Jesus Freaks for Writers discussion

Here is a thread where those of us who are not yet published can ask published authors questions about writing, publishing, or anything else! Authors: please check here frequently to answer questions!

Authors: how did you decide to publish your book? Was there a moment when you realized you were going to publish, or were you working toward that goal the whole time?

I was working toward the goal of publishing for quite awhile, but what really got me started was working on the book super hard for a contest. When I didn't win (though I did get semi-finalist), I decided to take the plunge into self-publishing.

I wrote for years feeling absolutely certain that I would never be published. I had no connections, the wrong genre, etc. lots of reasons.
I felt like I should be spending writing time on something that was "actually going to go somewhere:" so I tried quitting A LOTTTT... but it only drove me crazy. I could only go a few months, and then I'd find myself guiltily prosing in a blank email, or typing frantically when I was supposed to be going to bed.

I went to a convention where everyone was talking e-books and self-pub, and afterward felt encouraged enough to start the journey of taking my only completed ms at that point to KDP.
Learned a TON, and got the encouragement of several newly made fans, so that was a huge step. People wanted a sequel, so I complied, and learned even more with that one.

Now I'm readying to release a new series, Thaw; fairytale retellings started off with a rendition of the Snow Queen, mixed with elements from several other winter fairytales. So this should be another learning experience, and advance readers so far as raving about it, so that's super fun!

Oh, I was always planning to publish my book. I was only 13 when I started it, and my parents didn't really think I was serious. I'd written plenty of little stories and such for school and leisure, but never something of novel-length. I wanted to, though--I just didn't know how to. 3 years later (a little more now, I suppose), "The Dragon Within" was published for the world to read. :) And now I'm working on "Dragons' Bane", with an expected release date as about the same as "The Dragon Within" last year: sometime in summer. :)

I think I always knew I'd publish something, some day. I used to dream about my Tigerlilly books in print ... even though I'd only ever written one of them. However, when I got serious about writing, it was with plays, and I had every intention of performing them ... but the biggest one, the one I rewrote three times, never got performed. I then transferred it into book form, rewrote it a fourth time, and then stuck it in my desk while I got distracted with my Bookania stories and The Ankulen. However I'm now working on the fifth, and I hope final rewrite, and I'm going to try to get it out next year somewhere in late summer/early fall.

It was always a dream of mine to walk into the library and see a shelf with books I wrote. So among all the weird things I wanted to be, I wanted to be an author. It just wasn't until Molly Evangeline/Jaye L. Knight told me about CreateSpace and KDP that I realized it was actually possible. Before that, it was just one of those favorite daydreams, like playing Jill Pole in a movie of The Silver Chair.

Well, haha, I AM a published author, but I still have a question for other published authors. I've been very busy working on Dragons' Bane, which I planned to have done about June of this year, but I'm thinking I need to push that publication date back, because I've still got editing and polishing to do on the book. However, I want to have some ARCs/uncorrected proofs or whatever the best term for them is, for the people who don't want to wait for the book to be fully done to read it.

What I'm wondering is, do people then review the book even though it's still unfinished? I'm worried they might not like the book as much in its not-fully-complete state, and that would affect how they review it and such. Or is it more just so they can build up hype for it? Or...would you just have beta-readers read it and talk about it to help build publicity before the book is actually published?

What I generally see from indie authors is that they give out ARCs post beta reading to people who are going to review it for a blog tour promoting the book. I did get an ARC from a traditionally published author, last year I think, and she just wanted the review posted sometime prior to the book's release. Having beta readers talk about it to build hype would probably be good, but I would wait on sending it to anyone else until you've applied their feedback, but not necessarily before it has had a final proofread.

I'm not an expert, I'm working on publishing my third book now, but I'll be waiting until I've applied beta reader feedback to get ARCs ready, and ask my proofreader who has a blog to review it for my blog tour, and probably my beta readers with blogs as well.

Lots of questions, here we go:

How do you go about designing a good book cover yourself (ie, don't have to give an arm and a your head for one :P)?
I know that Amazon's CreateSpace has a cover designer, but I'm not sure how it all works (do you need to pay a lot for certain templates/designs?)...

Have any here used a site called Canva for book designs? I'm tinkering around with it (I need some visual inspiration for my story and thought the cover would be a good place to start)...

https://www.canva.com/create/book-cov...

And what about beta readers? How do you go about finding trustworthy ones?
Is there a difference in finding beta readers for something that might not be novel-length (novella/short story)?

What sorts of writing classes did you take that helped you find your style?

I'll probably think of more later, but that's it for now. :)

Merenwen wrote: "Lots of questions, here we go:

How do you go about designing a good book cover yourself (ie, don't have to give an arm and a your head for one :P)?
I know that Amazon's CreateSpace has a cover des..."

You don't have to pay extra to use Createspace templates. It's just part of the package if you design it yourself. :)

I have a question for authors! I have always hated writing reviews for books I don't like.. And was wondering. Would you prefer a bad review or no review?

I would rather see a bad review than just a low rating, because I'd like to see why you didn't like my book. It means you actually put thought into reading it, and it isn't just a whim, or someone with a chip on their shoulder because their cat died that morning.

