Here’s the 10 most asked questions by writers- and I am open to more if you have them!
- I’ve finished my novel. Now what? Edit. Get some books on self-editing and give it whirl. You are not finished with the process once you type the end. If you are going to get an editor to aid in the book’s process, you do not have to have it perfect but as good as you can make it. An editor does not expect it to be publish-ready for you to send to them.
- Tell us the difference between a novel and a book? A novel is a kind of book. Just like a magazine is a kind of book, a cookbook is a kind of book etc. in general a novel is a fiction book.
- What do you wish you had known about writing a novel before you started? That there are so many layers to the process. There is the plotting/outlining stage, the drafting stages, because there is not just one draft ever of any book, and the editing phase. Then if you are going to self-publish there is the formatting, the cover design, the uploading to vendors and the promoting.
- How do I find a publisher? If you are not going to self-publish then you should go out to Twitter and find agents to follow. Most publishers that are good and true have a requirement that you can only submit to them through an agent. Most of them are on Twitter. You can also find them through Agent Query.com
- How many chapters should my book have? And or/ how many pages should a chapter have? Every book is different and based on if it is a non-fiction piece or a fiction piece and so on, the number of chapters can vary. Also, the number of pages in a chapter can be up to the author. Some chapters are only a paragraph long.
Final Five Questions
- Tell us the difference between a scene and a chapter? Chapters are long collections of scenes. Scenes are the molecule of what is happening. For ex. A robber enters a bank. That is a scene. What happens the whole time he is there is a chapter.
- Voice, what’s that? So many times, I hear an agent or editor say that they didn’t connect with the book because it wasn’t “voicey” enough. Well, that is because an author inserts that into the book by making the story and characters come alive with their own special twist. Anyone can write a twenty-five-year-old woman who works in an office but only you can make everything she does seem special and new with the “voice” you give the story via your own unique brand of creation. Too many stories with the same sound to them, she goes to work, she comes home, she watches tv, she goes to bed has no new voice to it, no unique vibration. But if you write that she goes to work and plays games with her boss whereby she wears short skirts that she lets ride up, and then she comes home and watches porn to learn how to do that even better, and when she goes to bed, she sets out a collection of blouses that are sure to entice, well, now that’s voicey. It’s different its new.
- Is it true that no new stories exist that they have all been done? Yes. There are only so many stories. They have all been written. But that isn’t to say you cannot put your own spin on any number of old and tired tropes. That is how an old genre is revitalized. Be special and different in your approach and you will go much farther than others in your group who are trying to just rewrite the same old thing.
- How can I market my book, I’m just a writer. There are many ways to promote your work. You can find podcasts that host authors, YouTubers who want to know about new books so they can read and review them, blog tour organizations that specialize in posts about and for authors and their work. The best way to promote your book is through Social Media still today. If you plan out your posts on your SM by teasing the audience all through the process, like, here is an excerpt from my WIP and post that then follow up with info on the book and how its going with the writing and then later on how its going with the editing and then teasers from the book and then the cover reveal and finally the preorder with teasers from the book and the cover art up until it releases, people will be on board to buy it. Preorders are a great way to see the sales coming in before the book ever even releases. My advice is find an author that you like and believe to be successful and follow how they do it.
- Should I have a website/blog? Yes, you should. Why? Because as we have all seen with the demise of sites such as Myspace, LiveJournal, and others even more recently thanks to political leanings, social media sites can and oftentimes do go away. You will lose everything you had on that site when it does too. So, if you pay for a domain and build a website on it, it’s like building your own house. It is YOURS, bought and paid for. You can do a lot with it to brand yourself and you also can have a blog on it that you can use to augment your social media posts. A lot of times there are plugins that will do all the work for you. I use them myself.
The final thoughts on most asked questions
In conclusion, I believe that authors in today’s world have a lot to think about, and newer authors even if they are not young, hint hint, us seniors, need answers. If you are one of those who constantly thinks of things that you need an answer for and get tired of going to Google to find the answer (and isn’t google just a big old rabbit hole and tunnel for us all?) then be sure to post your comments below.
OBSERVATIONS
I’m happy to answer anything that you need an answer for in the writing vein if I can. Now y’all don’t be posting up stupid stuff like is the moon made of green cheese or how many times can a man travel to the farthest planet without a spaceship and like that. We all have legitimate questions. All of us. Me too. I do not know everything although you may think that I do.
Honesty
If I’m being honest, I wish I did. And also, I wish I knew how to make a million dollars sitting right here in my office chair. I wish I had gotten started with all the self-publishing and writing books and all that at a far earlier age. I might be a multimillion-dollar best seller by now. But as the adage goes, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. I am not riding yet, so I push on, and that’s what we all must do until we find our success. And we all have different ways to measure success when we find it, so no worries if your idea of success looks a bit different from mine. I just measure my success as how many bucks I put in the bank every week.
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