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First world problems for writers
Book for sale.....or not
As a writer I have sat down and written what I consider to be an outstanding book. The problem now? Well to be honest I am doing my best at trying to market my book for people to buy. I have it on Amazon, Goodreads and Facebook. I have sold a few and the few to friends mostly who love the book. The problem is, your friends kind of have to tell you they like your book. So moving on.
I have done giveaways and even paid someone to have people read the book and critique them! So here is where I ask all of you. What on earth grabs your attention when you are looking for a book to read. I always need a good cover. I am open to new writers and I think that's where my problem is. I am a new writer that no body has ever heard of. I need your thoughts and Ideas! From one writer to many others. Tell me your secrets, your stories and your speed bumps!
I personally love those books where the person in them speaks to the reader. That's what I have done in my story! She talks to you. She pulls you into her story, she makes you worry non stop about her. You are with her from the beginning until the end in all of her ups and downs. It's like a Roller-coaster of a book! So now how do I get people to read it?
Poll!
Do you read books from new writers?
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Comments
- Author
I feel like learning is the first step.
I'm not a published author myself either - I am about to finish the last chapter of my book! But I have learned SO much about how to publish from the CritiqueCircle.com site, which is free to join. I've put every one of my chapters through it. I'll be honest, I thought I had written a pretty good book until I put the chapters through that site, and it was a shock how much work it still needed. Looking at your first few pages, I'd say yoúr book is at the same stage and if you can bear to withdraw it and spend a few months polishing it (and learning about the publishing process), you'll have a much better chance of success at the end of it.
- Author
All good information thank you so much for your honest opinion. I am horrible at writing the blurb! i just can't seem to summarize my book into a few sentences.
Writers over the centuries have struggled to get their books published. Some would say you're luckier than writers in the 20th century, because you can choose to publish the book yourself instead of waiting and praying for a publisher to accept it.
However, in a way you're unluckier, because the availability of self-publishing means you THINK you can self-publish and sell your book all by yourself - and it's not as simple as that.
If you had joined a group like Critiquecircle.com, you wouldn't have had to pay people to critique your book, and looking at your first page, I can see that whoever critiqued it wasn't a professional - your opening chapter has no hook, and that's a very basic error that is guaranteed to kill sales.
I don't think it's too late to take your book and put it through there - you can always put out a revised edition at some point. It's a good place to learn about how to publish effectively too.
The other big problem I see with your story is that your blurb doesn't make me want to read the book. A woman has a visitor and that puts her in danger - there is nothing unique or interesting there, it sounds predictable. I'm sure you can improve on it.
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