Yoda gives advice about your first book

The last couple of months have been incredibly stressful for me as I gear up toward the launch of my first book. I wanted to share a couple of observations in the hope I might help just one budding author in the same boat, just as others have helped me. I’m honoured to have the guru and oracle, Yoda with me, to share his incredible wisdom.

Help where I can, I will, but walk the road of an author, only you can. Challenging road, it is.

Indeed it is. While writing my book, my worries centered on my craft. Am I good enough to tell this story? Are my characters believable and interesting? Is my plot too difficult to follow, or too easy? Is my story exciting? Does my writing suck? I feel lucky that my writing group and beta readers were full of excellent criticism and excitement, and genuinely seemed to enjoy my story.

Surround you on your journey, positive force must. Help you it will, yessss.

It’s only natural that if left to our own devices, our negative self-talk will convince us that we aren’t worthy of being an author. These doubts will grow and fester without encouragement and support from others. But at the end of the day-

Believe in yourself, you must. If a writer want to really be, you will. Let anyone take that dream away from you, do not, and take it away from yourself, do not. Heh, heh, heh.

Um… quite. Don’t give up on yourself; I think he’s saying.

Then I reached the next inevitable stage: I’ve finished my third draft and set it aside to age before a final edit. Doom descended when I began to read it with a fresh eye, and you must put your baby aside for several weeks before you can look at it objectively. Every clumsy sentence, cliché and repeater leaped off the page. Ugh, look at all those filler words. Just when I thought I was done, I faced a month or more of combing through every paragraph and every sentence, pruning and polishing.

Now I worried about my future audience. What if I put un-edited drivel out into the market? Clarity and terseness is drilled into us, but what if I went too far and sucked the life force out of my writing.

A professional editor, use you must. Provide the final layer of polish, they can, mmmm. Yet to learn from experience, you have.

That is one of the best pieces of advice I have ever learned. I read many ebooks from new authors, and while the story is always the most important thing for me, I’m upset by a clumsy presentation, or telltale signs that the author didn’t edit enough. Maybe when I have a dozen books under my belt, I can edit successfully, but until then, a pro-editor is a necessary expense.

Your first book may a masterpiece be not, but publish the best book you can, you must. Herh herh herh.

Now I am in the third and final stage of nail-biting panic. Marketing! To misquote Bones McCoy: “I’m a writer, not a salesman, dammit.” I see other authors spend every waking hour posting, tweeting, blog touring, interviewing, making merchandise, public speaking… I already have a day job, and I would like to write my next book, you know.

Time of marketing spend it wisely, balance you must. Your target audience find, and sell, your book will, yesssss. Ram it down everyone's throats, do not. Hmmmmmm.

This is another good tip I’ve come across. It is tempting to try to sell to your friends, to your Twitter and Facebook friends, but if you’re like me, most of them are fellow authors. While authors read too, and can help spread the word and give you exposure via their blogs, the reader is the final target. Identify who your audience is and seek them out. Be creative. It isn’t as simple as tweeting a hundred times a day about your book. There’s a plethora of good blogs and books about marketing, and I’m finding it’s like drinking from a hosepipe.

Remember that, a writer first, you are, and writers write. Herh herh herh.

Yes, master. At the end of the day, we must accept that our first books may only sell a tiny amount. We are swimming in the wide Amazon now and there are thousands of us. It is unlikely the world will discover and leap upon our one book like piranhas to blood. The secret is volume. As Yoda says, we are writers. Once our initial marketing blitz is over, we must return to what we do best, and write more books. Don’t overreach on that first book.

I recall that the famous John Locke had almost a dozen ebooks with mediocre sales (~60/month) before the masses discovered him, and he sold a million copies in 5 months. When a reader enjoys your book, what are they immediately going to do? Search for the next one, and if they don’t find it, they’ll go away. Clearly, if we have four, eight, a dozen books available, we are going to sell more books and attract a wider audience. People love a series, that’s why there are so many of them.

This is the third great tip I learned, don’t-

Sweat your first book, do not. In this for the long haul, you are. Keep writing and, build a loyal following, you will. Yeesssssss.

Exactly. I think it is logical that after committing years of our life to our first book, we want to make it a resounding success; but don’t overthink it. Few people got famous off one book. Enjoy your first publication, bask in the glory, but move on. Don’t chase the sales numbers critically. Your next book will be better, and the next one. You must move on, you must write.

