Tag Archives: Books

When do you start promoting your manuscript?

This topic landed in my email box. When should you start promoting your book?

The writers I know in this area start once their manuscript is complete. To me, that is getting on this way too late. I mean, once your book is complete and you tell your friends and family, then what?

I started on my social platform brand once I had my first draft of my Jasper, Amazon parrot series. By the time the drafts, edits, cover, and more, I had grown a following of people engaged in me as I was in them. I had people to shout out to saying, “Finally, my book is done.”

If you wait until the end of your book, you are shouting into the wind in hopes someone will take an interest.

Your book deserves more than that. You deserve better than that.

And one more thing. When submitting my first book to publishers, they always asked where I was. It meant what is your social platform?

Fortunately, I was able to point to where I am at. If I had not done the work, I am unsure if the publishers would have picked up the book.

It does take time. You do a quick search online, which will show you the various platforms. Not all will work for you. Take one platform at a time. Put the work in. If it does not feel right, dump it and try another.

Some of these platforms allow you to schedule the posts, which helps since this frees up time.

Start slow as you build your social platform, your brand, and a gateway for you to shout to a larger audience once your book is complete and not only full but complete and published.

How is your grammar? :For the record, I use an editor

How good is your grammar as it pertains to writing? I have done better over the years due to my editor, Nancy. Without Nancy, my books and short stories would not shine as brightly as they do now.

There are programs out there that are free and with a price that helps with commas, spelling, spacing, and more.

But I don’t rely just on the programs.

Some writers I have seen use their writing groups to pick out the errors as they critique them. It does help with your piece having more eyes on it. A few writers have stated that is all they need to get their books edited.

I have heard a few writers stating that is all their books required to run their WIP through a critique group.

It is helpful, but it is not what one should rely on.

Grammar can derail a book, and it can prevent a publisher from taking your book on to tossing it in the trash can.

There are so many books on Amazon that I have read that make me read only a bit. I have reviewed books that are so heavily bad in grammar that I struggle with writing a review. There have been times I have contacted the author, stating why I won’t proceed with a review. I like to help fellow authors and write a review about books. However, an unedited manuscript can derail authors.

I have learned and have done better with my editing, but I will always use an editor at the end of the day. The last thing I want is to see an unedited book online to be purchased that has my name on it.

I have an addiction: Author’s life

 

I have an addiction. In fact it started early on as I was growing up. It has continued to grow within me. To make it worse I married someone who has the same addiction.

Books.

My husband and I love books. We love going to used book store and scoring the deals and also books we been looking for. In fact one of our moving trips from one home to another involved a U-haul van that had only books in it.

The shame of it all. But we are shameless. One of our problems is we rarely give the books away. I did purge about 110 books years ago by getting rid of 95% of my James Patterson books to a battered women’s shelter in town. I have donated a bit to the local libraries. I have placed some on my book swap site online.

I alone have nine bookcases. Six of which are large-sized. And while that might seem a lot it does not come close to my husband and his own bookcases. We are addicted. Again we are shameless about it.

It doesn’t help that companies have asked me, and yes I have accepted, to review for them meaning free books for Sharon and hubby.

It’s a disease. It is. I don’t try anymore to explain it to non readers. There is no point. Either you get it or you don’t. Either you love it or you run away from it.

This is my addiction. I might need to purge some more to make room for the others I am more than sure to bring into the house.

But this an addiction that we are glad we have.