Blogs

Author-focused insights on book promotion, visibility, and positioning to help you build trust, reach more readers, and support long-term sales growth.

5 SEO Strategies for Promoting Your Kindle Book - Increase Visibility and Drive Traffic by bookhub - Blog featured image
Blog

5 SEO Strategies for Promoting Your Kindle Book - Increase Visibility and Drive Traffic

Are you an author looking to promote your Kindle book? With millions of books available on Amazon, it can be tough to get your book noticed. But with the right SEO strategies, you can increase your visibility in search results and drive more traffic to your book's page. In this blog post, we'll share some tips for promoting your Kindle book using SEO techniques. 1.Choose the right keywords Keywords are the words or phrases that people type into search engines to find what they're looking for. When promoting your Kindle book, you'll want to identify the keywords that your potential readers are searching for. This might include keywords related to your book's genre, topic, or audience. For example, if you've written a romance novel, some relevant keywords might include "romantic fiction," "love stories," or "contemporary romance." Use these keywords strategically throughout your blog post, including in the title, headers, and body text. 2.Write compelling titles and meta descriptions The title and meta description of your blog post are crucial for attracting readers to your site. Your title should be attention-grabbing and include your target keyword. Your meta description should provide a brief summary of what your post is about and include your keyword as well. For example, if your target keyword is "romantic fiction," your title might be "The Best Romantic Fiction Books for Kindle" and your meta description might be "Looking for a great romantic fiction book to read on your Kindle? Check out our list of the top romance novels on Amazon." 3.Create high-quality content To rank well in search results, your blog post needs to be high-quality and informative. Make sure your content is well-written and provides value to your readers. You might include reviews of other Kindle books in your genre, interviews with other authors, or tips for aspiring writers. 4.Use internal linking Internal linking is the practice of linking to other pages on your website within your blog post. This helps search engines understand the structure of your site and can improve your overall search rankings. For example, you might link to your book's page on Amazon or to other blog posts you've written on related topics. 5.Promote your blog post Finally, don't forget to promote your blog post on social media and other online channels. Share your post on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other platforms to drive traffic to your site. You might also consider reaching out to other bloggers or influencers in your niche to see if they'd be interested in sharing your post with their followers. In conclusion, promoting your Kindle book using SEO techniques can be a powerful way to increase your visibility and drive more traffic to your book's page. By choosing the right keywords, writing compelling titles and meta descriptions, creating high-quality content, using internal linking, and promoting your blog post, you can improve your chances of reaching a wider audience and selling more books.

Kindle Book Reader Guide by bookhub - Blog featured image
Blog

Kindle Book Reader Guide

As an avid reader, you're always on the lookout for the best ways to enjoy your favorite books. If you're considering purchasing a Kindle book reader, you've come to the right place. In this guide, we'll cover everything you need to know about Kindle book readers and how to choose, use, and enjoy them to their fullest potential. What is a Kindle Book Reader? A Kindle book reader is a digital reading device designed specifically for reading e-books. Kindle book readers are manufactured by Amazon and come in a variety of sizes and models, including the basic Kindle, the Kindle Paperwhite, and the Kindle Oasis. Why Use a Kindle Book Reader? There are many reasons why using a Kindle book reader is a great option for avid readers. Here are just a few: Convenience - With a Kindle, you can carry thousands of books with you wherever you go, without having to lug around heavy books. Affordability - E-books are often cheaper than print books, and many e-books are even available for free. Customization - You can adjust the font size, line spacing, and margins on a Kindle to suit your reading preferences. Backlight - Kindle book readers come with built-in backlighting, making it easy to read in any lighting condition. Choosing the Right Kindle Book Reader There are several factors to consider when choosing a Kindle book reader, including size, price, and features. Here are some of the most important considerations: Size - Kindle book readers come in a variety of sizes, from the compact Kindle to the larger Kindle Oasis. Consider how much space you need for your e-books and what size will be most comfortable for you to hold. Price - The price of Kindle book readers varies depending on the model and features. Consider how much you're willing to spend and what features are most important to you. Features - Kindle book readers come with a variety of features, such as waterproofing, built-in lighting, and Wi-Fi connectivity. Consider what features are most important to you based on your reading habits and preferences. Using Your Kindle Book Reader Once you've chosen your Kindle book reader, it's time to start using it. Here are some tips to help you get started: Connect to Wi-Fi - Connect your Kindle book reader to Wi-Fi to download e-books and take advantage of features such as syncing your reading progress across devices. Download e-books - Browse the Kindle store to find e-books to download. You can also transfer e-books from your computer to your Kindle. Adjust your settings - Customize your reading experience by adjusting settings such as font size, line spacing, and margins. Explore the features - Take advantage of features such as highlighting, note-taking, and dictionary lookup to enhance your reading experience. Enjoying Your Kindle Book Reader Now that you've chosen and started using your Kindle book reader, it's time to start enjoying it to its fullest potential. Here are some tips to help you get the most out of your Kindle: Read in any lighting - Take advantage of the built-in backlighting to read in any lighting condition, from bright sunlight to complete darkness. Try new genres - With thousands of e-books at your fingertips, it's easy to explore new genres and discover new authors. Sync your progress - Use the Kindle app on your phone or tablet to sync your reading progress across devices, so you can pick up right where you left off. Join a community - Join a Kindle book reader community, such as the Goodreads Kindle group, kindle book hub to connect with other readers and discover new books. In conclusion, Kindle book readers are a great option

