Portals to New Worlds: Guest Author Stephanie Karpinske shares some very important Don’ts for Authors.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Guest Author Stephanie Karpinske shares some very important Don’ts for Authors.

Our guest author today is Stephanie Karpinske author of The Samantha Project. Today she shares some vital don'ts for authors. Established authors will nod in agreement as we all learned this the hard way, but to all the new and upcoming authors, make sure you read this. This is so don'ts for authors and advise that will take you far into your writing career.

I would like to thank Stephanie for stopping by and giving some great advice. One can never learn enough and sharing advice and wisdom is some of the great ways to assist others.

Don’ts for authors

Don’t ignore reader comments, especially when several readers make similar comments.

Don’t edit and write at the same time. Editing is a different skill than writing and it’s better to go back and edit later.

Don’t take bad reviews personally. Not everyone will like your book and that’s okay. Everyone has different tastes.

Don’t write books in a genre you don’t read or have any interest in. It’s true that some genres sell better than others but don’t force yourself to write books in those genres just for sales alone.

Don’t neglect to proofread your book, preferably with a professional proofreader instead of friends and family.

Don’t limit your word count on a first draft. It’s better to tell the whole story, no matter how long it is and then edit later.

Don’t overuse names in dialogue. People don’t usually call people by their names when talking in real life.

Don’t be afraid to cut paragraphs, scenes, or even entire chapters from your manuscript.

Don’t try to design your own cover unless you’re really good at it. There are plenty of professional cover designers that offer reasonable rates to Indie authors.

Don’t forget to market your book once it’s out. Marketing starts before the book comes out and it never ends.

Stephanie is a freelance health writer by day and novel writer by night. She's been dreaming up stories for as long as she can remember but finally put a few down on paper (or ebook) with her YA trilogy, The Samantha Project. She's currently working on a new adult romance series that’s coming out soon! When she’s not writing, she’s reading (usually YA/NA romance or a mystery thriller), cooking something really good, or running (to burn off the calories of whatever she cooked that was really good).