New Writers: Is this what you're doing on Twitter? #MondayBlogs #WritingCommunity

I've been doing this self-publishing/Twitter stuff for ten years now.  I assume many new writers do as I did back in November 2011: sign up because they've just published their first book and someone told them, 'If you're a writer you need to be on Twitter'.  Then they plunge in without having a clue what they're doing.  Yes, me too.  Hence this post.

Every social media site has its own culture, and you don't understand it until you're in it.  It takes a while to learn - which is why I still see, every day, activity I've been reading about not doing since 2012.  You may be using Twitter purely to chat, discover and be entertained - the original use of social media! - but if you want to find readers for your book(s) and you're doing any of the following, you might need a re-think... 

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1. Only following and interacting with other writers

It's lovely to meet other writers, especially if you don't know any in real life.  Your new virtual friends understand the highs, lows and angst of what you do, and are there to give advice and opinions, etc.  Several writers and bloggers I've met on Twitter have now become real life friends.  This is social media at its best: finding people who share your interests and who you would otherwise never have come to know.  People who do what you do.

But they're not the target market for your book.

Over time, some of them might love what you do and become your regular readers.  I can think of six writers I've met via Twitter whom I number amongst my favourite authors.  But that's over a period of a decade, and although you're so grateful for those publication day sales and early reviews that give each book a nice kick start, you won't reach the reading public (i.e., people you don't know) unless you broaden your horizons.

If you were a clothes designer, your first sales port of call would not be other designers, even though they wear clothes, too.  If you were a painter, you would not target other artists to buy your work.  Yet every day thousands of writers talk only to their fellow scribes on social media, spend time adding their links to #writerslifts and those #writer #indieauthor #shamelessselfpromo tweets, or those that say 'hey, add your links and I'll buy 3 books'.  And round and round it all goes as they promote their work to each other.

Step outside the #WritingCommunity.  Talk to people who share your other interests - and views.  Follow book bloggers, avid readers, the followers of well-known authors who write in your genre.  Who live in places in which your books are set.  In order to find your readers, you need to get out there.

2. Making your bio all about your books

Never mind book sales - which of these bios would make you want to investigate further?  Maybe take a look down their tweets and click the link provided to find out more about them and their work?

Anne Author @AuthorAnne

Author of The Book, The Other Book, The Third Book and The Short Story Collection.  Available on Amazon. #KindleUnlimited.' ⛔ DMs, Politics

Will Writer @WillWriter

Writer: 3 novels and blog.  Keen hiker. Trying to write 4th novel but, you know, Netflix and Assassin's Creed.  Cat lover.

Anne tells you nothing about herself except that she wants you to buy her books.  Which suggests she is only on Twitter to make this happen.  Will, on the other hand, has told you of five interests you might share, and indicated that he might be fun to know.  

A bio should be about you.  A link to your site or Amazon author page so that anyone who wishes to can look up your work, is all you need.  

3. Forgetting the link on promotional book tweets

I see this so often.  A short description of the book, the information that it's currently discounted at 99p or free, and the cover.  And that's all.  No link.  Yesterday I suggested to someone that she put the link on a tweet, and she said she didn't have the room.  Well, shorten the description!  Play around with those 280 characters!  Other times when I've made the suggestion, I've been told that the link is in their bio, or (worse) that it can be found on Amazon.

It's possible that some people, if particularly interested in the book description, will go to your bio, but significantly fewer will bother to bring up Amazon and put the name of the book into the search.  Attention spans are short, these days.  Twitter is a fast-moving, constantly changing site.  The majority want a link they can click, right there, or they'll simply move on to the next tweet.

4. Asking and answering those daft questions

The person who tweets 'If I was buying your MC a drink, what would it be?' does not give two hoots what your protagonist's favourite drink may be, or indeed what colour biro you use.  Most people who ask these questions do so to increase interaction on their profile, so that Twitter's algorithms will make them more visible (i.e., appear in more people's feed).  That's all.  If you like, you can ask some questions yourself.  268 people may reveal to you the flavour of their antagonist's favourite jam.  But bear in mind that as many will mute you as will answer the question - and being muted isn't like being blocked; you will never know.

