People often come to me with their book ideas, which I love to hear about. But! I love even more what happens when they’ve finished a book and they’re now trying to figure out how to publish it. Today’s blog post includes the questions I typically ask these writers next, and some things I always ask them to think about.


Are you hoping to publish traditionally? 
If you are hoping to publish your book with a traditional publisher, I would recommend the following:

• Check out the following resources: The Writers Market. The 100th edition is the most recent one I've been able to find, but this resource still has lots of great information about the process and what kinds of publishers and agents are accepting work from what kinds of authors. As with anything, I would highly recommend you do your own research into finding the very most current submission guidelines for each publisher. 
• The Business of Being a Writer by Jane Friedman. I honestly would recommend this book for anyone hoping to make a career of publishing their books.

If you are hoping to publish traditionally, you have a lot less control of your timeline, as there are a lot of factors that play into when your book gets published, including if/when a publisher will pick up your book. I would recommend that you start querying your book now, and get your blurb and your pitch perfected as soon as possible.

I would also urge you to remember that every no (or no response) is still one time you’ve put yourself out there, and that’s huge. Celebrate yourself. Remember that traditional publishing has changed a lot, as everything changes, and unless you hit it big, you’re likely going to have to do much of your own marketing. I would be prepared for that.


Are you hoping to publish independently?
If you are hoping to publish your book independently, there are some things I would like you to think about. First, you can make a lot more money per book sale than you likely would going through a traditional publisher. BUT! Many traditional publishers can get you more sales than you will get on your own, so unless you're willing to work really hard to get those sales, or unless you continue publishing multiple books you'll probably make less money overall. 

Independent publishing also allows you to decide exactly what you want for your book, and you can have your hands in every aspect of the process. But! That also means that publishing independently can be a lot more work. You're not finished just because you finished writing the book.

If you are looking to publish your book independently, I would recommend reading through the following books:

• The Truly Successful Author by Maria Secoy
• My Book Launch Planner by Mandi Lynn and Stone Ridge Books
• The Business of Being a Writer by Jane Friedman

I would also recommend you think through the following questions and answer them according to what you envision for your book.

Do you want to publish through IngramSpark, Amazon, or other?
If you're publishing independently, there are many places you can go through. The two I see most commonly (and that I have used) are Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and IngramSpark. Having used both of them, I would say that either will be great. In my experience, KDP allows you to make the highest percentage off your royalties, but IngramSpark makes it a bit easier for book stores to find your book and order it. As of right now, IngramSpark also has the best options for dust jackets if you're hoping to publish a hardcover book.

Do you want a free ISBN or to purchase your own? An ISBN is like a serial number for your book, and it's what allows distributers to find and order your book. To publish your book for sale, you will need to have an ISBN. Both KDP and IngramSpark allow you the option of going with the free ISBN's they provide for you. As an independently published author who has gone with this option, I will tell you that these free ISBN's work just fine and still allow your book to be distributed. However, if you purchase your own ISBN through Bowker (United States), you​ have have control over where you can distribute and sell your book. To me, that control is worth the price. An individual ISBN through Bowker is around a hundred and twenty dollars, but if you plan to publish multiple books, or multiple versions of a book, you can buy your ISBNs in bulk. There are a few bulk options you can purchase, but I like to get the 10 ISBNs for around two hundred and fifty bucks.

To sell your book, you will need to have a barcode. If you went with a free ISBN, you can get a free barcode for your book automatically. This can also happen if you purchased your ISBN but leave the barcode area blank. If you purchased your ISBN, do you plan to purchase your barcode? The cool thing about purchasing your barcode is that you can get it with the price on it like the books you'll find in a bookstore. This can be helpful in getting bookstores to buy your book.


