I see an awful lot of “new” writers who are beginning or working on their first novel length manuscripts. They’ve never written a book before, but they want to know how much money they’ll earn, how long the book should be, who are the best publishers, and more.
Unfortunately, that’s not the way it works.
Sure, there are exceptions we can name, but those are exceptions. The vast majority of us have to play by the rules and follows established processes.
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
One thing I caution these new authors about is the expectation that their first novels will make the rich and famous.
For someone to expect a first attempt at anything to make him or her rich and famous is unrealistic and smacks of hubris. The first attempt at anything serves as a learning experience. In the creation of that first manuscript, you learn what you do well, what you need to improve, and what you really struggle doing. That first attempt teaches you that you need a lot more practice.
Do you remember your first time cooking or sewing? Your first time building something? Your first time driving? You weren’t an expert at it; you were a novice learning how to master those skills.
Your second, third, and eighth attempts might also serve primarily as learning experiences. Remember, writing is a craft. Mastery of any craft requires practice and, often, instruction.
Your first manuscript will likely be a disorganized mess utterly unfit for public consumption. That’s normal. Expect it but don’t be discouraged. Learning is a messy process filled with errors and moments of brilliance.
I know this from my own experience. I wrote nearly 10 full-length novels before publishing one. They were terrible, but I learned from each as I worked on them. As I continue to write, I continue to learn. Like any other writer, my skill evolves as I practice.
Learn about the industry.
Every industry has its own jargon. Publishing is no exception and combines other fields, each with its own jargon. If you want to be successful as an author, it helps to learn as much as you can.
First, there are three basic kinds of publishing routes: traditional publishing, hybrid publishing, and self-publishing.
Traditional publishing is the kind of path most people immediately think of: the author submits his manuscript, the publisher publishes it, the publisher pays the author. What uninformed authors don’t realize is that traditional publishers typically accept only 1% to 2% of the manuscripts they receive and generally pay a maximum of 15% royalties after the author has earned out his advance. The reason royalties are so low is because these publishers employ professionals to produce quality books, and those professionals’ salaries must be paid.
To heighten their chances of acceptance, authors must follow each publisher’s submission guidelines. Oftentimes that means seeking out literary agencies and following their submission guidelines. This entails researching publishers and literary agencies, learning how to write a stellar query letter, understanding standard manuscript format, and patience, lots of patience.
When it comes to hybrid publishing, the first two parts are the same, but the author pays the publisher. Unfortunately, hybrid publishing is rife with vanity presses that exist to exploit naive, ambitious authors. (Again, my personal experience attests to this.) Hybrid publishers also have submission guidelines authors must follow, and many also employ professionals to help produce quality books. Hybrid publishers make their money by charging authors for their one-stop-shop services.
Self-publishing is exactly what it means: the author publishes his work himself. Because it’s highly unlikely that one is an expert at writing, editing, graphic art, page design, and proofreading, it makes good sense to hire a team of freelance professionals to produce a quality product. The author must pay these professionals for their services before the book even begins to earn any money—and the book won’t earn any money until the author develops and implements a robust marketing strategy (or hires a marketing team).
Be patient.
Fame and fortune do not await every ambitous author. Statistics show that 90% of authors earn less than $1,000 in royalties per year. Many earn less than $200 in royalties per book total. Publishing books is not a get-rich-quick scheme, especially if you’re hire ghostwriters to write your books for you.
There have been and continue to be ways to manipulate the system to your advantage. One such tactic was “book stuffing.” Plagiarism, AI content generation, and other cheats remain threats to honest authors and their revenue. Amazon and other online platforms do attempt to crack down on those dishonest tactics, but the best protection an author may employ is to be informed and aware of what’s going on in the industry.
Many new authors anxiously review their dashboards for sales figures and wait on tenterhooks for royalty payments. They don’t understand that sales figures take time to accumulate and royalty payments are not made when copies of a book are purchased. For instance, Amazon pays two months after royalties are earned. That means royalties earned in January will be paid at the end of March.
This means a one-time marketing blast cannot sustain sales. Marketing of books and authors is a marathon, not a sprint. It demands repetition and ongoing effort to be effective.
Follow the process.
Authors who pursue traditional publishing and authors who self-publish follow different processes. I typically work with authors who self-publish, so that’s the process I know best.
- Write the story.
- Edit and revise the story. Use robust editing software to help you refine your writing.
- Solicit feedback from beta readers and revise the story.
- Hire professional editors. You’ll most likely need both a developmental (structural) editor and a sentence level (line and copy) editor. [I am a sentence-level editor.]
- Revise the manuscript after each round of editing.
- Write the back cover blurb and get it edited.
- Hire a book designer. If you’re competent at page layout, do this yourself. If not, hire a pro. Remember, book design for print differs from book design for e-books. [I offer book design for print.]
- Hire a cover designer. If you’re knowledgable about your genre’s expectations and are competent at graphic design, do this yourself. If not, hire a pro. Do not use generative AI. Generative AI is unethical and readers don’t like it.
- Hire a proofreader. Your proofreader should receive the whole package: book interior and cover. Your book designer and cover designer should be involved in implementing the proofreader’s corrections. [I offer proofreading.]
- Publish. Upload the appropriate files: a PDF of the book’s interior for print, a PDF of the cover for print, a JPG of the book’s front cover for the e-book, and an EPUB of the book’s interior for the e-book.
The process outlined above generally yields consistently good results in product quality, but don’t expect perfection. Editors and designers aren’t perfect. The quality of the end product also depends upon the quality of the author’s work: no editor or designer can turn dross into gold.
Every word counts.