5 Book Marketing Strategies all Authors Need to Try by bookhub - Blog featured image
Blog

5 Book Marketing Strategies all Authors Need to Try

I enjoy it when I come across useful book marketing ideas for authors, especially when it comes to promoting a new book, which may be a difficult task! The problem for many authors is that with each new book release, they feel like they're spinning the wheel, which is why I appreciated this post. Let's look at some strategies for increasing readership and building on each book launch! 5 Book Marketing Strategies All Authors Need to Try: Create Exclusive Content for Readers Through a “Members Only” Page This is a fantastic concept since readers value exclusive material. And by exclusive stuff, I mean early access to books, sneak peeks at forthcoming releases, games, quizzes, and anything else you can think of. However, if this is your first book, a "members only" page may be out of reach. I recommend starting with a mailing list, which I'll go over in a moment, and growing your reader admirers from there. The concept is that you may still form a private "group." While I like the notion of a "members only" page, it takes a lot of website labor to implement - but it's a nice objective to aspire towards. Begin with your newsletter and provide this exclusivity to readers who want to be a part of your success. Generate an Engaging Newsletter Connecting with readers via a newsletter is always a good idea, but you should also include some personal and intriguing material. Competition is one suggestion. A contest might range from a book raffle to a gift card or great goodies. Here's a hint to keep them reading to the end: Tease the contest in our start, but announce the winners at the bottom of the message, forcing visitors to navigate through your content to discover if they won. Allow five days for winning readers to reply; if they do not, their award will be forfeited to the next prize drawing. Promoting a New book: Focus on Your Prior Books If you have multiple books out, I absolutely love this idea. So often, authors forget to use older books in their promotions or to create rotations of promotions with previous titles. The author of this piece suggested BookBub or KindleBookHUb Featured deals- which I love but are hard to get. So you absolutely want to try for one of those, but consider more options like BookBub Advertising, KindleBookHub promotions, Goodreads promotions, eBook promotions, BookHub promotions, or an Amazon countdown deal. Find three to five strategies you can easily implement, and then rotate all of your backlist titles in and out of these strategies! Give Away Excerpts I adore this approach; it definitely helps to whet the reader's appetite! However, if you're giving out extracts, you'll want something in exchange, such as their email address. So, make a landing page for your website, or if that's too difficult, buy a landing page from Leads pages. Although it is not free, Leadpages is an excellent resource when you need to construct a landing page for a new book release, book experts, or other promotions without having to deal with installing extra pages to your website. Build Personal Connections Research conducted by Goodreads a few years ago discovered that the most important thing readers want to do at the end of a book is connected with the author, therefore developing reader relationships wherever possible. This may be done via your newsletter, social media, or even at events. Creating personal relationships, as well as finding strategies to develop these personal connections, should be among your top goals. If you have a Facebook or Instagram account, don't post and then delete it. Always reply to a remark or feedback you get, even if it's simply to say "thank you" - people love this, and it's a terrific way to build reader trust.

