That's a touchy statement, isn't it? Before you light me on fire for typing it, give me the chance to explain. There are two aspects to being ready to publish your book: preparing your book and preparing yourself.
Take it Slow
Listen: I know how badly you want this.
I know you can taste it. I know it's in your dreams. I know it's on the tip of your lips when someone asks you what do you do or what do you want to do.
I know you need, burn, ache for publication, and that every day you aren't published is a bitter draught to swallow.
I know. I get it. So when I tell you this, it's not to hurt you. I tell you this to help you: slow down on your way to publication and take a big, deep breath.
Why Take the Slow Path to Publication
Your book must be ready and you must be ready.
Traditional publication can often help make sure your book is ready (or readier, at least), but I'm not here to talk about traditional vs. indie pub. I'm talking about your book and yourself, both of which will be exposed to the world the moment your book is out there.
Preparing Your Book
This site is filled to the brim with advice on how to prepare your book, and that advice is important. When I first published The Sundered in 2012, I didn't have a writing community. I had a few helpful friends who were and are completely awesome, but that's not the same as having other writers at your back.
I did everything to make that book good, but it still had a lot of typos. I got lucky: new readers were actually kind enough to reach out to help me refine it, rather than just going “Wow, full of errors.” That is NOT normal, and I'm incredibly grateful to this day, but to be honest, it shouldn't have had to happen.
Yes, traditional publication might have fixed those problems—but if you've ever picked up a traditionally published book riddled with errors (as I certainly have), you know that's no guarantee.
My book wasn't ready. I was tired of waiting and didn't have the money for an editor, but that wasn't an excuse. I needed to join a writing community, and at that time, I hadn't yet.
There's no way around it.
My experience publishing Half-Shell Prophecies was completely different because now, I'm in a community, and instead of pushing the book out as quickly as I wanted, I asked for help. The incredible folks at Becoming Writer caught typos, cleaned up consistency, and clarified characters. This village made my book shine.
Preparing Yourself
When you publish your book, several bizarre things happen.
First, readers assume they know who you are, and they pass judgment—publicly.
Think about the kind of statements you've seen lobbed even at really famous authors—everything from dismantling their personal beliefs to making wild accusations about the “real” purpose of their stories. Chances are, you won't be famous, but that kind of judgment is still coming your way.
You can't hide, either. Do you want people to know about your book? Then you have to be social. You have to learn to market and present yourself in a palatable way, and yes, that applies to both traditional and indie publishing. For introverts like me, this was actually the steepest learning curve, and it's one I still haven't mastered.
Second, you need to be ready to write no matter how people respond to your work. There will be really dry days. Sometimes, nobody buys your books and nobody reviews them. Sometimes, you feel like you're throwing words into a bottomless void, and there's no point to what you're doing.
It's hard to write before you're published, to keep up hope even when loved ones don't support you. It's harder when you are published and find yourself still filled with the same doubt you carried before it happened.
There's a third issue, and it comes from doing really well. Maybe you're selling, and you're getting great reviews, and you even feel comfortable calling yourself a writer. Then comes a strange, new pressure: the fear of disappointing your fans.
All by itself, this can be enough to panic you and freeze you as a writer. Fighting that fear while still dealing with self-doubt or writer's block is a whole new kind of war, and the enemy won't go down easily. If you're not prepared, it can be devastating.
Be Prepared
I know this all sounds really grim, but I'm not trying to scare you away from publication. Nobody warned me about any of these things. I had to learn them the hard way, and I want you to have a better first experience than I did. When you publish your book, I want you to enjoy the ride.
Step one: Prepare your book. Get other eyes on it. Take the time to make it as good as it can possibly be, even though that means it won't be published as quickly as you'd like.
Step two: Prepare yourself. Make sure you have your writer's manifesto, that you're prepared to fight your inner critic, and that you've gathered healthy writers and readers to help you as you go.
Publication requires some armor, and you have to craft that armor yourself. It's worth it. The readers who get what you're doing, who connect with you, and who enjoy your creative world the way you enjoy your favorite authors make it all worth it.
You can do this. If you don't quit, you will do this, and hopefully, now you'll be armed.
Have you been working toward publication? Let me know in the comments.