Incidentally, I believe the same goes for the 'add your links and I'll buy three books' tweets.  Or 'I need new books to read - please answer with your recommendations'.  I reckon most of them are algorithm manipulators.  Not all, but most.  I daresay now and again these do result in sales, but not very often.

5. Spamming

This is a piece of advice that should be repeated in every single writer/social media advice post until everyone understands (unlikely, I know).  Here it is: do NOT send unsolicited DMs or tweets to new followers asking them to read/buy/review your book.  EVER.  Even those who are polite to you and show an interest would still rather you didn't.  A LOT of people immediately unfollow anyone who does this; others block, or report.

Similarly, if you see someone tweeting about their book, do not reply with a link to yours.  That's right, even if it's in the same genre.  Don't 'hashtag hijack' to promote your work - in other words, adding a vaguely relevant hashtag to your book tweet.  For instance, I'm in a group that started the hashtag #PostApocFriday.  Every week one of us decides on a theme relevant to a post-apocalyptic world (for instance 'silence' or 'education' or 'weapons'), and anyone who wants to can post an image, interpreting the theme as they wish.  Inevitably, the hashtag sometimes gets added to people's promotional tweets about their books.  That's hashtag hijacking.

6. Attempting stealth review swaps

This has happened to me a few times.  I've received a new review on one of my books and, because I recognise the name on the review, I've sent a DM to the person concerned to thank them.  We've had a couple of friendly exchanges about writing/books, and then the other person hits me with it: would I be interested in reviewing one of her books, too?

My reply is that I don't do review swaps, because this is what this is, albeit not directly.  Inevitably, once I say no, the writer in question will never read/review me again, despite having raved about the first one to an extent that made me blush. 

If someone has talked to you on Twitter they are probably already aware of what you write.  If they want to read your book, they will. 

(Also, if another writer follows you back, please don't introduce yourself by asking if they would like to do a review swap, as happened to me this morning - many of us are actively against them!)

7.  Forgetting the quotation marks

If you quote a review ('I was up all night reading this book' etc) on your book promotion tweet, and don't put quotation marks around it, you look as though you're saying 'A masterpiece of a story with wonderful characters' about your own book.  I thought this had been stamped out, but I've seen a resurgence of late!

8.  Calling yourself a best-selling or award-winning author...

....when you're not, or when you won an award that nobody has heard of apart from the 30 people who paid to enter it.  Or got an orange Amazon label because your book reached #1 for one week, in such an obscure genre that it didn't mean you sold a great deal anyway.

It's not a good look.  Just don't do it.  Actual award-winners and best sellers are usually quite low key on their bios.

Hope this has been helpful, and good luck!

Pauses For Thought: Ten Pieces of Advice for New Writers/Self-Publishers

Based on my nine years as a self-published writer and reader of 'indie' books, and my membership of Rosie Amber's Book Review Team.

1.  Should your first attempt be your debut?

This is a difficult one to assess.  Your novel is nearly finished, you're justifiably proud of yourself, and can't wait to get it up on Amazon, describe yourself as a published author, and see those sales start to roll in.  If this is your very first attempt at writing, though, it might be worth considering these scenarios: 

• Joe is taking guitar lessons, and has managed to put basic tunes to some of his lyrics.  He tells you of his intention to approach a local venue for a paid gig.
• Lucy has always wanted to paint.  She takes some lessons at a night class, and paints her first watercolour.  She asks you to wish her luck; she is taking it to a local gallery to ask them to display it.
• Ray has never done any professional photography, but he takes some great snaps on his phone that his followers on social media say are awesome.  He asks you to help him write his application for a job as a photographer on a local paper.

I'm sure you might diplomatically suggest to Joe, Lucy and Ray that they hang back and get a bit of experience before taking such ambitious steps.  Develop and polish their skills.  Yet every day new writers publish their first literary attempts on Amazon, without seeking out professional assessment of their work, employing an editor, or doing any sort of 'apprenticeship' in the form of short stories, or penning other novels or novellas in order to learn the craft of writing.  After initial sales and reviews from family and friends, most disappear without trace.

Now and again a virgin writer will put fingers to keys and produce a masterpiece, but this is rare.  Of course the nature of self-publishing is that you can publish what you want, when you want, but in a year's time you might wish you had not been in such a hurry.  Wait.  Practice.  Get feedback.  Amazon will still be there in a year's time.