How do you plan to handle your copyright?
When you write a book, if you can prove that you wrote it, your work is technically already copyrighted. However, just because your book is technically copyrighted doesn't mean that you'll never face the challenge of having someone try to steal your work and pass it off as their own. To add an extra layer of protection, I always register my books with the Library of Congress (United States). They give you a certificate once your work has been processed through the system, and it gives you a bit more legal back up if you should ever need it (and I hope you don't!) I personally go through LegalZoom to register my copyright, and it typically runs be about a hundred and seventy bucks per book.


Here are some more things I would highly recommend you really think about before you move forward with your book:

What do you envision for the book? When you picture the book in your mind, what do you see? 

Do you want to publish your book with a hardcover? Paperback? Ebook? All three? Remember, the more versions of a book you have, the more people you can reach, as all readers have their format preferences. However, each version of the book will need its own ISBN.

What size do you want your book to be?

Do you want to do the graphics and illustrations and cover design yourself? Do you want to hire someone to do this? If you do it yourself, I would recommend taking the time and energy you'll need to make it look professionally done. If you plan to hire someone, I would recommend really looking into that person before paying them to work on your book. Make sure it's someone you can trust, and that will meet the vision you have in your head.

How much do you want your book to cost? Ebooks are typically quite a bit cheaper than paperback books, and paperback books are almost always much less expensive than hardcover books. Prices may also range depending on genre, so definitely shop around a little bit and see how your book compares to others on the market.

Have you thought about hiring someone to edit and format your book? If you plan to do this yourself, I would highly recommend finding someone who will meet with you and walk you through it on the first go. If you plan on hiring someone, again, make sure it's someone that you can trust. 


I format all of my own books, and I have helped other indie authors to format their books. Here are some formatting questions I ask that gets them thinking about things most people don't really think about:

Do you have a preference for what your copyright page says? You can easily find examples of what to include in your copyright page by looking at other books that have been published. The basics include the year that the story was finished being written, the year it was first printed, and that you as the author own all rights to the book. This page often includes the ISBNs for the different versions of the book.

Dedication? Most books have a dedication page where the author gets to say who the book was written for. What would yours say?

About the author section? The "About the Author" page often has a picture, and can include things like how many books the author has published, what they like to do, their writing/work experience, etc. One thing that I love that I've seen in this page in recent years is the inclusion of what you can expect from the author's writing.


What do you envision for your book launch? This will likely be another post, as there are a lot of things that can go into this. But I like to get authors thinking about their book launch as soon as possible. I like to get them thinking about what they expect and hope for the days/weeks after their book's release. If they would like to run promotions, set up a book signing, etc. 

I would also recommend to any author to be thinking about what your marketing will look like. I highly recommend starting before your book is published and create an online presence by creating a regular post schedule. This doesn't have to be every day. I typically post twice a week: Once on Wednesday with bookish things, and once over the weekend with my blog post. Find what works for you, but I would definitely recommend marketing online. These days, that's likely where you will generate the most of your sales.

I hope this post was helpful to any of you out there trying to figure out what to do with the wonderful book you've written. I absolutely adore this process, and I'm passionate about helping indie authors get their work out there. If you have questions or would like to get in touch, reach out. 

[email protected]

Hi everyone!

I skipped last week, and I wanted to get a blog post in, but I can't feel too bad, because last weekend, I finished rewriting Severed, and I can't wait to get it out to you all in just a few short months!

I know I still have another week left of 2024, but with all the holiday festivities, I wanted to be sure to get this in.

This year has been a huge year for my writing. This year, I've had the most growth, tried the most new things, and had the most success I've had since I started publishing back in 2017. Today, I'd like to share a summary of the big things with you. Here's what happened this year:

New Things I Tried
This year, I really tried to get out of my comfort zone when it comes to my writing. I tried a ton of new things this year, and thanks to that, I learned a lot.

