To be a Novelist

Cover via Amazon

This year I decided that I would finish writing the first draft of my debut novel. It is in the historical fiction genre and not only do I want to finish the first draft but I want to edit it, polish it, shine it until it is ready for submission to an agent. Most advice in writing magazines and books advise you to get an agent. Trying to get publishers to read your ms is like fighting a losing battle. An agent is not always successful on your behalf either but they definitely have the edge. Agents are there to negociate book deals and then obtain translation rights. They can obtain film, tv and serial rights and options, leaving you, the writer, would-be novelist to get on with your writing.

If no agent will take you on you can always result to pubishing your book on Amazon’s Kindle. This costs nothing but time and effort to upload your book onto Amazon’s site. They offer you 70% royalties on each copy sold, this is an excellent deal. However, most people charge reasonable prices from £1.99 to £3.99 as they are in competition with free Kindle uploads.

Of course selling the books is the most difficult part and for this you need to use Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and other social networks. You can also offer a day of free downloads just to get your work out there, but please do spend some time on proof-reading, checking grammar and punctuation and editing. So many books have not had any of this and are poor quality for the reader and not worth the money, even if it is only a small amount. Take pride in your novel, let it stand out but not for all the wrong reasons. Good LUCK!