The Struggle is REAL

It’s funny to me that I’ve been a legit “author” now for about a month. I have six books on Amazon and the reason I have so many out now is because I want to be successful. I read an article on how to be successful as an “e-author”. It made an impression because I read it about 6 years ago and I still remember a few of the points that author made.

1. Always get your books edited. An unedited book, full of grammatical errors and misspelled words will turn people off your book.
2. Make your story make sense. Nothing worse than reading a book and being confused. With so many ebooks, it’s easy to ditch a book and find another.
3. Always have good book covers…first impressions and all. As with paperbacks, you need a cover that grabs the attention of the prospective reader. Same point as #3, it’s super easy for readers to move on to the next book.
4. Have a very good friend who will be honest about your writing ability. I really think this is important. I printed out my books and sent them to a friend. Granted I didn’t get lots of feedback, but what I did hear from them was they enjoyed my stories.
5. Put books out quickly at first-people who like your book may search for others. I’ve been here as a reader. I got a book and after I was done, I would search for others by the author or even to see if it was part of a series. Once I’m hooked, I’ll scour for other books by  the author.

I had several books done and edited, with their covers purchased before I put my first book on. I put “Mine” on Amazon in August because I turned 50 that month and I wanted to be published before my birthday. I wanted to hit the big 5-0 knowing I had scratched one item off my bucket list. And I did. Since it’s part of a series, I put the rest out quickly because the first two books kind of ended in a cliffhanger. I didn’t know until after I was done with my books and had the covers in my Pictures file that most hate cliffhangers. That left me in a quandary. I spent hard earned money on covers, so ditching the covers to combine all the books seemed like a bad idea.

I stopped with the cliffhangers for my books but did end with epilogues that hopefully gives the reader an curiosity for the next book in the series. I really, really want to be successful. I really, really want a serious fan base. I picture myself as a success and sitting at Romanti-con talking with fans and hearing how much they like my little Universe.

So, I put out my sixth book and I truly feel it is one of my better stories because of the way my characters interact. They feel genuine to me, and I hope they do to the readers as well. I’ve already put my first book on promotion as “free”. I hope it helps people discover me as an author.