• Hiring out for an editor. This year is the first year I actually took the chance on hiring an outside editor for my newest YA fantasy novel, Bound, and while it wasn't a totally different experience than what I normally have on my own, doing so pushed me to make a couple of small but very effective changes to my writing process.
• Going all in on design. This is the first year that I went all in with my cover and graphics design, and boy, did those designs change throughout the process! I am very happy with the things I have continued to learn about book design throughout the year, and I can't wait to apply them in my next work!
• Running a KickStarter. This year, I ran my very first KickStarter to fund Bound's book launch and sequel production. I learned a ridiculous amount of things from this process, but one huge takeaway I had was the skill to develop my own promotional materials (both digital and physical). 
• Creating an email list. I know... only seven years into my writing did I finally get the guts to start an email list. I still feel a little bit weird about emailing people, but I'm working to get over that. I figure if they don't want to read what I send them, they'll just delete it or unsubscribe anyway. 
• Hosting a book signing. Oh, gosh. This one was scary for me. Not the events themselves, actually, but just getting up the guts to make the phone call was nerve wracking. I'm so glad that I did, though. 
• Running a giveaway. I actually ran a handful of giveaways this year, and I'm pleasantly surprised with how much they boost engagement for my works. To everyone who won a free book this year, thank you for your support, and congrats! Keep an eye out for future giveaways!
• Shipping internationally. I've learned so much this year about what it takes to ship your books out of the United States, and I think I'm getting pretty good at it!
• Creating an application for Advance Reader Copies. This was a new one for me. I send my book out to beta readers every time, but Severed will be the first book I've ever had ARC read. Pretty exciting.

Amazing Things That Happened
Thanks to the amazing, supportive people I have in my life, my steady writing bedtime routine, and my willingness to try new things this year, some truly awesome things have happened. 

• I went from being afraid to call the bookstore to hosting two successful book signings! In my first book signing, I sold nine books, and in my second signing, I sold THIRTY books! It was crazy!
• This year, I was featured in TWO articles for my writing endeavors. I've linked them here: 
  • ​​​https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/parenting/15-authors-to-look-out-for-in-2025/ar-AA1rvRXm?ocid=BingNewsSerp ​
  • https://michellewhitingsocial.medium.com/discover-breyanna-evans-the-self-made-author-uplifting-the-literary-community-in-utah-83fc2134720e ​

• ​I donated 14 copies of Especially You to a 4th grade classroom. This experience came out of a very lovely conversation I had with a couple of teachers at my most recent book signing. I was thrilled I had the opportunity to send some books, bookmarks, and a letter to this class.  
• This year I sold books not only out of the state, but out of the country! I ended up shipping a handful of the books out myself, along with some book merch, as well.

My Stats For The Year
When I started this year out, I'd created a pretty vague five-year goal sheet to keep track of my writing goals. I started this year with the goal that I would sell fifty books. This year, I have sold a hundred and thirty-one books - almost three times my goal! Although I have been publishing for over seven years now, it's always been a side thing I did, and I never cared much about how many books I sold. This year has been a wild ride for my book sales, and although I still have a kiddo and a full time job, and I still do my writing in the late evening hours before bed, I am so thrilled about the progress I have made, and I plan to continue making this steady progress moving forward.

Here are the rest of my stats for the year:

• Books published: 2 (Especially You - January, Bound - September)
• Story Words Written: Approximately 97,000
• Blog Posts Published: 38
• Email List Growth: 0 to 25
• Book Signing Events: 2 with 1 scheduled
• Children's Stories Written: 3
• YA Fantasy Books Written: 1 (Severed - Coming March 2025)
• Books Prepped For Next Year: 3
• Books Sold: 131
• Books Given Away: 19
• Countries my books were sent to: 9
  • Spain, Russia, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, Germany, Pakistan, North Macedonia, USA

University of Utah Reading Clinic Affiliated Work: 

• Phonics Books Illustrated, Formatted, and Published: 26 books!

Thank you all so much for joining me this year. It's been a wild ride, and I can't wait to see what 2025 has in store. For now, stay awesome, keep dreaming, and I'll see you next time. Happy holidays, all!

