5 HUGE mistakes that aspiring authors must avoid!

Today, iUniverse looks at five HUGE mistakes that aspiring authors should make sure to avoid. Experience is a cruel way to learn, so please heed this advice!

Trying to write by inspiration, rather than by discipline: “I’ll just sit in my favorite coffee shop and let the ideas come to me. I’ll have my book written in no time.” It would be great if the writing process was that simple and easy. Unfortunately, writing a book is a matter of self-discipline, not inspiration. The actual writing process is unavoidably one of hard work., where you have to force the words out of yourself. The good news is that it can be structured in a way that is not too intimidating or overwhelming. We recommend finding an hour to write every day, and, more importantly than the amount of time, making sure that you write 500 words each day – for six days of every week. On some days, this 500-word minimum will be a piece of cake, and on others, it will be grueling. However, by sticking to this regimen, you’ll have a 60,000-word book at the end of five months. This amounts to just under 300 pages, which is a good size for a novel and more than enough for a self-help book.

Allowing distractions: Further to the point above, many writers forget that the act of writing requires uninterrupted concentration. These days, your biggest enemy to concentration is the Internet. Always turn off your phone, and close internet sites (including email), when you are writing. Otherwise, part of your mind is occupied with waiting for the next email or social media message. Your attention is weakened, and once you start responding to those messages, your writing session has gone to pieces. If you are writing a book that requires research, it is better to do your research at a different time than when you are writing. The sheer act of putting words onto paper should be your only focus.

Not re-writing their draft: The writing process consists of writing, re-writing, editing, and proofreading. Many writers forget the second step! It is critically important, as it is your opportunity to re-phrase sentences, move paragraphs, and make other large changes. Never accept your first, raw draft as the final one.

Not using an outside proofreader: When I wrote my first book I felt that I wouldn’t need a proofreader. After all, I’d been an editor for a newspaper and a magazine, and had proofread hundreds of college essays and resumes, so I could do it myself, right? WRONG! After you’ve read the same thing more than five times, the mind starts to “autocorrect” errors – it sees what it wants to see. Thus, by the proofreading stage, your mind can no longer be trusted to proofread your own work. Hire an outside proofreader – it’s worth it. Fortunately, in my case, I showed my manuscript and back cover draft to someone just before I submitted it for publication, who pointed out an abundance of typos!

Expecting to become rich overnight: Having high aspirations is great – but they must be realistic at the same time. Unless you are already famous, it is highly unlikely that you will become a millionaire immediately upon publication of your book. The ascent to fame and fortune just doesn’t work that way, at least in the world of publishing. And books, like any other product, don’t sell themselves – they need to be marketed. But do not fret! There are many ways to market your book, and there are many kinds of recognition. After getting published, you will have immediate recognition among your family, friends, and work colleagues. If you spread the word about your book – and Facebook is a great way to do this – you’ll have recognition from your community. After that, it is a question of aggressively marketing your book to periodicals, radio, TV, and influential people, doing book-signings, attending events, and undertaking anything else that can make an impact.

— By Tom McKinley

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