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2.  Quality not Quantity
Recently, I have talked to two new-ish writers who say they love writing flash fiction, articles, novellas, short stories, but suspect they do not have the 'stamina' to write a novel.  One is extraordinarily talented and writes fabulous shorter fiction and pieces based on his own life (Phil Motel, HERE). I've known some who've made a great job of writing various scenes from the novel they're convinced they'll write one day, but never get round to linking them together.  Writing a novel is hard.  You need a LOT of material, and a great deal of self-motivation.  It doesn't suit all personality types.  You may find that short stories and novelettes are more your style, or that you'll feel in the frame of mind to apply yourself to a full-length novel at some other point in your life.

There is room for everyone - the 150K word epic fantasy scribe, and the writer of novelettes and long short stories that can be read in an afternoon - especially these days, with ever-shortening attention spans!  Don't feel that you are not a 'proper' writer, or that your work is not valid unless you can produce 90K words of it.  You are, and it is.

3.  Ten years or three months?
Recently on Twitter I had a bit of a wrangle with someone who claimed that he has spent ten years writing his novel, because he is a true artiste and respects the craft, and carefully considers every word.  His words implied that those who publish several titles a year do not.

I publish two a year.  All are between 90 and 110K, drafted over and over, properly edited and proofread.  Some people write four a year, others one.  You can only write at your own pace.  I would love to write three a year, but I can't, not without the quality deteriorating.  However, ten years is rather a long time.  If you want to achieve any sort of readership in the current publishing climate, I would say that you would need to get used to producing one every year or eighteen months, at least.

4.  All image and no substance.

When the Kindle self-pub thing first began, lots of writers made their own covers, which ranged from as good as the professionals to the truly dire.  Then came the blog posts and articles: yes, people really do judge a book by its cover.  As the self-publishing phenomenon exploded, competition became fierce, and writers had to up their presentation game.  Soon, every indie book sported amazing fantasy creations, artistic images of women walking down shadowed roads, cutesy cottages with title in appropriately jaunty font, etc., just like the traditionally published.

Over the last few years, though, I've come across many indie books with gorgeous, clearly professional and probably expensive covers, only to look inside and find content that doesn't do them justice.  Flat or lazy writing, bad pacing, wooden dialogue, one-dimensional characters; you name it.

A while back, on Amazon, I saw a book with a terrific cover (which was what made me click on it) and lots of bad reviews complaining about all the errors within.  One reader commented that she felt angry about it, as if she'd been conned into wasting her money.  The author commented back that he was sorry, but after spending out on the cover he didn't have any money left for proofreading, and talked about his dream of being a published author.

Sadly, the reading public don't care about your dreams, if you're not willing to save up your pennies to present them well. Of course a great cover will help you sell books, but it's what's inside that brings the good reviews—and future sales.

It's easy to sell one book.  But unless the content is compelling, presented well with a great structure and plot, and characters that come alive, the reader who bought it won't buy another.

5.  How much is too much?

Your book may have taken you one and a half years to write.  You may have spent hundreds on editing, proofreading, cover art, and be looking to make some of that money back.  Your friends tell you not to undersell yourself; you, too, might feel that your precious baby is worth more than £2.99.  But if you over-price it, potential readers will move on.  You need to study the market.  See what other books of your genre and length are selling for.  No, not those by GRR Martin or Kate Atkinson, but other unknowns.  Then price it accordingly.  The time to go a bit higher is when you've developed a readership.  Except that by then you might not need to; it is better to sell 30 books at £1.99 than 3 at £4.99.

Note, Aug 30th:  during an Amazon browse just now, I came across a book that interested me.  7 short stories, 171 pages.  It was priced at £3.99.  Yes, I know, it's only 4 quid, but it still made me think, nah.  Given that many full-length novels (including my own) are between .99 and £2.99.  Had the author priced it realistically (I'd say no more than £1.99, preferably £1.50 or .99p), I'd have bought it.  He might have got a lovely review on my blog, Amazon and Goodreads.  I might have bought more books by him.  Other people may have read my review and bought it on my recommendation.  THIS is how you build a readership.  Not by pricing out of the market.

