New Author Advice

New Author
What should you expect? Each genre, every single book and every author will have different experiences. This depends on many, many factors including release date, size and availability of book, experience and preparedness of author, resources and contacts, limitations, location and ingenuity of author.

My first suggestion to you, as a new author, would be to get a great stack of paper, a couple of pens and a thermos of any kind of refreshment you choose. Got all those? :lol: Then sit at your computer and scan through all the old messages on every section of your favorite writer’s forum and your publisher’s author forum. Read even the messages with headings like "new author" because the actual message may have crucial information.

The reason for all this reading? Because of the answers to author questions about reviews, marketing, promotion materials, media kits, book production processes, resources, the publisher’s policies, royalty information, distributor information.... it is all there. With this information you can easily get a huge start on your marketing plan. Don’t become overwhelmed – marketing plans are meant to last until the end date of your contract with the publisher.

Begin advertising your products through the signatures in email, letter and forum post communications. Here on this forum, it is achieved by clicking on “profile” on the upper right of the screen and following the instructions. Your email signature is often set up through the “tools” pull down menu or find out how through the “help” section of your program.

One other tip... visit as many other author sites as you have time/interest for. It will provide you with information on what they are doing to promote their book, key information they are highlighting and more. This will help you develop your website and other promotion materials. Knowing what others are doing will help you stand out in a crowd.

A website is always one of the first things an author should do and can include things like author bio, links, reviews, book synopsis, excerpts, contact information and more right from the start. It can be updated and improved as more information, reviews, exposure and book cover image can be included.

If you are looking for ideas on website development, feel free to check out ours – where there are 2 press releases. A link to my book reviews is also located on the site - check out the review on "Write it Right", "Pumping Your Muse" and "Putting it on Paper". Another link will lead you to our articles. You may be interested in the article entitled "Book Promotion Woes" or perhaps "Extend the Life of Books".