5 Steps to Publish Your NOVEL Without Spending a Penny
Welcome back! :)
One of the questions I've been asked the most, by
friends, family, readers, is where do I write my ideas, how do I organize them
and how do I, finally, turn them into a full book. Well, if you're a writer and
you're reading this, you know it comes with a nice dose of caffeine or tea,
chocolate or crisps - whatever your poison. More than food, there is the INTERNET.
When they say you can find anything on the internet,
believe me it's true. There's so much to look for online - the
good and the bad, of course. You have to be smart, have patience, and research,
until you find what works best for you in terms of your way of writing.
I've made a post a while back about my favourite editing
software, and I use some of them myself on a daily basis. For writing,
I don't use anything fancy. Sure, there are great software out there - but they
usually cost you (a lot of) money. Don't get me wrong, I think it is crucial to
support the companies that came up with this kind of software. So, if you find
this software for free out there, don't be a pirate, just buy the
damn thing.
Now, if you don't have the money, or you don't think
that you want to invest in expensive software, for now, here are some free
tools that most of us have in our own computers, anyway.
1. Planning - XMind; Microsoft Excel
I've told you about XMind before, as
well. It's a great planning tool. It works as a scheme type of planning. If you
like to visualize your plot, how this affects that, or if you like to build
your own family tree, this tool might just be the right one for you.
It comes with pre-made templates, and you can play
with the boxes and arrows, with the colours and shapes, to create your perfect
plot. I usually use it for building family trees in my books - or to do some
work for college (which is also very helpful, let me tell you!)
Another great tool is Microsoft Excel, I
like to plan my characters - names, personality, age, relationships,
professions - on Excel. It's easy to make tables, colour each section,
merge, drag, drop, etc. It's a neverending tool, not only for Math, but for me,
the applications are infinite.
How I plan my characters on Excel - From 'Mr Prime Minister'
2. Writing - Microsoft Office
If you have a Windows operating system, chances are
you have Microsoft Office. This tool is one of the most basic tools
for every student, writer, or office worker. If you're in college, high school
or middle school, you definitely have used Power Point for one of your
presentations, and you've used Excel to do some Math.
The novel I'm currently working on 'Little Witches'
I write in Microsoft Word, and I know
most of professional writers will say there are much better tools, that allow
you to drag and drop chapters, with much more user friendly features. I've
tried many other software programs, and I always come back to this one. I know
my way around already, and I guess I'm an animal of habits.
3. Editing - Ginger; Beta Readers
The hardest part of writing a novel is editing - if
you ask any accomplished author, they will tell
you this; they will also admit that they usually pay someone (an editor or even
a team of them) to read their work and do the nasty part of the job. It's no
shame, there's why it's called professional editing. In the future,
I would like to be able to afford this kind of help - it must be incredibly
nice to have one less thing to worry about when writing a book ^^,
Now, obviously today I can't afford this, and I
believe most of you reading can't either - or won't, as a matter of principle,
and that's fine as well. If you're one of the two, you have to get a hold of GINGER.
It's free, and it's great.
I've told you about this software once before, and for
me it still isn't perfect. In fact, the biggest flaw is that you can only use
it for writing in English. Since I write only in English for the moment, it's
fine, and maybe for the most of you it will do as well. It's good in a way,
because you can opt for UK English and USA English forms.
It's free, but you'll have a limit number of
corrections per week, and some other nice features aren't available either. You
can be smart about it and grab a bargain when they have discounts - during
Christmas, you could buy the full version 60% off.
People matter. Not only your readers are people (well,
duh -.-'), but it's the people who will help you be great or be crap. You can
and shouldn't be embarrassed to ask the people that have been following you for
some beta-reading.
Beta-Readers are people who will read your book and point out mistakes, typos, plot
issues, etc., before your book is out to the public. This service can be free,
if you are lucky enough to have great readers and followers. If your peeps
volunteer for this job, don't forget to thank them in any way you can. Writing
a thank you note addressed to the people who helped you getting the book out in
the public isn't and it will warm their hearts and make them feel acknowledged.
No software in the world will ever substitute a person
- we hope not, at least. So, if you have avid readers just dying to get their
hands on your next story, get help and make them happy! It's a win win.
My Beta-Readers are super heroes! :D
4. Cover Art
Oh... the cover drama. I swear I've
spent sleepless nights thinking about a cover for my book(s). It's not easy;
after all, whatever people say, it is the
1st impression, and everyone - even without thinking about it - decide whether
they like something or not in, about, fifteen seconds.
Your cover should
represent your book to the best of your abilities - please, please don't put a girl in
a dramatic princess dress in a beautiful scenery if your book is about a
secretary working in busy New York. It just doesn't match, it's misleading and,
in my opinion, just cheesy.
Think hard about
what you want the message of your book to be, what emotions it brings out to
the reader; think what colours you see when reading your book. Now, combine all
that and ask for help from friends and family.
When making your own cover, be very
careful with the images you use. Like everything else, images have people who
made them, who owned them. So, do your research very carefully, and be sure
you're using either a royalty
free image, the owner allows you to use it - you can always ask,
right? -; or that you paid, legally, for it.
Don't try and
dismiss this part of your book, it's as important as the rest, and it can save
you a whole lot of trouble in the future!
5. Publishing
Ok. You're done, it's over. You finished it! Yay for
you! You deserve a medal, a paid trip to the Fiji with the spa included. But
before you can treat yourself into something nice because you've done a good
job, you need to actually, you know, get the book OUT.
The toughest decision, I believe, for an author: where
to publish; how to publish? Should I try self-published, or should I wait for
an editor to accept me? Book editors and Agents are the traditional publishing
way, but for a couple of years, now, the word traditional has changed in the
world of literature.
I used, and will use for as long as I love it, LULU
PRESS INC. You can publish completely free of charge, and you can even
use some some free standard covers for your book. Sure, it won't make your book
stand out, buuuuut at least it's out and it's your name
and photo on the cover!
In my opinion - and it's not just because I decided to
self-publish, although I can be biased, of course - I think if you want to
publish, if you wrote a story and you want people to read it, there shouldn't
be anyone stopping you from doing it. If an editor says to you your book isn't
right for them, or an agent rejects you, you have to understand that you're not
special to them. They probably get about a hundred emails every day, anyway;
you're just one more pea in the pot.
If there's the option of doing it all by yourself, and
have people actually reading your work, I say why not? Maybe you won't sell
thousands, but you can sell dozens, and at the end of the day, if you feel
proud and accomplished, you've done well.
Happy Readings,
Sophie
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