6.  A few words about Twitter

• If you're going to do screenshots of excerpts from your work, make sure it doesn't contain typos, duplicated words, incorrect punctuation, etc.
• If you only 'do' Twitter within the #WritingCommunity, and only tweet about writing, you won't reach the reading public.  Many people outside this tiny corner of Twitter mute those who do endless 'writer lifts' and those 'leave your links and I'll buy 3 books' tweets. 
• If you're tweeting about your published novel, don't forget to add the buy links.  Might seem obvious, but it's surprising how many tweets I see with just the cover, description and no link.  No, people won't go to Amazon and look it up.  Not even if it's free.  Also, American writers should be aware that readers from other countries (UK, most of Europe, Australia and others) cannot buy from Amazon.com.  So you need to at least tweet the UK link, or use a 'universal' one.  If you don't know how to do that, ask.
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7.  I've said it many times but it can never be said too often.
If someone who claims to be a publisher or agent asks you for money, run a mile.  These are scammers, or vanity publishers.  Agents get paid with royalties from your books.  Publishers pay YOU money, ditto.  If you choose to go with a pay-to-publish outfit, like Troubadour, that's your choice, but don't be misled into thinking it's a real publishing deal.

8. Same heading as #7
If you want to write for a living, or part of it, it's a good idea to learn how to punctuate properly.  However, I know lots of successful authors whose punctuation is less than perfect; they leave it to their proofreader to sort out.  Fair enough.  The problem comes when the proofreader doesn't know how to do it, either; sadly, many of the inept advertise their services most convincingly.  Approximately half the 'indie' books I've tried (some published by small publishers) sport incorrect use of semicolons, comma splices, have missing vocative commas, etc.  You should never publish without a professional proofread, but you need to make sure that the proofreader knows what he or she is doing.  Do not believe website blurb.  Get recommendations.  

The other day someone showed me a tweet in which a 'copy editor' (according to his Twitter bio) described a certain number of people as being 'adverse' to a particular practice.  I saw the same error in the blurb of a book published by a well-known vanity press.  If you don't know what's wrong with that, and even if you do, it is essential that you take recommendations from experienced authors before hiring a proofreader.  If you don't know any, ask me.

9.  Language, Timothy.
On Twitter, I see a few discussions about whether or not one's characters should use bad language.  Here is my take on it: if a character would say fuck, have him say it.  But perhaps let him do so less often than he might in real life, simply because it becomes tedious to read if he's saying it every other sentence.  Some of my characters swear quite a lot, some not at all, but even with the ones who do, I edit some out.

n.b. if any readers are offended by the language used, they are not your target market. Don't think you have to change your writing style because one review complains about it.  There are plenty who won't mind.

10.  And finally...
If you want to write, you will.  If you haven't written for three months, it's because you're busy doing other things necessary for your health and wealth, because there is too much other stuff going on in your head right now, or because you don't actually want to do it all that much.  It is not 'writer's block'.  Think about it.  If you keep meaning to paint the bathroom but haven't got round to it yet, it's because you're giving priority to other areas of your life.  The same goes for writing.  It's your priority, or it's not.  

Today, I wrote about 900 words.  Every one of them screamed and resisted as it came out, and the section I've written is, not to put too fine a point on it, a bit crap.  But I want to get this novel written; I was determined to push it on to the next stage, so I made myself keep at it.  Yesterday was a great day: 3K and I was pleased with most of what I wrote.  I'm hoping tomorrow will be better than today; either way, I shall be at the laptop all afternoon.

Once you start writing, the ideas will come.  They're unlikely to do so while you're spending the afternoon on social media complaining about your 'writer's block' or lack of motivation.

If you don't want to write, it's perfectly fine.  You don't have to.  It might be harder to admit that you don't actually want to do it as much as you think you do.  If you'd rather watch TV or read or muck about with tagging games on Twitter or play Assassin's Creed, it's your choice.  But don't pretend to yourself that your unwillingness to sit down, open the document and get on with it is some dramatic 'syndrome' peculiar to creative people, please!

Good Luck!

3 Misconceptions That Can Hinder New Writers

A while back I wrote an article entitled 7 Myths That Can Hold New Writers Back. Here are three more, with the subtitle 'and will prevent them publishing a really good book and finding lots of readers'.