I’ve recently found a slew of new authors and indie authors and have been thrilled to have the opportunity of reading and supporting their work. In this process, I’ve been startled by some of the errors and inconsistencies that I’ve come across. Now, any author can have errors in their book or issues with syntax (I have a sister who always tells me she's found a couple of errors in any given book I publish). This happens for big name authors as well. It's just something that happens when you make so many passes through such a long work, even if you hire a capable editor to fix these things for you. However, I do feel like it’s much more common for new authors or indie authors to have errors like this occur within their final draft, and today I’d like to give some tips to help. 

Why would you want to take advice like this from me? Well, I’m obsessed with helping other authors find success and make their work truly the best it can be. I’ve self published eight books with more on the way (and I’ve learned a ton and worked to improve my writing and editing with each one of them). I have a degree in creative writing, and I taught middle school and high school English for a few years, paying special attention to writing. 
But this post isn’t about me. It’s about all you amazing authors out there putting your words into the world. And today, it’s about your sentences. Here are three tips I’d like to share with you that will help improve the quality and flow of your final draft.​

Tip #1: Once you've learned the rules, you CAN break them... but if you’re going to break them, please make it look intentional.

Yes, you can use run-on sentences and sentence fragments.

•  Definition: A run-on sentence is when you have what should be two (or more) sentences put together without the proper conjunction or punctuation.
• Definition: A sentence fragment is when your sentence is missing something, so it’s not a complete thought. A complete sentence should have a subject and a verb, at the very least. This is the error I think I see the most often in the works of new authors.

​
If you have a bunch of sentence fragments, your writing sounds choppy and robotic and can get annoying for your readers to get through.

If you have a lot of run-ons, your reader can lose track of what you’re trying to say, and your story can get annoying for your readers to get through.

Now, I did say that right: You can have these things in your writing. But it should…

• … be intentional
• … be used sparingly, not often
• … have power behind it

​Otherwise, it's probably best to just try rewriting the sentence. The key is to vary your sentence length. The best way I have found to work this out is to read my work carefully out loud, pausing at the appropriate punctuation. If it sounds choppy or long winded, I change it up.

You CAN also start your sentence with a conjunction like and or but. Again, if you do this, it should at least appear to be done intentionally, and it should be adding meaning or power to the sentence.  


Tip #2: Your verb tense should be consistent. Please watch your verb tenses.

• Definition: Verb tense is the time frame that the action is taking place.
  • "She sees the plane (happening right now, present tense)" 
  • "She saw the plane (happened already, past tense)" 
  • "She will see the plane (hasn't happened yet, future tense)"
    • ​And so on. There are more tenses than just these three, but to keep things simple for this post, I'll leave it at this.

I’ve seen books written beautifully in past and present tense, but please KEEP YOUR VERB TENSES CONSISTENT. If your story takes place in past tense, great. Present tense, great. This works especially well for fantasy books. But please, keep it consistent. There are small verbs like said/say, had/has, etc. so this takes a careful eye, but I promise it will be worth it. 

There are some things to keep in mind that might shift your verb tense, but like with everything else, it must be intentional. These situations include...

• When your story is written in present tense, but you're recalling an event or lesson in the past (often in the form of a flashback, but not always)
• When you're foreshadowing events or lessons that have yet to come

 
 
Tip #3: Watch your malapropisms. If you use common cliche phrases or words, please make sure you’ve got them correctly written. For me, it’s as simple as a quick Google. “Is it all of the sudden or all of a sudden?” Most of the time, Google is pretty good to help you out. Not to mention, it’ll often list the distinctions between countries. For example, “gray” is the American spelling for the color gray. In Europe it’s spelled “grey.”

Here is a list of come common cliche phrases that people get wrong.

• all of a sudden
• I couldn't care less
• for all intents and purposes
• nip in the bud
• scapegoat
• beck and call
• shoo-in
• make do
• piqued my interest
• deep-seated
• one and the same
• sleight of hand
• case in point
• moot point

Thank you all for reading! I hope you found this post helpful in some way! If you are a new author or an indie author, reach out. Instagram @breyannailevans, email [email protected]. See you next week!