing, I realized how massive the task of editing your own work is and the decision to acquire an editor was solidified as a must have.

Save yourself some time and know that you will need an outside professional editor. As you are in the writing stages, think of what type of person you’d like to edit your book. Find this editor (he or she does exist) and begin to cultivate a relationship with them, so when it comes time for you to hand over your manuscript, you won’t be traumatized by trust issues. You will also want to secure a spot on your editor’s workload calendar, so you aren’t left waiting around for them to be able to review your work…

Writing and editing aren’t the only things you need to do to get your book into the hands of the masses- so don’t get comfortable! Remember that team of supporters you have? The people who have been encouraging you to write your story, telling you how great you are and filling your head with all kinds of whimsy about the measure of success you will gain because you are just that good? Well, those people aren’t going to sell your book. So, what are you going to do? Enter the tedious world of marketing…

Book marketing may seem generic, but how you implement the various marketing tools is what will make you stand out. There are so many different marketing strategies that it would be impossible to name them all, but here are a few I have found to have worked for me- using a Facebook Author page and creating genuine relationships with my fans/followers (it is more than a numbers/like game), creating a book trailer, doing a reading of an excerpt from my book, making a post card sized advertisement of my book (posted to several community boards and leaving bookmarks (about my book) on coffee shop counters, library check out counters and any other counter, where ‘my’ readers would be.

In terms of marketing your book, this is something you should start doing long before you finish writing your book- though it isn’t to late to start, so get to it! Don’t let marketing strategies stress you out, have some fun with it and like all things in life, don’t be afraid to make a mistake here and there…

Now that you’ve completed your rounds of self-edits, your alpha and beta readers have read your book and given it some stellar reviews and you’ve got your marketing road map- you’re all set to make your book available to the waiting public, right? Nope. Have you considered your book’s appearance? Whether you’re publishing only in e-book format or printed form or both, you’ll want an eye-catching cover. This is a service you can do yourself (there are any number of tools available online to aid you in this endeavor) or you may choose to hire this task out; the choice is yours and yours alone.

People judge most books by the covers, so make sure you put some time, effort and perhaps investment into yours…

Don’t get lost in the millions of books made available to the world each day- remember to stand out in the crowd, you’ll have to do some work beyond the writing! I’d love to hear your best practices beyond the writing! Leave a comment and let’s chat about it, shall we?

Kimberly Jay, also known as Kim, Specialk or Dvnmskm- depending on where you meet her- has been writing almost as long as she has been talking (which for those of you who don't know that's slightly less than half a century)! She enjoys writing across genres, preferring to let the creative juices flow instead of following the 'rules' of writing. She has held court with the Richmond City Council and Richmond City School Board, where here eloquent speeches have left many an onlooker rethinking and reevaluating their position the current topic at hand. Find out more about Kim here.