Maybe you've been there. Maybe you've been getting ready to publish your first (or maybe not your first) book, and you've felt like you were going in blindly, not really sure how to make it so that your book is actually seen. Maybe you check your dashboard on release day, and you see one sale. And then... nothing. Crickets. And the things you learn along the way? Well, everyone else seems to already know them.

When I started publishing, I felt totally unconfident. I'd done the research, but at the time, the answers I found often conflicted with one another. I'd spoken with authors who had experienced some success, made some money off of their writing, and although many of them were extremely helpful, there was a lot of uncertainty afterward, and I usually left with more questions than I had coming in. 

Today, I'd like to write to all of you about three things that may seem obvious... that I really didn't know when I started publishing my books. 

​1. Reviews are important.
This may seem silly to you. Of course reviews are important, right? If people like your books enough to write reviews about them - to spread the word to other readers - then others are more likely to buy it. The more people who review your books, the better visibility they will have. 

But this was pretty new information for me when I started publishing. Even as a reader, I never thought to post reviews for books on places like Amazon or GoodReads, even when I loved them. I posted many reviews on my social media, but it really never occurred to me where I should post reviews that really count. It also never really occurred to me that there was anything I could do to get more reviews. While I don't pay for reviews or require reviews, I've learned a ton of strategies I can implement that can help readers be more interested in reviewing my books. This can even come down to how visible my book is when it launches, how well my metadata works for my title, and even how the book itself looks. 

2. Making your book look professional takes TIME and MONEY.
Again, this one should be pretty obvious. But when I started publishing my work back in 2017, I really didn't think I would need to spend any money turning my manuscript into something my readers would want to pick up and read just by looking at it. 

Even for indie authors who do everything from writing to formatting to cover design, everything takes time, and most everything takes at least some money. When I started, I didn't really think about this, and my first few books didn't have the quality they would now if I had known when I published them what I know now. Even if you do everything yourself, you're still going to need to acquire and develop the skills necessary to make a professional looking, high quality book. Then there's hiring an editor, creating different editions of your book, ISBN's to purchase (although you don't have to purchase an ISBN: Some sites like IngramSpark and Kindle Direct Publishing will assign your book an ISBN for free), and so much more. All the little things add up, and it's good to know ahead of time what you may want or need to give your books their best shot.

3. How you prep your book launch largely determines how well your book will do while it's new.
Book launch? What's a book launch? Don't you just release your book when it's ready? Well, yes. You can "launch" your book whenever it's ready, but one HUGE thing that I've learned over the course of my writing journey, is that how you present your book to the world, how you build the hype leading up to your book's release, matters. 

Some of the biggest things I've learned in my journey so far are these: 
A. You can build some good hype over your book's release using professional looking graphics (even if you make them yourself) and a consistent posting schedule.
B. You can involve people in your book launch process in lots of ways... and people actually want to help! 

What are some things you've learned that you probably should have known from the start? Let's talk! I hope today's post was helpful to you in some way, and that you were able to learn something. I plan on going through each of these things I've learned in future posts, but I wanted to share the gist of them today. Check back weekly for more writing related topics, and have a wonderful week!

We've all been there, right? You're writing with vigor, and the story is coming along pretty well, and then all of a sudden, you're out of ideas. Possibly even after you've outlined what will happen next. Maybe you're stuck on a transition. Maybe you're going back and reworking your opening scenes, or rewriting your ending. Before you know it, you've hit an invisible wall, and on that wall is a sign that says: "You cannot write another word, and if you do, it's going to suck."

As I've been doing the final edit for my upcoming release and writing its sequel, I've become aware of something that I do every time I hit this wall. I think back to sitting in the classroom in high school, listening to the teacher tell the class about the five act plot structure. I think about breaking this plot structure down for my own students when I taught middle school and high school English, and something simple but wonderful happens. I feel inspired again.

No matter where I feel stuck in my story, I know I can come back and use this simple plot structure as a road map.

