Using an easy-to-construct, attention-getting structure for each chapter can grab and hold a reader’s interest. We can work on that.

There are multiple ways to help you set the stage using all of your senses, the character’s point of view, and other methods. This can be easily coached.

Main and supporting characters need to seem alive and relatable for the readers to care about who they are, what they’re doing, and what happens to them. This can be achieved by developing characters through physical descriptions, comparisons with others, interesting back stories, and many other techniques.

Particularly when writing nonfiction or historical fiction, it’s critical to be accurate in the story you’re telling. This means doing research. Your accuracy and completeness build your credibility as an author. Conversely, getting the facts wrong undercuts your credibility and detracts from your book.

The primary reason readers continue reading a book is that it helps them feel their emotions. By showing emotion and vulnerability in your characters (or yourself in a memoir) you create and build reader interest.

Readers want to relate to you and the characters in your book. This can be especially important in a memoir. By writing with an appropriate sense of humor and approaching topics with humility, you draw readers to your story.

Getting knowledgeable, well-meaning, heartfelt feedback can help improve your writing immensely. It can turn your good book into a great book.

While they can go by different names, there are some distinct types of editing:

• Style editing is used to determine who your book is aimed at and whether your writing style will appeal to that audience. This involves a thorough read with mostly generalized feedback.
• Copy editing is the nuts and bolts editing to make sure the language is clear, and that grammar and spelling are correct. This is a very detailed read with specific feedback.
• Format editing is putting the text of the book in the proper format for publishing. Different publishers have different formats for the eBooks, paperbacks, or hardcovers they produce. Format editing is the process by which this is done. At the end of this stage, you will be reviewing and approving your book for final publishing.
• Visual editing. In addition to creating an attractive and meaningful book cover, incorporating appropriate graphics, illustrations, and/or pictures can add to your book immensely. If you intend to use these visual aspects as part of your book, they need to be edited in, reviewed, and captioned appropriately during the editing process.
• There is also a type of editing that involves providing intuitive feedback. This happens prior to style editing and is where a highly experienced author reads your book and provides input as to the basic structure and content of it. He/she gives feedback as to whether you’re presenting your material in the most interesting and coherent way. Highly useful if available.

Not only do you want to be aware of your book’s primary audience, your book can have multiple audiences beyond them. You may not even see some prospective audiences for your book readily. Using a style editor can help you focus your book towards receptive audiences.

Incorporating inputs from skilled editors and other knowledgeable parties helps make your book interesting and look professional. By correcting mistakes and identifying holes in the plot, it also removes distractions from your finished copy.

Almost all books have antagonists or characters that are portrayed in a negative light. If your book is a memoir, non-fiction, or historical fiction, you might not want to use real names and places if the focus is negative. Especially if the people are still living, you may not want to refer to them by their real names. This is a judgment call – you’ll want to balance the need for by-name identification against the effects of potentially negative exposure. Sometimes, it’s better to use a made-up name (and identify it as such) or just refer to the individual as “major” or “doctor” or some other identifying characteristic without attaching a name.

Throughout the book writing process, you can anticipate looking at what you’ve written and declare in frustration “this is crap!” It happens to everyone. Don’t expect perfection. Overthinking can lead to disjointed writing; worse, it can prevent you from completing your book.

You’ll know. You’ll feel it. It probably won’t be as soon as you may have wanted, but it will be apparent. This is not an endless process.

There are lots of pros and cons for either route. There are even hybrid publishers that combine aspects of self-publishing with those of a traditional publisher. There’s even a separate discussion centering around how best to obtain a literary agent for those who are interested. There’s a good deal of ground to cover on this subject (much more than we can discuss here).

Using Amazon is a great option if you want to reach a wide audience. If you go with them exclusively, though, you cut yourself off from different distribution channels, like Barnes & Noble, other booksellers, libraries, and the like.  A good option is to offer your book with Amazon non-exclusively through Kindle Direct Press (KDP) and also through another publisher. IngramSpark is a great second channel.

Audiobooks have been the fastest growing book market for years. Especially with downloadable audiobooks, they’re easily accessible to most customers, including those who listen to audiobooks exclusively. Production costs can be high, though. If you want to do an audiobook, one of the important questions to ask yourself is “do I narrate myself or hire a professional?” There are different opinions on this, with people falling on either side. Another consideration, if using a narrator, is that the cost to you can be royalties or a set fee upfront. Lots to discuss on this subject.

Publishing services, like Amazon or IngramSpark, can help you design an attractive book cover using their software. Another good option is to hire a graphic designer to create one for you that’s tailored to your subject matter and the “feel” you want to portray. This is much less expensive than you might think. A website called fiverr.com has graphic designers who create high quality, custom-designed book covers, bookmarks, postcards, logos, and many more products. The prices range from expensive to very reasonable. They also offer a wide variety of other services, such as audiobook narration. Highly recommend.

There is a myriad of other tasks that need to be completed before publishing, such as copyright registration, obtaining a Library of Congress number, getting rights for use of quotes and pictures, etc. This isn’t rocket science – you just need to know what’s involved and where to go to get these things done.

There’s no wrong answer. More formats = wider availability, of course. More formats also mean higher cost, especially if you want to publish using different markets (for example, Amazon and IngramSpark have different paperback and eBook formats. Amazon doesn’t publish hardcover books, but they do offer them for sale). Other publishing decisions, such as what style and size of font, what color paper, the binding of the book, and whether your book is printed in black-and-white or color need to be made as well.

There are some standard book sizes associated with books of varying length. There’s a similar set of guidelines associated with pricing your book as well. Ultimately you, the author, decide on how to size and price your book, but most people want to be sure their works are appropriately sized and not overpriced or underpriced.

There are legal, liability, and tax advantages to incorporating both your book and your post-publication activities under the umbrella of a business. There are costs, as well. This is a rather involved topic depending on what you want to do post-publication.

The answer to this is “it depends.” How much do you want to spend? Are you looking to make a profit, are you publishing to provide credibility to other aspects of your professional life, or are you publishing simply for the satisfaction of creating a book you wrote? All of your responses to these questions are very legitimate. Depending on your answer, your marketing budget and goals could range from enormous to almost zero. There’s a lot to discuss regarding this.

Timing, advertising, location, and many other aspects of your book launch are all important. There are some basic considerations you’ll probably want to address as you approach this question.

Yes, you can become a #1 bestseller even as a self-publisher, but it typically requires professional, focused help.

Your website is a very important way for potential customers, clients, and readers to connect with you. Your website makes you visible, plus it provides a one-stop location for sales of your book, client contact, and sales of other merchandise, if you have any. Your website makes you visible, and it’s important that it look professional and be functional.

As you probably know, social media is important to build awareness and interest in your book and your other business activities. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. are all very useful in this regard. Marketing professionals can advise you on the specifics of what might work for you. One very important piece to this puzzle is you and your motivation. What are you comfortable with and how much effort do you want to put into this?

Speaking, coaching, counseling, and holding special events are all options you may want to consider now that you’re published. The sky’s the limit. What do you want to do?