1. If a book is good it will sell of its own accord, without the need for promotion.

Ages ago, a proofreader friend told me about one of her clients, who, though a terrific writer, hardly sold any books.  When she suggested various ways of promoting them, his reply was 'but if they're so good they should just sell, shouldn't they?'

The other day, a writer was talking to me about the fact that his books weren't selling. When I suggested methods that might change this, he replied that he didn't like 'blatant promotion', and preferred people to 'discover' his work online, by means of discussion on its subject matter.  A nice idea, but I had to stop myself saying, 'So how's that working for you?'  I looked them up; they had one review apiece, and I could see by the rankings that they hadn't sold more than a handful. 

Here's the thing.  Sure, we'd love our online activity to consist only of chatting, and to have others think, 'What a great guy!  What fascinating insight he has!  I see he's a writer; I'll go seek out his books, and buy them all!'  Yes, that will happen now and again, but, mostly, if you don't promote your books, they won't 'just sell', however fabulous they are.

Why not?  Because no one will know they exist.

Most self-pub or small indie published writers sell the majority of their books via ebook on Amazon, I find, and it's where almost all start off.  But the site contains millions of titles.  Millions.  Yours (and mine, and everyone else's) are the needle in the haystack; if you don't promote your books yourself, they will become invisible to Amazon users.  If they never get clicked on, bought, downloaded on Kindle Unlimited or reviewed, they won't appear on 'also boughts' or recommendations.  They will not show up in searches.  They may as well be shut in a virtual drawer.

No one is making you promote, if you feel it's a bit naff to do so, or not 'you', or if you just can't be bothered (see below) - that's fair enough.  Or, indeed, if you're not fussed, and are just happy to have written them; I know a few who feel this way, and you need read no further!  But if you want to sell more than the odd one here and there to people you know and online writer friends, you will need to learn how to do this stuff.

2. You're 'no good at' promotion.

A while back, someone asked me to help to tweet his cut-price offer on one of his books.  He asked me, he said, because he was 'no good at' promotion.  I was happy to help as I have a silly amount of followers and the book was good, but I couldn't resist questioning this 'no good at' claim.  Did he mean he felt embarrassed promoting his own work, or that he didn't know how to?  He admitted that he actually meant he couldn't be bothered.

Building up any sort of online platform does take time, and effort, when you'd rather be writing, or watching TV, or reading, or whatever.  It means finding out how to use the site(s) of your choice, reading advice articles, following people and interacting so that you gain more 'reach', sharing others' stuff and taking an interest in what they do, seeking out bloggers who will feature you, thinking up ways to present your work on Twitter/instagram/Facebook, without giving your followers a virtual bludgeoning about the head (commonly known as spamming 'buy my book' tweets).  If you're not sure how, have a look at what others do.  If you would like to read some articles on this subject, click this link and go to the 'Writers and Social Media/Promotion' section.

If you feel shy about it, remember that you don't have to say 'this is a fantastic book, you totally have to read it NOW!'.  Your tweets, for instance, can show the book off like an advert, rather than telling everyone it's a #mustread, which is off-putting, anyway.  People will investigate further if they like the cover, or think the subject matter sounds interesting.  Choose a good quote from a review—not 'I couldn't put it down' or that nice bit that your writer friend wrote about your characterisation and descriptive abilities; find something shorter and more punchy.  Or choose a quote from the book itself; a belter of a one-liner, rather than detail about the plot or something that means a lot to you but doesn't work out of context.  Then add a couple of hashtags to show the genre, and don't forget the cover - and the buy links!


3. Producing a novel is all about letting the creative juices flow.

You know how it is, when you hit on that great idea.  You mull that story around in your mind and get excited about it; you open a new document and get stuck in.  You think of new developments when you're away from it, and can't wait to get back to your desk to start making them come alive.  You think about your characters until they seem almost as real as people you know, and often more interesting.  You have moments when you can hardly type fast enough; your fingers fly over the keys, as your brain creates scenes, settings, new characters. 

Thing is, that's only the beginning.

Have you ever tried showing someone a first draft?  Did you get any of these type of reactions?

'It was great, but....