PRACTICE
This is your chance to start preparing your book. I want you to take the story you're most hopeful about publishing and grab a problem passage from it. Take the next fifteen minutes and polish it as best you can.
Then post your practice in the comments. Don't be afraid. Other writers are here to help you refine it, and this will also be your chance to help them refine theirs. Be sure to leave feedback for your fellow writers!
I am almost ready to publish my very first novel. I did all the things such as Beta Readers and then got an editor. My practice would be for the sequel to the first novel, hope that’s okay.
With the light shining in on her face
through the crack in the window shades Melissa Young wakes from a restful
night’s sleep. A luxury she’s been getting used to. It has been almost a year
since the execution of Colton Harris. The serial killer whose grasp she had
survived by a fluke of luck.
But every rose does have its thorn. Her
survival from that was the start of a ten year nightmare that ended with the
deaths of one hundred men.
She’s free of the grasp of Danil Burlomov,
the man who saved her, trained her and kept her as his own to do with as he
pleased.
Free of men now, at least as free as any
who is in witness protection
Standing out of her bed she’s dressed in a
tank top and boxer shorts. No work today, the weekend coffee time as she walks
down the hallway of her two bedroom condo and into her kitchen just as her
coffee maker finishes brewing. The one alarm clock she would have working on
Saturday.
After fixing her coffee she heads out onto
her balcony straining slightly as she opens the door. The injury Colton Harris
gave her never fully healed. At least the mental and emotional scars are gone.
Sitting down in her deck chair she is four
floors up and has an excellent vantage point to see if anyone’s coming. Her
security cameras – the size of pens – allow her to view everything when she’s
inside.
She knows that the US Marshalls have never
lost someone under their protection – yet. There’s always a first time. And
just as she swore to never be a victim again she also swore to never be under a
man’s control again.
As she sips on her coffee she checks the
date on her phone. Just another couple weeks and she can get the money she’s
hidden that the feds never found. Just do it piecemeal and she can live
comfortable again.
This sounds like a really interesting story. I like how in the third to last paragraph you showed instead of told, by showing how she’s still worried about someone coming after her, instead of just saying “she was worried about someone coming after her.” Keep up the good work!
What an interesting story! It’s definitely a sequel, since there seems to be information needed before we can fully understand this. 🙂 I would suggest using “Melissa” a little more, since we get so many other name in this section that I wasn’t quite sure who SHE was at first.
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Good advice, Ruthanne! I am on the third – I hope final – re-working of my novel. The support from Beginning Writer has been tremendously helpful on this journey. Writing can be a lonely occupation, as we all know, but having a writing community helps me get over the rough patches.
I agree – having other writers to collaborate with makes us realize we’re not alone in this.
It really can be, Peggy! I’m so glad BW has helped you like it has me.
This is great. Thanks. I am stuck in a mire. I decided to enter a special contest for Flash Fiction, thought I had a fairly good entry and within five minutes of hitting send, I received a rejection. Ouch. I have been reluctant to put myself out there ever since. Your article is helpful.
I’m sorry to hear that. Rejection’s hard, but please don’t stop trying. One day someone will read your work and think it’s awesome!
Oh, ouch, Nancy! I’m so sorry that happened. It happens to all of us, but that doesn’t make it any less painful.
Please keep trying. The best writers out there have walls of rejections!
I have my book finished it is called “Assunto de Crianças” ( I’m Brazilian”) is about adoption. One young couple try a lot became pregnant but the husband is sterile.
My problem is my inner critic because I write but sometimes I feel what i’m doing is useless. Now I’m recording my work. In the moment I haven’t readers to give me your opnions.
Eu posso ser a tua ‘beta reader’ se quiseres. Só te aviso, sou portuguesa por isso a gramática é muito diferente.
Manda-me um mail se quiseres que eu te ajude: martaxfonseca@gmail.com
Eu ficaria feliz com a sua leitura. Só estou terminando os processos para registrar o livro. Assim que isto for feito, te envio uma cópia, e você me dá sua opinião. Pode ser?
Ok, estás à vontade.
Ok, depois mandam-me um e-mail quando achares que estiver pronto para eu ter tempo de ler e dar uma opinião fundamentada antes de o tentares publicar. É sempre bom receber feedback de um leitor sobre o teu livro antes de o levar a um editor profissional e o publicares.
