7 Key Considerations in Writing Your First Book

 

I started researching and writing my book about New Jersey wineries and wines a little over two years ago. I am still learning new things about this process every day. Despite my lack of experience in this area, I would like to share some of my experiences thus far in the hopes of making life easier for any reader who is also an aspiring author. The first issue is not knowing the right questions to ask. You can’t get the right answers if you don’t ask the right questions. Despite the pitfalls and countless hoops you need to go through, it is not all doom and gloom. I will focus on the early stages in this post, update in coming weeks (including an official reveal of my publisher’s name and the roll out of New Jersey Uncorked: A Snob-Free Taste of NJ Wine).

First the easy, obvious questions-What’s your topic? Fiction or Nonfiction? Next are a few more difficult and key considerations. I mentioned 7 Key Considerations in Writing Your First Book. These are clearly the tip of the iceberg, but asking and answering these are a good start:

• Self-publishing, Indie Publisher, or Traditional Publisher?
• Final Product Form:Hardback? Paperback? E-Book?
• Color or B&W?
• Use of photos, icons and “clipart”?
• Flowable or Fixed Lay-Out?
• Editing?
• Promotion and social media?

These questions seem pretty easy, right? But let’s say you want to write a paperback with an Indie Publishing Company. Some do only E-books. Some do only paperbacks. Let’s say you want color, some do only black and white. Some do color, but this is done by a subsidiary out of the country.

If you want to include photos, icons or “shareware” beware:

• Is it your photo? (Safest choice)
• Is your photograph of a copyrighted object or one that has a trademark? Might create legal issues or at least written permission.
• Are there faces of people who could be identified (and if so, do you have their written permission to be used)? Avoid if possible. If not, get permission or blur the image.
• Thinking of using common icons that are trademarked like the Facebook or YouTube icons” Read the fine print, probably not ok (or limited use with strict stipulations).
• Thinking of using clip art? Even the ones that say they are free often contain fine print warning that you may not use more than a couple hundred times (You’re probably hoping to sell more than 100-200 copies of your book)!

Color adds interest and pizzazz, but it costs a lot more (and not all publishers do color). It’s not just the cost of printing the book, but how much you will need to charge for the book.

Obviously, if you are writing a nonfiction book you need to consider what your competition is on that topic. In my case, there have been several good books written about New Jersey wine over the past decade or so. However, the changes in this business have been very quick and dramatic. So in the past four years since the last one was published, seven new wineries have opened (two more opening very soon) and five wineries mentioned are no longer open. The net change is 14 wineries in four years (a 29% change) if you count the two coming soon. In addition, my book takes a different direction and is all about what you experience once you arrive at the winery of your choice. The other factor working in my favor is the renewed interest in New Jersey wines already in the air, due to a boat-load of recent medals, honors and accolades in a number of major news outlets.

There are many other questions you must ask (but first you must be familiar with some of the lingo). For instance, do you want to use “flowable print” for your e-book? This is meant for multiple devices and may not look as good on one as it does on another. Think major unexplainable space between some words…Or perhaps you would prefer the “Fixed Lay-Out” Looks much better, but it is more expensive and may limit the outlets that will carry or support your e-book style.

Editing is a must! It’s more than just ensuring the quality of your book. Most publishers (even indies) won’t publish an unedited book. Don’t ask a friend, unless he or she does it for a living. Get a professional.

Promotion via social media is critical. Today even traditional publishers expect authors to do a lot in this area. If you are self-publishing or going through an Indie Publisher you have no choice. I had to start a twitter account, an Instagram account, and a LinkedIn account and grow them from seed. I’ll talk more about promotion next week.

These are all important questions to ask and familiarize yourself with the options and your preferences. These questions only scratch the surface and I will be revisiting them. I am considering sharing you my choices and why I did so. I am often asked if I knew how much was involved in getting a book published. I would be lying if I said I did. It has been an eye-opening, soul-searching, but extremely gratifying experience. With that in mind, I truly hope this discussion and future posts will make at least one writer’s life a little easier.

Some resources that I have found helpful:

• Smashwords Style Guide-How to Format Your Ebook (Smashwords Guides 1)
• Smashwords Book Marketing Guide – How to Market any Book for Free (Smashwords Guides 2)
• Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success (Smashwords Guides 3) All 3 written by Mark Coker
• An Author’s Perspective on Independent Publishing: Why Self-Publishing May be Your Best Option by Lee Foster

Next Week

• Page length, Marketing, To Blog or Not to Blog…And Other Important Considerations

Cheers!

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