• I didn't get that bit about Jake discovering his real father was a famous actor; it didn't go anywhere. Yes, it's a stunning revelation, and, mm-mm, I'm sure it was great fun to write, but it was like you put it in, then forgot about it.
• ...I hate to say it, but did you know you've explained the bit about Lizzie and the king four times?  And how come all the characters use exactly the same adjectives and slang?
• Why have you put in a chapter about the architecture of Prague in it for?  Ah, I see.  You really wanted to write about it, because Prague is so beautiful—yes, I can see you got really carried away!  But I was waiting to get on with the story....
• I love this fight scene, but are you sure Jim could just get up and walk away, with those sort of injuries?  Oh, I see.  He needs to be in Texas that night for the next bit of the plot.  But he'd probably be dead.  Did you not research knife wounds to the femoral artery?'

Novels need planning.  Thinking through.  Researching.  Creativity is only one part of the whole process. The first draft, that wonderful burst of creativity, is just the raw material.  

I read for Rosie Amber's Book Review Team, and one of the problems I find all too often, with self- or small indie publisher books, is that they simply need more work, to iron out clunky sentences, to get rid of long-winded descriptions, to add clarity, suspense, foreshadowing ... these are the elements that get sorted out in multiple redrafts.  You need to go back and start at the beginning, each time.  Go through it over and over.  Four, five, six and more times, however many is necessary until the book is as 'tight' as you can make it.

I'm not a perfect writer; no one is.  But you owe it to yourself to make the book as good as it can be.  I find that as I write the first draft, I realise that other sections earlier on might need some tweaking.  Or I see that more emphasis is needed on certain aspects.  To this end, I have post-it notes all over a board in front of my desk, which I put into order when I'm about to start the next draft.  They say things like 'make more clear that Byron doesn't like Hemsley', 'establish that Evie is a fabulous pastry cook', 'Need more detail about the trouble in the city before Ryder turns up'.  By the time I'm at the end of the third draft, I've got the story about right.  Then it's time to look at every sentence and see if it could be written more succinctly.  

Redraft until you're sick of the sight of it.  And then do another one.

Hope this helps!

Writing lessons learned from Magic City vs #TheWalkingDead #writerscommunity

Being a TWD addict and blogger as I am, I'm always interested to see my favourite actors from the show in other stuff they've been in.  Recently, I've been watching the 2012/13 series Magic City, starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

I did enjoy it, but when I analysed it I could see why it was not a hit, and thus cancelled after just two seasons.  I recognised some years ago that watching TV drama can teach you so much about writing, particularly pacing and the building of suspense, but considering the weaknesses of Magic City (as opposed to The Walking Dead, now renewed for its tenth season) gave me a few reminders about similar pitfalls in the writing of novels. 

Likeable Characters
One of the reasons for TWD's enduring popularity is that we love Carol, Michonne, Daryl, etc.  We want to know them.  We're gutted when bad stuff happens to them.  I realised, thought, towards the end of the second season of Magic City, that the only character I actually liked was JDM's Ike Evans.  Generally, the rest of them were pretty objectionable.  Ike's two sons were a) self-righteous and sulky and b) underhand and sulky.  The women, almost without exception, were self-serving and bitchy, even when they were misunderstood victims.  The baddies were not multi-faceted, like TWD's Negan and Simon, or those you end up feeling sympathy for, like Dwight and Merle, but just one-dimensional assholes.  

Lesson for writers: 
Your novel needs at least a few likeable characters, even if it's set in the dark world of crime and gangsters.  There are few characters more fascinating than a 'baddie' who later reveals more tender traits, or a 'goodie' who shows his or her flaws.  It's hard to like or get under the skin of one-dimensional stereotypes—and it's very risky to make your main character unlikeable.  If readers don't have anyone to root for, they won't care what happens to them.


Plot Threads Left Dangling
Magic City contained the beginnings of some great storylines, but they weren't carried through.  For instance, JDM's dancer wife took amphetamine shots to enhance her performance, and went to a voodoo practitioner in order to increase her fertility; these ideas, among others, just petered out, undeveloped and with no consequences, as if the writers had forgotten about them - unlike in TWD, when a plot thread/storyline is seen through or picked up on later; the results are often felt seasons down the line.

