WHAT TO DO AFTER YOU HAVE WRITTEN YOUR FIRST BOOK?

 

GREETINGS!

Are you a writer? Have you just written your first book and have no idea what to do next? Worry not bestie, I’ve got you covered.

In this blog I would be talking about “what to do after you have written your first book”.

 

INTRODUCTION

Bestie, you did the tough part, now it’s just the fun part. Welcome to writingspeare, here writing is made simpler.

 

STEP 1: RELAX

You are definitely so hyped up and excited about your manuscript right now and now you just want to move on with the next step. I get it. But breath.

Relax your mind because it sure has done some serious business writing your book. Don’t overburden your self at any cost.

STEP 2: PROOFREAD

So let’s get down with business. I say that proofreading, is fun. But why?

Well because, this is finally the moment you get to read your manuscript completely for the very first time.

If you do not have time to do that and have money to accompany you, you can look for a proofreader there as well.

Fiverr is one professional website that gives access to you with all the exclusivity a writer would need.

Click on this link to go straight to Fiverr.

STEP 3: BOOK COVER

I love this part. After when you are done with proofreading your book once, it’s time to make a book cover or again you can hire someone to do that for you.

I made my book cover on my own. Check this out, my first book

Comment down below if you want to hear about my journey of writing my first book.

Now lets get back to talking business.

Book cover making is definitely the fun part I keep talking about. Because here, you get to play with textures and covers, I used canva to make my book cover. It is a free of cost website, you can also use canva pro which however costs a little.

STEP 4: PROOFREAD 2.0

Proofread 2.0 is all about you re reading your manuscript to make sure you don’t have any errors. Or typos or etc.

STEP 5: PRINT YOUR MANUSCRIPT

In my opinion printing a manuscript is way better than finding and correcting the mistake on a digital item. On paper, things are seen more clearly and it helps in figuring out your mistakes if any and then you can always make them right on your digital item(s).

STEP 6: CRITIC REVIEW

Hire someone to do this for you or have a known do this for.

This step is important because truth be told you aren’t writing a book for your self, you are writing it for your audience. And before making a fool out of yourself you need to be sure that your content fits right in place.

If you know big authors or small ones, you can ask them to review your book, the plus point here in fact is that you can state their positive reviews in your book. So when your reader purchases it and starts to read it, they would get an idea that you are not a first timer, that you’re a professional.

And that would want them to buy your next book as well.

It’s a trick bestie, apply it at all costs.

STEP 7: READER REVIEW

In this as well, you can hire people to read your book or just hand it over to your known people, but just make sure that they are NOT professionals.

Because here you simply need to know what your audience might thing of the book as whole.

If you can afford making a celebrity sensation like, influencers or you tubers or anyone who has their influence on people, read, that would boost your sales up as well.

Just make sure you get yourself registered first if the influencer is unknown, because they might use the book for their own advantage and then you would be playing court with them which is not a good aspect for your first book.

I mean it could be, if you can use that to hype up your next book. But it isn’t worth it, because you’ll feel betrayed and disheartened, and bestie, I don’t want to see you so hammered up, you deserve the best.

STEP 8: CHANGES

After every sort of reading of the book is done, you know where and what changes to make in your manuscript. Go ahead and do that.

 

STEP 9: TITLE

It’s the end bestie, whatever title you thought about to name your book, do it.

Make sure it is not a clickbait. You don’t want to have a reputation of click baiting readers from your first book.

Right, now also make sure that the title is relatable, but don’t give the entire story in your title.

Like books that I’ll mention here, pay attention

1.     Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

2.     The Woman In the Window by  A.J. Finn

3.     Into The Water by Paula Hawkins

In all of the books that I mentioned above, the author gave an idea for what the book is going to be about and not the exact story.

Have catchy titles. And if you want any articles specially dedicated to titles do comment down below.

STEP 10: PUBLISHING HOST

Okay, your book is done, well almost. Now you are thinking about how to publish your book? Is it going to be traditional publishing or online i.e. self-publishing.

What did I do? I self-published.

I used Amazon KDP because I wanted cost less work because this was my first book and I was not looking forward to spend the fortune over it.

You can use other platforms like IngramSpark, NotionPress etc. which is suitable for you.

You can always go with traditional publishing though, but I didn’t because I was not looking forward to get rejected and not have my book published in one go.

 

STEP 11: PUBLSIHING

Everything that was needed is done, it’s the last step.

Publish it.

No I am not even going to say anything further, just publish it. You did the hard work. You contacted the big people. Your book is perfect inside and out. You got the reviews of big writers.

You are a sensation already bestie. It is looking great, now what are you waiting for?

I know you are nervous, you are thinking about things that do not exist in your present, yet. And that’s okay, over thinking is fine. I mean, as long as it does not affect your work.

It’s all coming in reality and it is published now.

CONCLUSION:

You need to remember that this is your first book and it need not be perfect. It is completely okay if the first book sucks because it would. You are new to this field, you would learn eventually by experience and that’s the beauty of being a writer.

“A story written in a book is already well written” – My father said this to me when I wrote my first book. And trust me the book sucked. The book was not as good as it looked. I mean the content and book cover and all the necessities were perfect but I did not have sales because nobody knew me. And that is completely fine. Why would someone buy your book if nobody knows you? They will not.

The first thing to remember is that you should not stop writing even when the first book sucks, and even if there are no sales at all. 

 

Once you publish your first book, it may not flourish and that is why stay tuned for my next blog which talks about “WHAT TO DO AFTER YOU HAVE PUBLISHED YOUR FIRST BOOK” 

 

Thank you for reading it this far. I hope this helped you in any way possible. 

Comment down below for any queries or skip to the “CONTACT ME” page to know where to contact me. 

 

What are you planning to name your first book? Comment down below, bestie.

Read: How to write your first book?

aryaruth©