15 Ways to Improve Your Odds of Author Success, Sheryl Jones & Moving Forward

Back Porch Writer

Fifteen Ways to Improve Your Odds of Author Success: (In order of importance) Read Mindset by Dr. Carol Dweck Read The Willpower Instinct by Dr. Kelly McGonigal Read Dangerous Personalities by Joe Navarro Read The Definitive Book of Body Language by Allan and Barbara Pease Contemplate what you've read. Allow it to weave its way into your mind, interactions with others, and your writing. Create your author mantra. Post it where you'll see it.(Ex. Publishing isn't a race.) Create a loose or detailed outline for your fiction project including completion expectations, goals, and objectives. Think about cover art. Hire a graphic designer. Carve out writing time. Try a Pomodoro Timer. Sneak it in wherever you're able or schedule it into your day. Create an author website. Nothing fancy. A simple landing page will work in the beginning. Complete the first draft. Edit and revise it. Send it to an editor. Begin writing your next book. After you receive edits for the first book, temporarily stop working on the second book. Finish book one, including formatting, cover art, and publishing BEFORE continuing your work on book two. (Unless you have no other obligations. In that case, you'll be able to juggle both activities.) Complete first draft of book two and repeat this step. Don't obsess about sales rank or numbers, but if you can't help yourself, then check out KDPulse. Learn the importance of meta data: categories and keyword phrases. Play with these. Be consistent as you create your author brand. Create and use the same (or basically the same bio everywhere. Also use the same image.) List your book as a pre-order. Why? It motivates you to finish the book. Create a print version.