A final word from our guru:

Enjoy the journey because more important and fulfilling than the destination, it is. About the future, do what you love and worry not. Hmmmmmm.

I would love to hear your experiences, either by commenting here or email. I love talking to others with the same feelings, so that we can bolster each other up and walk the journey together.

Finally, if you enjoyed this post, you’ll like these too:
8 Tips to Keep From Going Batty as You Launch Your Career
What Happens When You Release Your First Book
Target Fixation
Thick Skin

Yoda and Star Wars are copyright and trademarks of George Lucas and Lucasfilm.

Lorna says April 28, 2012

One word of advice for the debut novelist: it’s important to get reviews posted, but do not get drawn into the deceptive game some authors engage in, namely, swapping books in return for a tit-for-tat review. The “I’ll give you a 5-star review if you do the same for me” authors are out there, some even holding honest writers’ reviews for hostage unless they get the glowing review. I’d rather have a handful of honest reviews than to dishonestly pad my sales with dozens of false reviews. I encountered a couple since joining Twitter & I’ve had a few authors lament their encounter with these same writers, so be careful.
You can usually tell who these authors are first reading an excerpt of their book, then seeing their posted reviews. If you thought their work was wanting but they have 20+ 5-star reviews and just as many 1-star reviews from readers who felt they were ripped off & can’t understand why this author received such rave reviews, there’s a good for chance this is one of the authors you should stay away from! Thanks for sharing this great post, Graeme!

Graeme says April 28, 2012

Thanks Lorna, very wise words indeed. The main loser in that scenario is the reader who doesn’t understand what is going on with the crazy reviews. If I have to give a bad review I am normally very constructive about why and make it clear if it is a taste thing, so that others can choose to ignore my comments. Thank you for that sound advice.

Jennifer Sosniak says April 29, 2012

It’s nice to know that there are other writers that experience the same things I do. Thanks for the post. Best of luck to you! 🙂

Graeme says April 29, 2012

I think most first time authors experience the same doubts. Isn’t it great to have fellow authors to support us? 🙂

nick gogerty says April 29, 2012

Graeme, great post. I am just taking a look at my 2nd draft after the first 2-3 editorial reviews have come back. It is very humbling. I take each thoughtful criticism as a gift, for it is an opportunity to improve before publishing. I am thankful, that when I look at my own stuff from a distance I can see the mamoth errors other do, as it gives me the chance to focus on the next iteration.

Thanks for the post.

Well said, Nick. No one is perfect and it certainly helps to distance ourselves from our books to regain objectivity. When’s your book going to see the light of day?

Stephanie Chandler says April 29, 2012

Thanks for sharing our link and best of luck with your book!

Thank you very much.

Gray Sharpling says May 2, 2012

Hi old friend. Maybe I missed something in a previous post, but did you just drop a minor bombshell? You say: “… as I gear up toward the launch of my first book…”
Have you found a publisher, or are you self-publishing, or what? Details. I need details…..
Regardless, that’s great news. Good Luck!

Graeme says May 2, 2012

Well well well, long time no speak. Glad to hear from you again, and I hope you are well? I will be self publishing for a variety of reasons. Email me and I can explain in depth if you are interested. You’ve probably already read the blurb for OCEAN OF DUST on the home page.

Heather Day Gilbert says May 9, 2012

Very exciting, Graeme! Love your (um..er…YODA’S) thoughts on publicity. I can’t stand the drip-dripping of twitter feeds, pattering on about their own books. YES, we have to advertise. But that reader base is so core. Identifying our own personal reader base is tough, though. Looking forward to reading your book!

Graeme says May 9, 2012

Heh, thanks for your comments, Heather. It’s all a matter of balance and most of us are new to the marketing game. I’m sure we’ll discover what works and what doesn’t.

amanda says June 8, 2012

i’m not an author im a reader,a huge reader and i love books and the thrill of escapism i get when reading .Sometimes you just have to put yourself out there and see what comes back. If your book is anything like your blog i cant see you have a problem you have an engaging style of writing that keeps a reader interested. This blog made me smile, i could picture Yoda in my head saying eveything you wrote, writing is meant to inspire the imagination 🙂 i can’t comment on marketing or writing i know little of this but i can comment on what i read. And what i read i like.

Graeme says June 8, 2012

Thank you, Amanda, for those kind words. I agree that you just have to put your best foot forward.

Yoda gives advice about your first book

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