Today’s topic comes from QSFer Beth Brock:
What should new authors expect from their first few books? Emotionally, who their first readers will be, and expectations from their editors.
It’s a great question. I just got through my first two stand-alone releases. And while they were not, technically speaking, full-blown books (they were novellas), most of the same things apply.
I learned a lot this first time around. I learned that some publishers have a more thorough editing process than others. I learned that a large part of the marketing process falls on the author’s shoulders, especially when you’re working with a small press. I learned that it’s easy to spend a lot of money on promo that gets you very little, but that paying someone else to set up a blog tour has its benefits.
And I learned to never, ever, ever read my Goodreads reviews.
So my questions today – for our more experienced authors out there, what did you learn the first time? And for our newbies, what questions do you have?