I know that inner critic; it’s a terrible thing to deal with!
In my experience, you have to let people see your writing. Make sure they’re people who can encourage you! While you do, keep reading and keep writing. Those two steps are the keys to becoming a good storyteller.
Here’s my practice. I’d appreciate comments/feedback!
—
Julia finally slammed into the ground at the bottom of the steps. Swallowing back a
sob, she pushed up on her hands and knees and cringed at the shooting pain in her shoulder, which had taken the brunt of the fall.
“Get back here, you little brat,” Sean shouted behind her.
A gasp shuddered into her lungs and she leapt to her feet and broke into a sprint up the sidewalk. She looked over her shoulder. He was still behind her. He shoved people out of his way and kicked over a baby stroller as he charged toward her.
Julia clamped a hand over her mouth as the baby in the stroller wailed. The woman who’d been pushing the stroller righted it and hushed the baby, stroking its head.
Julia kept pumping her legs, but nausea swished in her stomach and a sharp ache started in her chest. How could Sean treat people like that?
She’d probably never know the answer.
Cutting down an alleyway, Julia darted through puddles from the recent rain and chugged quick breaths.
Sean’s yelling voice echoed behind her. “When I get my hands on you I’m going to finish what I started.”
Breathing hard, she yanked herself to a stop by the rung of a ladder and lunged
onto it, taking the rungs two at a time. She was shaking. Sean had tried to hurt her once. She wouldn’t let him do it again. Not without fighting back this time.
The ladder quivered and she stopped climbing to stare down between her shoes. Sean ascended, his hands quick on the rungs, his cold blue eyes swallowing her.
A gulp of air rolled down her throat and she pulled herself up faster. She kept her
eyes focused high, fixing them on the handles at the top of the ladder. Memories slid their tentacles into her mind. Images of Sean looming over her, holding her down. Her own voice pleading.
Tears welled in Julia’s eyes and she blinked them away. She just had to focus on going
up. To the roof. Once she reached it, she could either go into the building through a roof entrance or she could jump to the next building. She’d make it. She had to.
Julia curled her tired, chafed fingers around the vertical handles at the top of the ladder and hauled herself up onto the roof.
Then a hand clamped around her ankle.
Hi there! WOW, what an intense scene! That ending is quite a place to leave off, too! Yikes! Kick him, Julia!
I have two suggestions to try to make this even better. 🙂
1. When someone yells in dialogue, it requires an exclamation mark. Sean’s yelling voice echoed behind her. “When I get my hands on you I’m going to finish what I started.” – That should be Sean’s yelling voice echoed behind her. “When I get my hands on you I’m going to finish what I started!”
2. Try to avoid things doing action instead of Julia. 🙂 “A gulp of air rolled down her throat” – well, no, it didn’t. 🙂 She gulped. “A gasp shuddered into her lungs” She gasped, actually. You’ve accidentally made the gasp the main character here! 😉
I love that you’ve really SHOWN Julia’s fear, not TOLD us about it. Very good!
Hi Ruthanne, thanks for reading my piece! I love to read but sometimes I find books where the narrator says “she looked annoyed”, “she seemed afraid”, “anger filled his eyes”, “rage suffused his face” and it drives me crazy, so I try really hard not to lean on telling emotions. And thank you for your critique as well! : )
It would help if I had an Editor-in-Chief. I self-publish. Thank you.
So do I. 🙂 I’m actually taking this from a self-publishing standpoint.
Oh! Thank you. Sometimes, I read these too fast. But, I understand that it gets expensive. I also ask people to take a look who work in a library. I have a very tight budget.
So do/did I! I couldn’t afford an editor at all. For that reason, I ended up teaching myself to do all the stuff I’d usually pay someone for – formatting, book covers, etc. It’s possible to do inexpensively, but it’s a lot of work!
You are absolutely right! I am doing my best! Thank you for this terrific advice! Much success to you..!
Ruthanne,
I’m almost ready. Very close. My question about self publishing is since I don’t have internet at home is it possible and just as easy to use a public library’s computer system? Thank you,
Kary Fontaine
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