A “How To” for Aspiring Authors

by Anna del C. Dye @AnnaDelC
Indie Author Hub Member

What should you do when you want to write a book?

• First thing “Keep your day job.” To publish and promote your books takes money and sometimes lots of it. Promotion may include travel, business cards, bookmarkers, renting tables at fairs, posters, and free copies for reviews, etc. Most reviewers will require one or more free copies of your book, and so will any contests you enter. You will also need to provide most interviewers with a free copy or your book.
• Once upon a time the publishing houses helped you promote your book. In our day reality is becoming quite different. In many cases the author pays for tickets, gas, and hotels. If you write fantasy, you will want to promote your books in many fantasy fairs. The best ones will charge from $50 up to much more, often $200 for the right to have a table. This is without counting the need for someone to help you and the cost of food and gas.

Now that that is out of the way, let’s get down to writing.

• Make a habit of writing every day even if it is only for a few minutes or a few phrases. This exercise will keep you in tune with the story and your characters.
• Have friends look at your stories for common grammatical errors. You can tell them that you will put their name in your book if they get it back to you in three weeks, as a way of acknowledging their work.
• Join a local chapter of a writer’s organization and learn from them. Usually they have members that will coach you to be a better author, and you will always learn from others experiences.
• Join a group of critics and submit chapters for their review. You have to learn to accept negative comments along with the good ones. Critique others’ books and read those submitted by and for other authors. I have learned a lot by doing this.
• Register on sites that promote blogging and maintain an active profile. Start blogs so people can get familiar with your name or rather your pseudonym. Two blogs a week that are no longer than 15 lines is good.
• Write articles and small stories to send to everyone who has a press (online magazines, newspapers, university presses, etc.) Keep a folder with all the articles or stories anyone has printed for you.
• Start conversations with strangers and get adjusted to talking with them. (This is great preparation for when you have fans.)
• Research everything. (You don’t want to write something misleading or wrong only to have it pointed out to you after your book is published.)

Try a few of these items every day until you can feel comfortable doing all of them. Writing a book is the easy part… getting it published and then promoting it once it is published is a different ball game and a very demanding one.
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Shared with us from Anna's blog.

Anna was born in the extreme South. She loves reading, but had few opportunities to do so while growing up. As a young woman, she moved North to marry Rodney Dye and has resided in Utah since then. They are the parents of three princes and a princess. With her husband and his family she has had the opportunity of traveling to many of the United States, (most of them camping!) and to four other countries. She would like to visit castles in European countries. She is fluent in both English and Spanish and understands Portuguese.

After she married, Anna was introduced to the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books that she admits to having collected. A number of years ago she was introduced to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and to J. K.Rowling's writings, which she loves. She also loves romantic music (she listens to it every day), theatrical plays that she attends at least six times a year, and cats (when they are not shedding).

Anna wears her dresses down to her ankles and likes them to be very feminine, with lace being one of her favorite trimmings. "I am afraid that I do not follow fashions," she has said. "I wear what I like."

You can find Anna on her website, her profile on FaceBook, and on Twitter at @AnnaDelC.