How To Start Writing A Book On Your Own – Learning how to write a book and publish it is a multi-step process, so it’s wise to be systematic. Here are 10 steps to writing your own bestseller and finding an interested publisher:
Choosing a strong, exceptional story idea is the first step toward publication. When you’re pitching a novel to publishers, your plot summary is the first thing people will notice (along with your credentials, the language and wording of your submission, and the title of your manuscript).
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How To Start Writing A Book On Your Own
A publishable story is one that readers come into wanting to find out who the cast of the story is and how their story continues.
Writing A Book: 3 Ways To Get Started And Keep Going
The books that have enjoyed phenomenal publishing success in recent years all contain the promise of dramatic conflict and tension in their central ideas. In Rowling’s J.K.
, an ordinary boy discovers that he will attend a fantastic wizarding school but also learns that there is great danger in facing the wizarding world. In Suzanne Collins
Trilogy, children living in the dystopian land of Panem must fight to the death every year in a televised event.
Both of these series have sold millions of copies (Rowling’s fantasy series being the best-selling series of all time with over 450 million copies sold). Although fantasy books that follow the trials of a “chosen one” are nothing new, Rowling has made familiar genre tropes her own.
Writing Your First Book
For example, wizards view ordinary people (or “muggles” as they are called in the fictional world of the books) as strange and such, a reversal of the more common emphasis on how fantastic and extraordinary wizards are by relationship to ourselves.
There is no need to reinvent the novel to fill a gap in the market. You can carve out your own niche by taking the standard conventions of a genre and adding your own refreshing twist.
Once you’ve found a novel idea that you’re happy with, it’s time to get ready to write your book:
If your story idea requires special research, do some quick preliminary research before you begin editing. Things you may need to research for your book:
Tips For Writing A Book
This may seem like a lot to keep track of, but you can quickly write a basic research paper. To do this:
Once you feel you have the basic information you need to write, plan your writing schedule and outline your book:
What’s without some quiet writing time? It’s time for you to focus entirely on your writing. Many aspiring writers say they don’t have time to write, but it’s important to take the time to write a book.
If you don’t have a plan that will help you avoid writer’s block, you might find yourself stuck. Some writers swear by pants, but don’t forget the benefits of outlining a novel:
Easy Steps To Write Your Book: How To Get Your Book Out Of Your Head And A Manuscript In Your Hands!
If you’ve never outlined a book before (or want to try a different approach), learn how to write a book with Now Novel’s set of plans plus our always helpful review community.
Once you have a plan you can use, it’s time to set a deadline and start your first draft:
Another benefit of creating an outline for your book is that you will have a better idea of how many chapters or sections it will contain. This makes it easier to choose an informed deadline. When you set a deadline to complete your first draft in your Now Novel profile, it automatically calculates when you will finish your book by calculating the number of hours you have to write each week.
Choose a realistic deadline. Although NaNoWriMo’s success stories prove that it’s possible to write a first draft in 30 days, giving your novel the time it needs will increase your chances of getting published.
How To Write Your Book By Dictation — Jenny Bravo
When you start drawing, the scale of the task ahead of you can seem overwhelming. So break it down into smaller, manageable increments. Some tips for editing a novel faster and more productively:
Constantly remind yourself that the first draft has only one goal: to get your story on the page. Revisions and edits will transform a basic story into something more engaging.
Auditing can be a thorny process. You may notice that the timeline of events in your novel is wrong or that characters change their names or that other gremlins creep into the story during your first draft. Revise and be ruthless about it. Janice Hardy of Janice Hardy’s Fiction University has a great set of tips here for revising your novel in 31 days. Topics include “eliminating unnecessary narrated prose” and “clarifying ambiguous pronouns.”
Because revising your own work is difficult, it is essential to hire an editor who knows how to write a book and get it published:
Before You Write Your Book: Writing Your Outline In 3 Steps
Why do you need an editor for your novel if you want it to be published? For several reasons :
How to find a good book publisher? Friedman advises attending writing conferences where editors will speak. This is a good option (at Now Novel we also have our own in-house editor who is a PhD holder and an experienced book editor).
The first page is what will attract a new reader, while the last page leaves a lasting impression. A good title is just as important. Friedman points out that if you enter into a book deal with a major publisher, you may not have much say in the final title. However, if you plan to self-publish, you will have more freedom.
Think about some of the most unusual and effective book titles in publishing. The novel by Italian author Italo Calvino
To People That Want To Write A Book But Are Afraid To Get Started
Is a good example. The title arouses curiosity by being an incomplete conditional clause (one immediately wonders “what does a traveler do on a winter’s night?”)
The author’s somewhat fictionalized autobiography. The title immediately arouses interest with its ironic grandeur, and the scale of the title’s claim arouses curiosity.
Once your book is transformed into a compelling manuscript with a title, it’s time to properly start the publishing process:
There are several major publishers that many new authors aspire to join. The four largest publishers are Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Penguin Random House and Hachette Livre.
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Simon & Schuster, in fact, does not review unsolicited manuscripts and recommends finding an agent through Literary Store here. Penguin Random House recommends the same service. HarperCollins also does not accept unsolicited manuscripts, but operates three digital imprints, Avon Impulse, Witness Impulse, and HarperLegend, which accept submissions in the romance, mystery/thriller, and transformative fiction genres, respectively.
Smaller publishers often list their submission guidelines prominently on their websites. It’s also helpful to keep up to date with publishing trends.
Given the difficulties of securing a book publishing deal with a major publisher as a first-time author, it is often wiser to choose a smaller publisher or self-publish. These can be pathways to a full-fledged publishing deal because:
Independent publishing presses can also help you achieve great author recognition, if your manuscript is accepted. Publishing Genius is an example (publishers’ authors have been republished by Penguin Random House in some cases or their books have been optioned for film adaptations). You can find submission guidelines for Publishing Genius here (the advice applies wherever you choose to submit).
If You Do Want To Write That Book, There’s Never Been A Better Time.
One of the first things you need to master when learning how to write a book and publish it is the query letter. Query Shark by Janet Reid is a great resource for writers looking for advice on how to query agencies and editors. The standard query letter (according to Friedman) should contain 5 elements:
Read Friedman’s definitive article on questioning in its entirety if you have time, as it is full of useful information.
To maximize your chances of getting published, create a spreadsheet of publishers who accept unsolicited manuscripts in your genre along with details of submission requirements (e.g. word count, formatting, etc.). Include everyone’s contact details so that at a later stage you can go through your list when submitting, without having to search for contact details.
As Friedman says, you’ll get different types of responses, some of which are rejections (even J.K. Rowling received 12 rejections before the Bloomsbury publisher’s daughter demanded to read the rest of the work).
How To Write An Itemized Book Survey? By Dorisrsmithd
If your book isn’t accepted for publication the first time, don’t worry. You are in the company of 99.99% of aspiring authors. Continue to submit your manuscript if it’s polished and you have a great story idea.
If there’s a pattern in rejection letters explaining why your book isn’t right for you, note it. It is possible that with a few minor adjustments, your book will be accepted on your next attempt. Also consider self-publishing. While this won’t give you the credibility of having the backing of a major publisher, it is a viable way to grow your own dedicated audience. Read the pros and cons of self-publishing on Amazon for more information.
Join a structured course, How to Publish and Promote Your Novel, which will teach you everything you need to know to create a publishing plan and launch your book.
Jordan is a writer, editor, community manager, and product developer. He received his BA Honors in English Literature and his Masters in English Literature and Music from the University of Cape Town. Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means that
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