Kendra wrote: "I would rather see a bad review than just a low rating, because I'd like to see why you didn't like my book. It means you actually put thought into reading it, and it isn't just a whim, or someone ..."

Thanks Kendra! That's nice to know!

As an author, I know I'd rather have a politely worded negative review than a none-review. :-)
Numbers of reviews affect certain things, such as ranking, etc. so it's not all about positives, but also about having a broader number of opinions.
:-)
That being said, if you didn't like a book, you can always just say,
"I didn't care for this book" and then go on to mention lightly what you didn't like. This kind of review can actually be a lot of help for people looking at them in order to decide if the book is their type or not.

For example, if a review said "I didn't care for this book. I loved the Late Paleolithic era, but it was heavy on the romance thread and there was just waaaay too much kissing taking away from the beauty of the prehistoric setting."
Then a romance reader could come along and think "Wow! Paleolithic KISSING!!! I Must Have This Book!" ;-)

In this way you've left a helpful opinion to other readers, which is the original purpose of reviews!!! ;-) They're not exclusively to make authors feel good, (although a harsh -or even slightly panning- review Can make an author stay under the covers for a week. ;-) I know, I've been there!!!)

E. wrote: "As an author, I know I'd rather have a politely worded negative review than a none-review. :-)
Numbers of reviews affect certain things, such as ranking, etc. so it's not all about positives, but..."

Thank you thank you! I have been conflicted about this! I HATE writing negatives reviews..... but if I give a negative rating I should explain why I liked it and why I didn't!

Truthfully, I'm just curious. Anyways, here is my question:

What was the process like of getting started? Like your writing process, tying the book all together, finding a publisher, distributing your book, etc. Just some advice on that stuff and an idea of what to expect would be nice :)

Hey Bailey!!!
As author of five novels released (six more in the works! Yes I'm a cray all over the place writer, but hey, whatever works! ;-) ) I think I'm probably able to share an look at what it "getting started" looks like.

Frankly, it looks like stumbling around on the page for up to ten years until enough invisible gears "click" into place in one's head (on another plane/dimension/thing, ;-) ) and you gradually realize you now understand what "style" you have, what your "voice" is... (Which is a huge relief!)
And then you come to the conclusion that you know absolutely nothing about publishing, self-publishing, or marketing after that!!! :-)

Being a writer consists of writing. That is a very tangled and difficult path to cut for yourself, because you have to practice A TON and then try to analyze as you go, so that you can course correct with each now project.

Being an Author (actually releasing the writings) is an even more tangled process, and it's ALSO is so individualized that everybody really does have to figure out what works For Them, and gets them to Their Goal... and it's not necessarily reduplicate-able at all! :-)

I started writing with the serious intent of getting better at it when i was about 13/15... and it really did take about 10 years for me to feel like I'd actually gotten to a place where I was satisfied with my stuff. (I am a perfectionist, with "don't show anybody!" tendencies, so I'm sure that factored in. ;-) )

My advice to aspiring authors is to write a LOT, but don't put pressure on yourself. Just get those words down, the sentences flowing... exercising the creative muscle. You don't have to show anyone... save Everything, and look at it again after a year or two. You'll be able to pick out what you did wrong, and you'll learn from that.
Secondly, READ a lot. Like, EVERYTHING! The more frame of reference you have the better you'll be able to employ the best cherry picked gems from all those authors combined.

Or... Where you asking about starting a Particular Project?

That's a fairly different answer... ;-)

In my case, it's best if a project "percolates" in my head for a couple of months. This is kind of like slow-steeping a coffee pot... lets the good stuff all blend together and come up with it's own flavor.
As it's in there ideas will continue to kind of gravitate out of the boxes in my "mental Back-Room" and attach themselves at various points to the Main Idea... coalescing into a general feel for the tale.

Then when it's built up enough mental pressure that I REALLY Have TO Write This! I sit down and write the most sharp, burning scene in the pot.
Repeat, repeat, until the pressure is gone.

I usually like to let things percolate some more for a while, and then when I come back to it with a serious determination to finish it, the sharp, colorful scenes already on the page help ground me to the project and also give me a starting place. I make an arc-plot=planner, and jot down where the existing scenes are, what needs to happen around those scenes, and also what mystery spaces I need something to fill.
next step is to write the "what you know", in this case, the scenes I know. Usually in the middle of this process puzzle piece ideas for the mystery slots will crop up here and there, and I'll be swift to write them out, too, and stick them in.

Once I have it all down, I send it to betas, and await their response! I spend a lot of time with the project while private, so there are usually only a few plot holes or confusing places for the betas to point out, and then I can hatch a way to clear those up.

Then comes editing, and covers, and... all that stressful stuff!!!

Hope this helps! :-)
If you have any other questions feel free to ask them! :-)
Elizabeth

Sierra wrote: "I have a question for authors! I have always hated writing reviews for books I don't like.. And was wondering. Would you prefer a bad review or no review?"

I don't think any author likes to see their work get flamed, but what's important to me is that a review is accurate. If the reviewer hasn't read the whole book, or is remembering it incorrectly, I'd prefer they would not review it rather than writing a careless review. And if they have really serious issues with the book, I would prefer that they do what I do and address those privately with the author first.