How to Write and Publish a Novel

1. Read the type of novel you want to write. Lots of them.
2. Study genres and subgenres. Which one best suits the story you have in mind?
3. In the selected genre, what are the publisher's length constraints?
4. Make a list of possible publishers. What are they looking for? Do they accept queries from authors, or only agents?
5. Learn the craft. Take classes. Read books on writing. I found some great online classes.
6. Write a synopsis. Include story question, main characters and settings. See sample synopses.
7. Write an outline of scenes. Identify point of view character, scene goal, conflict, and, if it is important, date, time, weather. Estimate 2,000 words per scene.
8. Prepare bios of the main characters. Add other characters as needed.
9. Write the first three chapters. Don't ask me what a chapter is. You'll know it when you see it.
10. Revise the synopsis when needed.
11. Revise the outline when needed.
12. Edit the first three chapters until you are ready to share your writing with others.
13. Join a writers' support group where others will critique your work in return for your comments about their work. There are a lot of ways to do this. Some publishers will get new authors together to help each other. Organizations such as the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) have local chapters or online groups that do this. Romance Writers of America have subchapters. You Write On.com where you are assigned readings randomly. For each story you critique, you get a credit for a critique of your work.
14. Send copies of your work to your friends and ask for honest feedback, but believe in yourself.
15. Find manuscript contests you can enter. This is an excellent way to get useful feedback. The first level of the contests are usually handled by authors. But, if you come in first, second or third, you have an excellent chance of getting your work read by an agent or a publisher's editor.
16. Keep writing. If you are unpublished, agents and publishers don't care too much about how great those first three chapters are. They want to know you can finish the book.
17. Polish, polish, polish. Hire a professional copyeditor if you need to. It cost about $1,200 for each of my books. Unless you are an English major, this could be your largest expense.
18. Write a query letter. These are described in novel writing books and writing classes.
19. Update the list of possible publishers you made when you studied genres.
20. Make a list of possible agents.
21. Don't bother trying for an agent or publisher until the book is complete and has been professionally copyedited.
22. Editors and publishers want exclusive review time and they are sometimes slow, requiring three or more months to respond. Some authors send their queries out simultaneously anyway.
23. If you get an agent, great. Having an agent opens the door to more markets. There are many publishers that will not accept proposals from anyone except agents.
24. If no agent, send queries to publishers. Publisher's websites tell you how. They are slower than agents. Usually, you will need to send a query letter, a synopsis, and the first three chapters. If they like what you've sent, they will ask to see the entire manuscript.
25. Traditional publishing should be your first choice, because the publisher has the ability to market your book in many more places than you can otherwise.
26. If traditional publishing not possible, select a self-publishing company. I used CreateSpace.com for the print edition and the Kindle edition. I used lulu.com for the other eBook editions, including Apple's iPad. Research this.
27. You are the publisher and will need to make decisions about book size, font, cover, ISBN, barcodes, setting a price, etc. It can be learned, but it is not all intuitive. In my town, many of the members of writers league have done this and will be glad to help. It's much easier the second time.
28. CreateSpace and Lulu both use Print on Demand (POD) methods. The cost of the printed version is the same no matter how many copies you buy. Also, they will sell and ship books for you so that you don't have to do that yourself.
29. Bookstores will not stock books unless you allow for refunds. This can be costly, so most self-published books don't appear in bookstores. My book is available on consignment in two local bookstores on consignment.
30. If you self-publish you also have to do all the marketing. However, you would need to get involved in this with a traditional publisher as well. I've found that book signings with or without talks is the best ways to sell books.
31. Maintain a presence on the Internet and the social networks. I write a blog and maintain a website. Also, I work with other authors throughout the country to help advertise each others books.
32. Encourage people to review your book and provide free copies for reviewers. You need to have a strong Amazon.com page since they are the largest online bookstore. My book was a best seller on Amazon.com one day due to my concentrating sales on a particular day.
33. Write another book. 

 
   

Artificial Wear and Tear of Library eBooks?

HarperCollins has initiated a new procedure for selling ebooks to lending libraries that sets a maximum of 26 checkouts per book. Since eBooks could last forever, the publisher has set an artificial wearing out time so that ebooks, like print books, will have to be periodically replaced.

How have libraries responded?

They're not happy. Especially at this time of reduced budgets and higher costs. Some have refused to buy more HarperCollins eBooks. Others are negotiating to increase the maximum from 26 to some larger number that more closely matches the lifetime of printed books. I've read that some hardback books are checked out hundreds of times with little wear and tear. Even paperback books last longer than 26 check outs.

As an author, I'm not so sure HarperCollins approach is unreasonable. Those sturdy library editions cost more because they're built to last. Electronic books sell for less than printed books because of the reduced manufacturing cost.

Here is an example of the cost difference: I sell the Kindle edition of Where Love Once Lived on Amazon.com for $5.99 and my cut is $4.16. The iPad version which sells for the same provides a profit of $3.36 after Apple takes its cut. It's less than that if the book is sold in UK or Canada, but not much.

In contrast, the print edition of Where Love Once Lived sells for $15.99 and my share from Amazon.com is $5.17. Books sold in bookstores and by other online outlets bring me $1.98 per book.

Since ebooks don't wear out, is it fair to the copyright holders for libraries to buy ebooks for less than the print editions and use them forever? Especially now with so many people switching to electronic book readers.

What do you think?

Use of Digital Books on the Rise -- Have You Read One?

Have you noticed the increased number of books available in digital format? I have. Electronic books have been around for decades, the first available only on computers. However, the use of e-books increased rapidly when Amazon.com introduced its Kindle. Another jump in digital reading came with the Apple's iPhone. Now there are several other reliable e-readers such as Barnes and Noble's Nook and Apple's iPad.

Where Love Once Lived will be available in various digital formats, including Kindle.

I bought a Kindle when they first came out and then updated twice since. I read it every day. I like being able to use my iPhone and my personal computer to read the same book. Amazon.com keeps them all in synch. I like the PC software best if I'm making a lot of notes so I use it when reading a book I plan to review.

I love being able to look up the meaning of words as I read. I love being able to change the font size anytime I want to. I love being able to underline and make notes as I read.

I plan to do an article about the various readers available in a future post. Today, I want to ask you about your experience with digital books. Have you read a digital book on any device? If so, what device did you use? Do you use it on a regular basis? What do you like and dislike about it?

If you haven't read a digitized book, do you plan to?