Additional Comments

• Rejection is at every corner, but don’t let that stop you or slow you down. Just find a way to go around the obstacles.
• Writing means rewriting. The writing can always be improved, and the first draft is never as good as you think. Think of it this way: the manuscript starts off as a piece of Swiss cheese (with holes to fill), is transformed into a sculpture that needs to be whittled away at, and eventually becomes a polished work of art.
• The process of writing a book teaches you how to write.
• Publishing a book professionally costs a fair amount of money to do it the right way. Don’t expect to recoup your investment right away. However, you’ll never achieve your dreams if you never try.
• You’ll most likely have to write several books/manuscripts before securing a literary agent. (Sue Grafton, for example, wrote four manuscripts before getting one.)
• Marketing is the biggest challenge for self-published authors because their books are generally only available online, not in bookstores, and people won’t know to look for you online if they’ve never heard of you before. Having a great price, great reviews, and winning awards does not necessarily translate into sales. There’s a big difference between placing display ads somewhere versus getting websites to recommend your book. Paying for pay-per-click ads at Google, Facebook, Goodreads, etc. does NOT work unless you’re already well known or in demand, so save your money there. The best way to gain exposure is by getting free/bargain eBook websites (see list) to recommend your eBook on the same days as a temporary price reduction or free book promotion. Now that you know this, you’re on your way to overcoming your biggest challenge.
• Quantity of websites is not the same as quality of websites. You’ll sell 100 times more eBooks at Amazon’s website (quality) than you would at lesser known online retailers. And you’ll sell 100 times more eBooks using BookBub‘s website (quality) to promote it than you would by using lesser known promotional websites. If this were real estate, I’d say, “location, location, location.” However, in this case, I’d say that “BookBub, BookBub, BookBub” is the appropriate mantra.
• Sending books unsolicited in the mail usually never works. Networking with people, face to face, usually does.
• Every step leads to another step, so keep moving forward.
• Enjoy having fans and the knowledge that you’ve touched the lives of others through your writing.
• Good luck, and don’t forget to send me a postcard from Hollywood when you’re famous!

Compliments of Sebastian Cole, author of Sand Dollar: A Story of Undying Love
SebastianColeAuthor.com