Learning the Ropes: Post by author Bernadette Marie

Learning the Ropes

By Bernadette Marie

This morning I had the opportunity to sit down with a young man who just last week graduated from high school. He wants to be an author and get into publishing. I sat down and showed him how I published. 

Okay, I sat and showed him all the apps and sites I used to make my dreams, and those of other authors, come true.

As I explained certain things to him I realized that I had learned the ropes of Indie and Small House publishing from trial and error. What a great way to become an expert on something.

Those who fail and think they have failed…well they have. If you fall down and don’t get back up how will you ever keep walking on your journey?

Failing is a great way to learn. Taking every instance in your life, which didn’t quite go your way, only opens the door for more great opportunity.

If you want to be an author, you have to send your manuscript out into the world. There are many ways to do this. You can give it over to a beta reader and hope they give you good feedback. (By the way, having them say, “Wow, that was good,” isn’t helpful. You need feedback.) You can send it out to an agent or a publisher. That is one of the quickest ways of getting rejection and hopefully they will send some reasoning! 

Take their reasoning and learn from it. When you self-publish, giving your work to the world to criticize, you’re going to learn a lot! You’re going to learn the process (the rights and wrongs of how to get the story out there.) You’re going to learn everything that is wrong with your manuscript, because people love to tell you that. And you’re going to learn how to fix it.

Are these failures? Nope they are learning experiences.

A book will go through a thousand different shapes from its first word through publication and the author will too. Perhaps you’re not a good speller, you’re a head hopper in POV, or your tenses mix. This will be brought to your attention and you will have learned a new skill. Formatting is a crazy thing! The first time you format your book for publication (assuming you might try this yourself) it might take you the better part of ten hours, the first time. In time, with enough emails from the printer telling you what didn’t work for publication, you will learn how to format. In time the process will take, perhaps, an hour.

We’d all like to be perfect right from the start. And even if you’re one of those people who reads every direction and follows it to the word, chances are you’re still taking the time to learn the ropes—and you still might make a mistake. Well, that’s just one more opportunity for growth.

Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty. Whether that’s because you’re working so hard or you’re in the dirt praying for the strength to make it through, you will learn the ropes. And, you will probably become an expert at a few things. One will be failing with the intent to get better. The other—getting up and using your new found skill.

About Bernadette Marie:

Bernadette Marie has been an avid writer since the early age of 13, when she’d fill notebook after notebook with stories that she’d share with her friends.  Her journey into novel writing started the summer before eighth grade when her father gave her an old typewriter.  At all times of the day and night you would find her on the back porch penning her first work, which she would continue to write for the next 22 years. 

In 2007 – after marriage, filling her chronic entrepreneurial needs, and having five children – Bernadette began to write seriously with the goal of being published.  That year she wrote 12 books.  In 2009  she was contracted for her first trilogy and the published author was born.  In 2011 she (being the entrepreneur that she is) opened her own publishing house, 5 Prince Publishing, and has released contemporary titles and began the process of taking on other authors in other genres. 

In 2012 Bernadette Marie found herself on the bestsellers lists of iTunes and Amazon to name a few.  Her office wall is lined with colorful PostIt notes with the titles of books she will be releasing in the very near future, with hope that they too will grace the bestsellers lists.

Bernadette spends most of her free time driving her kids to their many events.  She is also an accomplished martial artist who will earn her conditional second degree black belt in Tang Soo Do in October 2012.  An avid reader, she enjoys most, the works of Nora Roberts, Karen White, Megan Hart, to name a few. She loves to meet readers who enjoy reading contemporary romances and she always promises Happily Ever After.

Author Contact Info:

Website: www.bernadettemarie.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorbernadettemarie

Blogspot: www.authorbernadettemarie.blogspot.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/writesromance

 

Guest Post: Nick Thacker: Build A Platform the Right Way: How to Be A Blogging Writer

Build A Platform the Right Way: How to Be A Blogging Writer

Not all writers are created equal. Similarly, not all writing styles are created equal.

For that reason, many writers today are relying on more than just their own skill to get noticed and start selling books. For some, that “more” is something like a combination of Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads giveaways, and in-store appearances.

And while there’s nothing wrong with those mediums (hey – they’re essentially free, easy-to-implement marketing!), there’s a better way to handle the long-term plan of becoming a well-known, selling writer: becoming a blogging writer.

First: What exactly is a “blogging writer?”

It’s pretty obvious that a blogging writer is just a writer who blogs. But there’s more to it, like what to blog about, and why.

Most blogging writers like me are blogging for two big reasons:

1.      To help other people

2.      To help themselves

I blog at LiveHacked.com because I want to create a blossoming community of writers who love helping one another, teach each other to market their books, and of course learn — from the blog, books, and community.

That part of it is the “to help other people” part, but there’s an equally important reason I blog:

I want to teach other people, to help myself better understand this world of writing, marketing, and creating art. By blogging consistently, I’m held accountable by my community, and I’m constantly learning new things along the way.

Of course, some writers may not be interested in (or need) either of those things, so there’s a third reason to blog: to journal.

Arguably, this is still part of the “to help themselves” goal, but it’s usually strictly to keep track of what the writer has done, is interested in, to keep them motivated, or a myriad of other personal reasons. Essentially, it’s the “to help themselves” reason, without the accountability. There’s nothing at all wrong with this particular choice, either – it’s just not as common.

Second: Why writers should blog

“Don’t writers already write enough?”

“If we have time to blog, shouldn’t we be writing more books?”

These are both questions I’ve heard plenty of times before, and to both, I answer:

Yes.

Writers certainly write enough, but here’s the deal: if you’re not already being published by a Big-6 publisher with massive marketing clout, what are you doing to differentiate yourself from every other author?

It’s not enough anymore to just write great books – that’s the price of entry. Now, we’re expected to be marketers as well. Blogging, as it turns out, is a fantastic way to market your work.

To the second question I answer: Yes. You should always be focusing on providing more to your readers and fans (even if you don’t know who they are just yet), but don’t forget about the non-book-related things they’re into as well.

For example, I find that I’m interested in my favorite authors’ blogs because they’re not just websites set up to sell more books. They’re actually little portals into the author’s world – facts, trivia, tidbits of writing advice, etc. For that reason alone, I’m glad they don’t focus only on writing books.

Finally, it seems that the quickest way to go from “unknown” to “renowned” as a writer is by being a contributing member of modern society. Since publishing companies are running out of marketing dollars, they’re looking for authors who are not only backed by a fan base, but that are adored by their readers as well. They want writers who “get” marketing, blogging, and social media, and aren’t afraid of a little self-promotion, for one simple reason:

They can’t afford to create your hype for you anymore.

Now, more than ever, publishers are looking to partner with authors and writers on getting a book to market, and the bigger your author platform is (Home Base), the more opportunity you’ll have to make a living doing what you love!

What do you think? What are some reasons authors should be blogging? Leave a comment below, and let us know!

If you want free book-writing tips, check out Nick Thacker's FREE 20-week novel-writing course. Also, check out the self-publishing blog and resource site www.LiveHacked.com.