The Ultimate Guide to Social Media for Writers 2023 by bookhub - Blog featured image
Blog

The Ultimate Guide to Social Media for Writers 2023

Using social media to get our writing out into the world can be an amazing opportunity. It helps market your works and hopefully, gain a following that will continue to benefit from our writing. But it can also be a curse. Because of so many social media platforms, most writers languish in obscurity and end up spending more time marketing their writing than just…writing. Organic vs Paid Social Media Before we start discussing the different social media platforms for authors and writers, I want to discuss an important part of all platforms: Free versus Paid traffic. This is otherwise known as Organic vs Advertisement. Back when social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter were first around, you could easily gain followers quickly. And when you posted, a majority of them would see it. But this was before the Age of Advertisement. With its advent, social media morphed into a pay-to-play model. For instance, Facebook's natural reach declined quickly and posts are rarely seen organically. HOWEVER… This doesn’t mean that you can’t reach your followers organically.  If reaching followers more effectively and efficiently is your concern, then advertising is the best way forward. This way you can spend more time writing and less time pampering your social media accounts for organic traffic. The truth is that gaining a following on social media organically takes a lot of time. The time that you’d rather spend writing. Facebook Page or Group for Writers Facebook is one of the largest social media platforms. It not only has the largest user base but is also one of the most widely used for all demographics. No matter what you write, your market definitely exists on Facebook. With Facebook, authors have three ways to market their books and writings: Using your Personal Facebook Profile Creating an Author Page Joining, or Creating an Author Group Your personal Facebook profile is exactly what it says. Some have had success with this. Personally, though, I prefer not to mix business with my personal life. Twitter for Writers As of right now, there are very few platforms anywhere that are more watched than Twitter. From celebrity gossip to presidential politics, Twitter has become a place where you can experience it all. It is a huge arena to exchange ideas and get your author brand out there. From a business standpoint, Twitter can be a powerful tool if utilized correctly. Twitter provides a fast-paced platform for you to pitch your writing. By limiting the amount of characters that can be used, Twitter encourages the elevator pitch format. Get your point out there. Bring in followers. That simple. Instagram for Writers Besides an author bio, what’s one of the best ways to give your readers a glimpse into your life? INSTAGRAM! Instagram is very different than the previous two social media platforms. Its biggest focus is on the picture or photo posted. Now, you may be wondering… “Who the heck just looks at the pictures?” The younger generation for starters. An insanely large number of them. Writers looking to attract the youngsters' attention does not need to look any further than Instagram. Goodreads for Authors Goodreads is an author platform designed specifically for writers. It exists for the sole purpose of connecting authors and their readers. Pretty neat, huh? One of the best features of Goodreads is how you actually register for the site. Instead of business and personal pages like Facebook, you have a reader and author options available. Each option has its own special abilities. Most people on Goodreads actually join as readers, not authors. When registering as a reader, you list all the books you have read then rank and review them using a 5-star system. When that’s done, you are able to then share that list with the public and your friends. This system can help deliver direct exposure for new and budding authors.

Republish vs Update a Book: Which One Is Better? by bookhub - Blog featured image
Blog

Republish vs Update a Book: Which One Is Better?

If you are reading this article, chances are your book has a problem that you would like to address in some way. The good news is that self-publishing makes it easy to correct your book mistakes, but there are two ways to do this: updating or republishing your book. With a strategic update or republishing of your book, you can easily fix your book's mistakes, course-correct poor marketing, and even increase your book sales. But what does it mean to update or republish a book? Which one is for you? In what situations should you use one or the other? Because the truth is, they are very different and they both have different consequences.  What is Republishing vs Updating a Book? Put simply, updating a book allows you to make changes to the current listing of your book without losing your ISBN, ASIN, and book landing page. Republishing a book essentially creates an entirely new book, complete with a new ISBN, ASIN, and book landing page. However, there are some nuances to each, and some special actions authors can take to maximize the benefits of an update or a republish that you should know about. How to Republish Your Book In order to republish your book, just follow these steps: Step 1: make sure you have the new edition of your book completely ready to go Step 2: go through the standard KDP upload process Step 3: If your book is a new edition of an old book, rather than a relaunch, make sure you specify this in the book details section while you are uploading to KDP (see picture below) Step 4: hit publish and wait for Amazon to approve your new book Step 5: once your new book is live, find your old book, however over the three little dots, and select Unpublish How to Update Your Book on Amazon To update your book on Amazon, follow these simple steps: Step 1: Go to your Amazon KDP dashboard Step 2: Find your book, hover over the three dots, and select “Edit e-book details” or “Edit paperback details” (depending on which version you are updating) Step 3: make any metadata changes you would like, such as your description, keywords, or categories, then hit “Save and Continue” Step 4: if you have direct changes to the manuscript or book cover, you can add them next, then hit “Save and Continue” again Step 5: if you have changes you want to make to the pricing or available marketplaces, you can make them here Step 6: Hit Publish!