My beginnings always need to be reworked, because I get too excited in my first draft to get to the action that I always need to come back and slow things down. If I'm reworking my beginning, then I think about the exposition. Now, you can have exposition anywhere throughout your story, and this is done really well through dialogue as characters get to know one another. But what I'm talking about here is the exposition portion of the story's plot. Here, the main character goes around, usually minding their own business, living life as usual (great opportunity for some nice descriptive world building), and then BAM! Something happens that draws them away from their comforts. When I'm rewriting my beginnings, I think about that. Do I describe the world as the main character has always known it? Do I introduce important characters? Do I provide enough of a look into what's normal that it makes sense when that call to action comes up?

If I'm working through my rising action, I always remind myself that the rising action is exactly that. The heat is rising. The tension is building. Things continually come up that make the character's quest all the more difficult to achieve. This is also a wonderful time to build relationships between characters and to have your main character grow attached to someone or something. When I'm working on my rising action, like to ask myself, "Is this building tension for my character? What is this scene doing for the main character's quest, motivations, or attachments? How will this piece ultimately affect the climax?"

Ah, the climax. The turning point. This part of the story is always my favorite to write and to think about, because the climax occurs in the main character's darkest hour. Things are harder now than they've ever been, and something happens that makes the character wonder if they can go on, if they can ever recover from whatever they're facing. When I'm working on the climax of a story, I like to ask myself, "What emotions my character might be feeling? What's their setting like? Will their world be the same after this moment? If their world isn't rocked at the moment, what can I do to make them question if they'll ever be the same?"

The falling action is an area where I always need to come back to and slow down, as well. For the falling action, the characters are trying to figure out life after the event of the climax. They're reaching the end of their journey. Sure, there are still obstacles they face and troubles they experience, but things are winding down. When I come back to edit or rewrite my falling action, I often have to slow things down and really try to show what my character is thinking and feeling. I need to show if their motivations have changed and why. As I work through the falling action, I keep the ending I want in my mind, and do what I can to connect the details. 

When I work on writing or editing my resolution, or the end of my story, I really like to think back to how I taught resolution to my kiddos in the classroom. I would always tell them, "Think about the word. Resolution. How is the problem your characters have faced throughout the story solved? Tie them together." And I take my own advice. I use my resolution to solve the problem my character has faced all along; I write the end to their mission. If I'm writing a book that will stand alone, I solve the problem and have my main character reflect on the journey they've had. If I'm writing a book that will have a sequel, this is when I like to leave things off on a bit of a cliffhanger. I like to write endings that will have my readers saying, "What?! When's the next book coming out?!"

I hope this week's post was a helpful reminder for some of you that it can be incredibly powerful to go back to the basics when you're feeling stuck. And for all the students out there who ask, "Why am I learning this? I'm never going to use this..." (you know who you are), I'm here to remind you - you never know. Have a wonderful week!

I mentioned in one of my recent posts that the last year has been full of professional development for my author career. Having my son really motivated me in that regard, and I've been able to remain more highly focused on improving my craft throughout the year. In today's post, I want to share three books that I've found in the last year that have had a major impact on my writing and publishing process. Each book is linked below if you want to check them out. Just click on the image to open a new page with the Amazon link. 

Start Writing Your Book Today by Morgan Gist MacDonald

How did I discover this book?
I came across Morgan Gist MacDonald on Instagram a couple of years ago. I was impressed by the professional and direct manner in which she addressed authors and marketed her business. When she brought up a promotion she was having for the e-book version of her book, Start Writing Your Book Today. I decided to check it out. I read the book over the course of a week, late at night before going to bed, and I loved it so much that I purchased the physical copy and recommended the book to several others in my writing circle. 

What is the book about?
Just as the subtitle suggests, this book is a step-by-step guide to getting your book drafted. Now, this book was written specifically for non-fiction writers, but I was so inspired by the content, and I was able to easily transfer much of what was written to my fantasy novel, Bound (set to release September 30th of this year). 

