Tips for First Time Authors
With the vast experience (!) of eight months as a published author under my belt, here’s my list of things to make life easier for first time authors. Some of these are hard won knowledge and unspoken secrets that I’m going to share.
Celebrate everything!
Crack open the bubbles or chocolate when you get the email or phone call that says someone wants to publish your book. Wow! Then crack them open again when you get the proofs. It’s real. When you get the box of your books in the mail. How exciting is that! And again when publication day arrives. Congratulations, you have joined the ranks of published authors. And don’t forget to celebrate when you get your first five star review. Having a book published is a great achievement. Having readers who love what you do is fantastic. It’s worth celebrating.
Do NOT compare yourself to other published authors
Remember: life online is curated. What you see and what reality is may be two different things. No one shares their terrible reviews, only their great ones. Photos may have a different story behind them than the one you imagine. Here’s my book, cover out, right near George RR Martin and next to Garth Nix. Prime placement and multiple copies – makes it look like a best seller. I had a couple of authors ask me ‘how on earth did you achieve that?’, as though I had hit some magic jackpot. Partly it was luck – since my surname is Nightingale it fits nicely alphabetically. However, the reality is, right after I snapped the picture, I took a bunch of these books home because they were only on the shelf for a writers festival.
The other thing with comparing yourself is that first time authors – unless they are lucky enough to have a great marketing campaign behind them, which is rare – are never going to receive the same attention as authors who have been around for a while. I’ve been told the rule of thumb is it takes five years (or five books, depending who you talk to) to get noticed. So don’t be discouraged. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Get war stories and tips before signing up for paid promotions
As a first timer, if you’re lucky enough to have a full marketing department behind you, ignore this bit. However, the expectation tends to be that authors will play an active role in their own marketing. And, much like writers festivals and workshops and masterclasses, there is a whole industry around this, ready to take your hard earned royalties. There are so many possibilities, all promising massive increases in attention and sales. And in my experience, and the experience of others, they don’t necessarily achieve a fraction of what they’re promising. So talk to other authors and find out what has worked for them, but remember, different things will work for different books. Part of this side of things is finding the right audience. Readers of fantasy often tend to be different to readers of contemporary fiction. Choose your marketing approaches with this in mind.
Build community
As a writer, you spend a lot of time on your own, inside your head. Many writers have a natural inclination towards introversion so this isn’t necessarily difficult. But when you become an author, you need to engage with the world, promoting your work. This part can be hard. Writers aren’t natural born marketers. I’ve found this side of things is much easier if you have a community of fellow authors who understand what you’re going through, to share support and advice, and to help you out. I’ve had authors share my tweets, expanding my reach way beyond my followers, and I’ve done my best to share others’ posts as well. Surviving as a newbie author is much easier if others have your back, and if you find ways you can help others as well. It can feel isolating and competitive otherwise. There’s plenty of research to show that helping others is a great way to find emotional equilibrium, even to stave off depression, so finding ways to do this is a great antidote to the frustration of being one amongst many authors who are trying to be noticed.
Finally – don’t forget to keep writing
It is SO easy to get caught up in ‘being an author’, worrying about sales and statistics and promotions and what else you could or should be doing. But that’s not why you went into this in the first place is it? You wanted to tell your stories. I know that’s why I went into it. Being a published author is a long term commitment. It’s not just about the next three months, when your book is shiny and new and you need to jump up and down a lot and go ‘look at me!’ If people like your book (and they will!) they’ll want to read the next one. There are characters waiting for some attention, and worlds waiting to be explored and stories jostling for attention. So don’t get so caught up in being an author that you forget to be a writer. Remind yourself of this on the tough days, and take pleasure in creating when you can.