How Long Should a Chapter Be? Rules by Genre by bookhub - Blog featured image
Blog

How Long Should a Chapter Be? Rules by Genre

Average novel chapter lengths fall in the 3,000- to 4,000-word range. But there are plenty of wildly successful books that have longer and shorter chapters. Nonfiction chapters often fall around the 4,000-word mark, but this is highly dependent on the subject matter. Read on as we dive into chapter-length guidelines by genre. We’ll discuss why chapter-length matters and explore tips on utilizing chapter length to your advantage. Why Chapter Length Matters Every reader has her own preferences when it comes to the minutiae of books. Even if those preferences are unconscious, they're still there. Some readers like short chapters, while others prefer longer ones. As I'm sure you already know, you won't please all the readers all the time. Trying to do so would be a waste of energy. So sometimes the thing to do is utilize other tools at your disposal, such as scene breaks. More on that later. First, let's talk a bit more about chapter lengths for fiction and non-fiction books. Novel Chapter Length vs Nonfiction Chapter Length As mentioned above, the average chapter length varies by genre, author, and subject matter. However, it's common for both nonfiction and fiction books to average around the same amount of words per chapter: 3,000 to 4,000. But when we're talking about fiction vs nonfiction books, it's important to consider the overall length of these books. Your average fiction book (80,000 to 100,000 words) is longer than your average nonfiction book (40,000 to 60,000 words). A 90,000-word fiction book may have 30 chapters, with an average length of 3,000 words per chapter. A 50,000-word nonfiction book, however, may have just ten chapters, at 5,000 words per chapter. Either way is fine, so long as you consider chapter word counts second to getting the point of each chapter across to the reader — in the clearest and most compelling writing possible.   Chapter Length Guidelines by Genre Now, for the purposes of illustration, let's discuss some chapter lengths by genre. We'll also share some examples of well-known books. Here's a brief summary of the average word counts for each: Fantasy: 5,000-8,000 words Science Fiction: 3,000 words Romance: 3,000 words Mystery, Thriller, & Suspense: under 1,000 words Literary Fiction: 3,000-5,000 words YA: 4,500 words Chapter Length and Pacing – Are You Doing It Right? I mentioned this briefly above, but it bears repeating: each chapter needs to accomplish something. Every new chapter should propel the story forward. Or, in the case of a nonfiction book, it should provide a piece of information that adds to the overarching idea of the book. Chapter goals are usually one or more of the following: Answer a Question Pose a Question Develop Character(s) Foreshadow Build Suspense Establish Conflict Provide Backstory to Generate Character Motivation Knowing When (and How) to End a Chapter Reading is so important if you want to be a successful writer because so much of writing a good book is about the feel of it. The feel of the pace, the flow, the prose, description, and action. It's all so ineffable. So hard to quantify. You need to feel when to insert a chapter break. Luckily, there are some tried and true tactics that can help you determine how your chapter should end. And the how of it can help you determine the when. Conclusion Writing a novel — or any book — is hard work. And it's important to measure your progress using daily word count goals. And making progress includes knowing how many words you have in your chapter. While this shouldn't be a major concern while you're writing, chapter length is something to keep in mind because it's important for pacing, flow, and reader engagement. Authors who write page-turners have compelling stories first and foremost, but they also know how to use chapters to enhance the reader experience.

Benefits of reading books. by bookhub - Blog featured image
Blog

Benefits of reading books.

It’s genuine that we were all taught to read and understand. Reading books has many benefits. Through reading, you can communicate better. However, the benefits of reading books surpass that. The more you read, the more you discover more than what you already know. Books will always be the most powerful tools ever. It helps you rejuvenate your body and keep your mind functional throughout your reading session. It’s genuine that we were all taught to read and understand. Reading books has many benefits. Through reading, you can communicate better. However, the benefits of reading books surpass that. The more you read, the more you discover more than what you already know. Books will always be the most powerful tools ever. It helps you rejuvenate your body and keep your mind functional throughout your reading session. Here are the benefits of reading books;       i.         They increase your vocabulary As you read books, you expose yourself to more words that will help you boost your understanding.  You will be able to communicate better with those around you. When you have a more comprehensive knowledge of the English language, it will be straightforward for you to speak and express yourself well and accordingly, regardless of where you come from.     ii.         It improves concentration Reading books helps you to focus on it. As you focus, you will be able to control the thoughts that you don't want. The concentration you get through reading a book accelerates your inner peace. This helps you improve your ability to do things.    iii.         It improves empathy Through reading books, it is easier to understand the thoughts of other people. When your empathy level increases, those who surround you will establish togetherness. You become productive more when you add up your ideas and views from other people.    iv.         It helps your writing. When you increase your vocabulary, you can become a better writer. Reading more books helps you improve your way of thinking. Writing enables you to eliminate stress and gain more awareness of your reality. In conclusion, reading books have plenty of benefits. When you read more, you will be happier and healthier. Moreover, the knowledge you acquire through reading will make you smarter than before. Reading helps you increase your metabolism, which can, in turn, increase your lifespan.