Lesson for writers:
All sub-plots need to be woven into the main plot to become a part of the whole.  A side-storyline has to have relevance to the basic plot, or at least have an effect on the lives and development of the characters' story arc, or it can end up seeming superfluous, an unnecessary diversion from the main story.

Unnecessary Sex Scenes
By the beginning of the second season of Magic City, even my husband (who is, you know, a bloke) said he was fed up with seeing naked tits and arses in every third scene.  Very little was left to the imagination.  Now, here's the thing: it doesn't add anything to the plot.  It takes you away from the story.  Like 95% of sex scenes in books, these were unnecessary, sometimes cringe-inducing, and, to be honest, a bit 'TMI'.  Something else I love about The Walking Dead: there is no sex.  I loved Rick and Michonne as a couple, but I have no desire to watch them shagging and, thank goodness, I never had to.  The closest we've ever seen is a hint that 'it' happened at all.  No thrusting buttocks, no heads thrown back in ecstasy.    

Lesson for writers:
Fifty Shades is yesterday's news.  You don't have to add erotic moments into your otherwise non-erotic novels.  As in TWD, you can convey the feeling between two people - yes, and all the passion - without a step-by-step guide to the gory details.  For all the glamorous, erotic scenes in Magic City, I never sensed the depth of love between any of the characters like that between TWD's Rick and Michonne, Maggie and Glenn, Abraham and Sasha - or Negan and Alpha.
 

<<< not this.... this>>>

Gorgeous women
In Magic City, every single woman was beautiful.  Perfectly groomed, full-on gorgeous at all times, even when depressed, at home alone, whatever.  I get that it was a high glamour show, but isn't that whole Dynasty thing so over?  I believe viewers like to see a bit more realism, these days.  I get that you can't compare the post apocalyptic world of TWD to 1950s Miami (couldn't be more different, really!), but the main point is that not all the TWD women are beauties, and not all the men are drop dead gorgeous.  Most of them are fairly ordinary-looking; we can relate to them. 

Lesson for writers:
Your main characters do not have to be beautiful/incredibly handsome, especially if not called for by the plot; forget all those heart-shaped faces, jawlines you could cut glass with, rosebud lips, cascades of unruly auburn curls, and other such clichés to convey great beauty.   Your men and women may be kind of attractive, because we all like to look at and read about attractive people, but they don't need to be drop-dead gorgeous.  The vast majority of people aren't.  Take a cross section of the people you know.  Think of 10 friends.  I bet only one or two of them would turn heads.  Most people are attractive in their own way to those who know and love them, and that's about it.  

And finally ... don't let your stories peter out with no satisfactory ending, like Magic City did.  That goes for blog posts, too.... 😔😕😉

 

Your First Novel is Ready to Go - Five Things to Consider #SelfPublishing #WritersCommunity #WritingCommunity.

1. Publishing for the first time: yes, it's terrifying!

Are you nervous about seeing your work out there?  About total strangers entering the world that, up until now, has existed only in your head and on your laptop screen?  Don't worry - it's the same for everyone!

The other day a newish writer asked me this question: How did you feel when your first word-baby was about to see the world for the first time? 

I thought back to the first book I published, in 2011, and remembered how exposed I felt, seeing my book sitting there on Amazon, almost as if I was inviting strangers to read my diary.  The bad news is that it doesn't get any better; I still panic every time, and I'm soon to publish my nineteenth book.  I still feel sick with nerves when I send it to my proofreader because she is the first person to read it (while she's correcting all the duplicated/missing words that I managed not to see through six or seven drafts), and ditto when I send out mobis to book bloggers.  And as the first sales start.  It never ends.

The good news is that you get used to it - and it's still worth it, for the lovely feeling (and relief!) of those first good reviews. 😀

2. If you don't read the rest of the post, please read this bit

...and I won't apologise for saying it again, because it's so important, and I hate seeing fellow writers wasting their money.  Please, please, beware of the scammers and the inept:

