Actually, let’s talk pre-publishing. Let’s talk about the writing. Just for a second, I promise. So, first of all, when you’re writing a book, don’t think about publishing. It’s not important. That’s not your end goal, not really. Your end goal is having a draft. That’s what matters. If you’re thinking about the market or about agents or anything like that, you’re going to get distracted from the story. You’re going to lose focus. Don’t think about who you hope will read the book. Think about the characters, the story, what you want the story to look like.
Okay, now you have a finished manuscript. You may think you’re ready for publishing, but trust me, YOU. ARE. NOT. What you’ve written is just a first draft. Please spend time editing, please revise multiple times, please join a critique group and have other eyes on your work. Your novel should be as polished as humanly possible before you send it to an agent or an editor or even before you decide you want to self-publish.
AND THEN we can talk about publishing! In this series, I want to discuss the different kinds of publishing, the steps to finding an agent, and all the things that happen after you get a publishing contract. But until next time, WRITE!