5 Clever Ways to Market Your Wonderful Self-Published Book by bookhub - Blog featured image
Blog

5 Clever Ways to Market Your Wonderful Self-Published Book

You’ve written your self-published book. It’s taken you so long to even get to this point. Endless days and nights of writing, editing, tweaking, rewriting, and feeling as if it’s never going to end. And here you are about to press Send and publish it to the world. And then…nothing. Not a sausage. You check your sales charts every few hours. Still nothing. Why isn’t anyone buying your self-published book? The truth is, that’s not how it works. When a car arrives in a showroom all gleaming new, a lot of planning and thought has gone in why that car should be there in the first place. You need to start the marketing process way before you even start your book. And marketing isn’t about promoting your book on social media and paying for adverts once you’ve written your book. It starts a long time before that. Here’s a quick guide to marketing your book 1. Find a niche for your self-published book before you write it Finding a niche is the key that underpins a successful self-published book. Because we don’t have access to the millions spent on advertising, you’re going to need to be a big fish in a small pond. And the smaller your pond, the bigger you’ll be. Authors of romantic books often have a hard time selling their books because the competition is so high. So find yourself a niche, preferably one you have an interest in. And one that doesn’t have too much competition. Make a search on Amazon and see what results come up. Anything less than 1,000 results may be a niche worth looking into. 2. Build your audience while you write your self-published book As you know, writing a book doesn’t happen overnight so while you’re doing that, get yourself a website and start building an email list. I’ve written a post about how to use your blog and how to build an audience and you can read. Building an audience as you write fulfills several purposes: Allows you to build important relationships with potential customers Allows you to gain important feedback from readers as you are constructing your book Gives you a ready-made audience (and one that’s been invested in your project) when it does come to publish 3. Build anticipation Now that you’re building your audience, you can start building anticipation for your book launch. Your fans will be rooting for you and you can ramp up the excitement via social media posts and emails (on that all-important email list). When it comes to launching day, your audience is going to be so excited that they’ll most likely all buy your book at once, boosting your sales and propelling your book into the Amazon rankings. 4. Launch your self-published book It’s up to you how much of a song and dance you make of your launch. I prefer soft launches mainly because I’m pretty shy but if you’re able to do a launch in person with members of your audience, there’s nothing wrong with that. One thing to bear in mind though is that a glut of sales around your launch is not an indicator of how well the book will sell long-term. This is just the start. 5. The Long Slog This is the bit that most people try out without having put the other elements into place first. In many cases, people are looking to sell books that don’t hit that specific niche or are lost in an ocean of similar types of books. And one thing to bear in mind is that selling your book is a long-term strategy. It’s very unlikely that it’ll become an overnight best-seller.