What were my major take-aways? 
I took a lot away from this book (so much so that I now have the e-book and paperback versions so I could take notes and reference it often). My major take-aways? First, this book stresses the importance of writing consistently while you're working on your draft. Second, this book was incredibly helpful in pushing me to see the effectiveness of free writing, writing with a timer going, and tracking your progress. I now write with a timer every time I write. I no longer go back and re-read much when I start writing each day. Instead, I read the notes I made at the end of my last writing session, and I keep going from there. I track my words in a spreadsheet to make sure I'm reaching my goals each week. This has been incredibly motivating! This book also inspired me with its no excuses approach, which gave me the big push I really needed to write when I was awake feeding my baby at 2 A.M.

My Book Launch Planner by Stone Ridge Books and Mandi Lynn

How did I discover this book?
In August of 2023, I attended a virtual seminar in which Mandi Lynn spoke about some of the things she has done throughout her author career that have boosted her success. In her interview, she mentioned some planners that she had designed to support authors in their processes. I decided to look them up once the seminar was over. She has three planners in this series: My Novel Outline Planner, My Writing Planner, and My Book Launch Planner. After previewing them online, I decided to purchase all three. The other two are great! However, I don't really struggle with my outlining or writing process. I did, however, really need help with my book launch process and marketing. 

What is this book about?
​This planner was created as a tool to guide authors through their book launch and marketing journey. Inside, you will find support in writing different pitches, choosing your keywords and categories, email templates for reaching out to various resources (social media influencers, book stores, etc.). You will find calendars and places to put your goals and deadlines for all of your book launch avenues, and much more. 

What were my major take-aways?
As you can see from the image above, I've tabbed various sections of this book, and I've now gone through it three times. Once for the children's book I released back in January of this year (Especially You), once for my upcoming release, Bound, and once now for Bound's sequel, which is about halfway through its first draft. I think this book has been the most helpful to me this year, as I'm always looking to improve the way I market and launch my books. From this book, I learned more about using my ideal reader to guide me in writing my book pitches and creating metadata for my books. I've gained the courage to finally start reaching out to book stores and libraries, something I was absolutely terrified of doing before. I also learned about creating a street team to help spread the word about your new release as you connect to other people within the writing community. I don't think I'll ever launch another book without referring to this incredible resource first!

The Truly Successful Author by Maria Secoy

How did I discover this book?
This is another book I came across on Instagram (so if any of you are wondering if promoting your book on Instagram actually works, I can attest that it does). I was drawn in by the title. Who doesn't want to be a successful author? More than that, I have a full time job. I'm a mom. I've got other interests and hobbies, and my writing and marketing time throughout the week is extremely limited. I loved the idea of pushing myself closer to my goals with the little time I do have available for writing.

What is this book about?
Maria Secoy writes in her opening about how she has spent years ghostwriting for additional income as she worked as a teacher. She is also a mom, and her claim in that opening is that you don't have to sacrifice your valuable family time (or work time) to find success as an author. All you need to do is build your backlog of books you've published. The quickest, most effective way to do this, Secoy writes, is to publish four books per year. 

What were my major take-aways?
​I read this book on the plane rides to and from Seattle, Washington for my family vacation at the end of May this year. When I started reading the book, I was pretty skeptical. I've been able to publish one book per year easily enough, but four? I didn't know about that. But as I read, I started mapping it out, seeing where I was with my progress, and what it would take for me to publish four books per year without cutting corners or sacrificing quality. And I realized... with the drive I've had over the last year and a half and how consistently I've been writing for 30 minutes to an hour every day... it just might work for me without making too many changes. It would only take some more forethought and intentionality. I'll keep you all updated as to whether or not I'm able to follow my plan for the next couple of years, but as of right now, it seems very doable! 

I also learned a lot about resources that are available to authors for different parts of their process, and I learned quite a bit more about using your metadata to increase the visibility of your books. 

I hope you enjoyed today's post, and that you found it helpful. I know I did! (None of these were paid promotions, by the way. These are just books that I've found over the last year that have helped me a TON in my process, and I wanted to share them!) Check back next weekend for more writing related things!