• The publishers who lead you to believe you have a real publishing deal but ask you to contribute to the cost (unless you have made an active choice to go with a vanity press, of course.  But please don't be fooled into thinking it's a publishing deal in the traditional sense).
• The editors with no proper training or professional editing experience.
• The critique services by people who have no proven experience in the market.  I would not pay anyone to critique my work who doesn't have professional, developmental editorial experience, and you shouldn't, either.  If they don't have this experience, you're better off looking for beta readers - many will test read your book for nothing.
• The writing competitions that require a large entrance fee.  Mostly, these are just money-makers for the organisers.  Even if you win, it only makes you the winner out of the 60 people who entered the competition, not all writers of your genre, and the badge they give you is unlikely to turn your book into a best seller.  There are so many online awards and competitions for writing these days that they tend not to mean very much, sadly.
• The proofreaders who can't punctuate, don't have a sound grasp of English grammar, and use 'proofreading software' instead of the human eye.
• The promoters who promise exposure to thousands of readers in your genre - you need to question this.  It may just be their social media following.
• The publishers who expect you to fund the process by online begging. 
• The promotional courses that promise you thousands of sales if you sign up, pay out and adopt their methods - if their sites feature testimonials from authors, get in touch with those authors.  I did, once, and found that her words had been taken out of context.

Some websites are so convincing, but before you hand any money over, get recommendations from established writers, or ask someone who has been publishing for a while to check out the site.  

Please note: sometimes, these services might be offered by authors themselves.  It's worth checking out how successful their own books are and if they are qualified to offer all they do, or if they are just trying to top up disappointing book sales - do not assume that, just because they have published a book or two, they necessarily know their stuff.

Repeat: always get recommendations from established writers!

3. Book bloggers are not your employees!

I've seen so much written about this lately.  Please remember that the majority of book bloggers have a life, and work on their blog in their precious leisure time.  They don't owe you anything.  They don't have to take your book for review, and, if they do, they do not have to give it 5* and say it was brilliant.  If you're disappointed with a blog review, please remember that they gave up their time, free of charge - just say thank you, and leave it at that.

Even if you are paying them, either by a set charge or by donating to a blogger's Patreon, they still do not owe you a great review if they do not think the book merits it.  You are paying for their service, not a dishonest endorsement. 

A few less than glowing book reviews will not harm a book's sales.  Look at the best selling books in your genre - you will notice that they all have a range of ratings. 

A tip: it's a bad idea to send a book to a book blogger until it has been through its final proofread and edit, even if you assure them that all errors will be corrected before publication; they can only review what they see.  

4. Sadly, not everyone will be as interested in your book as you are

...so please don't be tempted to send tweets and Twitter DMs (or whatever people do on other sites) asking random strangers to review it.  If you want reviews, take the time to check out book bloggers.  On Twitter, you can find them by putting #bookblogger into the search. Study their blogs, see if they take your genre, and if they're currently accepting submissions.  Submit as per the guidelines stated.  This is a much better plan than picking on new followers and diving in with offers of mobis and PDFs and long explanations of what the book's about, telling them how much they will love it.  Everyone hates these.  Yes, even those who are kind and polite enough to show some interest. 

Eventually, if you engage with people in a genuine way, and take time to use the sites properly, they will discover your book for themselves.  Don't forget the 'social' in social media.

Try not to become obsessed with getting reviews.  They may or may not come after people have taken an interest in your book, bought and read it.  Don't hassle people for them.

5. It's a good idea to build your 'platform' on social media

...before you publish, but it needs to be authentic.  It needs to be you.  Yes, marketers talk about creating your 'brand' (😩), but making grandiose claims or tailoring your real self to what you think sounds good doesn't work in the long run.  If you decide to say you're into, say, veganism, sustainability and gin, because they're trending right now, you'll find yourself having to 'rebrand' as soon as those things go out of fashion....

Authenticity is the key word.  One of the best examples of pre-debut-release platform building I've seen is that of Icelandic blacksmith Bjørn Larssen (Twitter HERE).  His book is not even out yet, and he's already clocking up the pre-order sales and reviews.  I think it's working so well because he's just blogging and talking to people about the things he's passionately interested in, and taking the time to find out about others, too.   

Incidentally, when I pointed this out to Bjørn, he said he'd been reading books about platform building and didn't think he was going to be much good at it.  
This, I think, says it all. 😄😉

You will find lots more useful articles for writers, new and otherwise, by clicking the link below - some by me, and many more by editors, book bloggers and other experienced professionals.

Useful Articles for Writers

Good Luck!