How to Write A Kick-Ass Novel In 2022 by bookhub - Blog featured image
Blog

How to Write A Kick-Ass Novel In 2022

They say that everyone has a story to tell. Writing your own novel can be a challenging but rewarding experience. And who knows? You could be next summer’s best-selling author. Getting started Writing a novel is something that a lot of people want to achieve, but never actually get around to starting, never mind completing. Sitting in front of a blank screen can make ideas evaporate so if you’re wanting to get started, get yourself a notebook or journal and start getting some ideas down. They don’t have to be organized, to begin with – what you’re looking to do is get down some basic themes, storylines, and characters. Committing to your novel is the best way of making it a reality. Theoretically, it is possible to write a novel ‘on the fly, but you’re more likely to progress more effectively if you can establish some kind of routine. Writing every day, even if it’s for 15 or 30 minutes, will help move your principal ideas along. Creating a dedicated writing space can help in that it will get you in the flow when you sit down to write. Consider what kind of novel your story will be – does it fit into a specific genre or does it cross over into a few? Getting a basic storyline down before you start writing your actual book will help you chart out plot lines, twists and other things that you can drop in along the way. Some writers decide not to do this but having a sense of where the story is going can help as a motivator too. Aim to finish your first draft within a year. Before you get stuck into writing, think about what style you are going to write in too. Is it first person or third person? Decide on the editorial styles you are going to use and stick to them eg. will you be using double speech marks or single? Deciding on these things now can save a lot of time when you go back to edit and find that you’re using a mixture of different styles. Writing a blurb, similar to the ones you’d find on the back of a book can help keep you focused and enthusiastic when times get tough. Remember that there will be times when you won’t feel like writing so don’t be too hard on yourself. In some cases, writers plot their stories from back to front so that they can easily construct scenes. Setting up a blog can also help, both as a journal and as a way of building an audience while your novel takes shape. Getting it down The Setting Don’t spend too long describing the place where your story is set. Most readers these days want to get stuck straight into the story. In fact, you may want to consider jumping straight into the action before even writing a word about the bigger scenario. A thrilling first chapter will get the reader hooked from the start. The Instigating Incident Nearly all novels include a key scene on which the rest of the story hangs eg. in a crime novel, it could be the moment that a body is discovered. Don’t get too obsessed with the fine detail of it when you start but do bear in mind that its impact will resonate throughout the rest of the book. You may also have some ideas for key moments that you’d like in your novel. Make sure though that they propel the story forward, and aren’t just there because you like them. If you’ve planned your novel from back to front, these key moments can all fit together as part of the bigger jigsaw. These will form the stepping stones upon which your novel will progress. Characterization If this is your first novel, don’t overload it with too many characters. It may end up complicating both you and the reader. Keeping it simple is the best way to forge ahead on your first attempt. You will need a few key characters that develop as the novel progresses. Consider their principles – are these challenged when faced with conflict? The Conflict Conflict is what drives many novels forward and it usually involves the main character, often against a protagonist or a situation. If your novel involves settings that you’re not familiar with, make sure you do your research first. Some writers write about what they know about best because this gives them an intimate background of the world they’re writing about. The aim of your novel is for your main character to overcome this conflict in one way or another. Dialogue The things that your characters say to each other should be there to develop your character or story. Don’t have your characters talking for long periods of time about nothing in particular. Your reader will get bored. Dialogue can also move your story forward. For example, one character has information that they accidentally pass on to another character. How to keep the reader reading A good storyline often includes intrigue and mystery. The reader will want to find answers to questions and if your story is good enough, the reader will want to read on to find those answers. There is also a technique that you can employ at the end of each chapter that will entice your reader to move on to the next chapter. The way to do it is to have a cliff-hanger moment at the end of each chapter. Set up a situation that’s full of suspense that will get your reader thinking ‘What happens next?’ The Ending The ending to your book should resolve the main conflict of your story. There’s no need to have a ‘Hollywood’ ending but you should have tied up all your loose ends unless you are wanting to produce a sequel. You can leave the reader with a cliff-hanger but this runs the risk of not providing the satisfactory outcome that your reader was probably hoping for. Getting it polished Once you have written your first draft, you’ll need to edit it. Your novel could go through many redrafts, as you tidy and reshape many of your chapters. Once you’ve done what you consider a ‘final version’, put it away and don’t look at it for a few weeks, possibly even months. Then re-read it as if you were someone reading it for the first time. Does the storyline make sense? Are the characters fleshed out enough? Do they develop throughout the book? If you find that you are skipping chunks of your work, it’s a good rule of thumb that your readers will be doing the same. Editing can take a lot of time but it will be worth it If you are editing the book yourself, don’t be shy about cutting anything that seems surplus to the plot. Once you are happy with your revisions, it’s a good idea to start showing a few people your story. Feedback is important, both good and bad – and don’t take criticism too personally. Keep a note of all the remarks and be sure to ask for a second opinion if you’re not entirely convinced of its merit. If you are then looking to publish your novel, you can either look to find a publisher who will take on your novel, or you can publish it yourself. If this is your first novel, it’s always best to have a completed manuscript to offer publishers before approaching them. If you’d rather go down the self-publishing route, you can do so in print or ebook form with several platforms. Amazon has its own self-publishing service called KDP (where you can also sell your books and ebooks) but there are other options such as Lulu and Blurb, which can produce a print run for you. There are also companies who can take your book and self-publish it for you, although they can take a cut of your royalties. This post was written by award-winning author Patric Morgan