How to Become an Author? a beginner’s guide to a successful writing career

Alok Mishra writes on how to become an author and pursue a successful writing career. Anyone can become an author who has great writing skills and the patience to work hard and rework harder and continue. Read this wonderful article below!

Authors always have a tough time if they are just beginning their career. They have to get their book noticed by the publishers; accepted by one of them; published in due time, and ultimately getting the attention of the readers. Indeed, it’s a tough job for the authors and most of them, if not careful and proactive, lose their hopes in the very first attempt and put their pens down. Sad, we just lose so many authors with potential and various stories to tell! What can be done? What should the authors be doing? What are the things that authors can do to stay in the competition?

Is there a magic wand? The answer is no! The path to reaching the stature of a famous author is indeed difficult. Nevertheless, only authors can reach there – no one else. Are you an author too? Come on; read this and I hope you will have your motivation once you reach to the last word of this article. I seek your attention and I will give you motivation.

Let’s Begin:
Can you write? Almost every 8th person can write these days so you are not a big deal! Can you write better than the average people’s writing? If the answer is yes, you are the author to be. You should first concentrate on writing better and better and then move towards writing the best you can. Moreover, never be the judge of your own writing. Always try to consult people who have reading taste and are known to be the readers at large and are often objective and neutral. They will offer you the best possible views on your writing and once they approve, then only try reaching publishers. Once you hurry and you land on your head! Writing is a constant process and there is always a room for improvement. Even the well-known writers have their manuscripts edited! Never falter if people offer you sever critique on your writing. Look at the list of advice they offer and try working on them. Once the writing zenith (which keeps altering as you grow) is reached, then you can finally move to the next step – getting a publisher to publish your work.

A Publisher:
This is the tricky part. You have to be, as an author who is just beginning, very convinced of what you are doing at this stage. For a debut author, the publisher can make it or break it. However, because you are coming after having worked so long and so well on your writing, I hope you will not break-open the door of a vanity publisher or a self-publishing house. Always try to look for a traditional publisher (which is very difficult to get these days for the debutants). For your debut book, give at least one full year to trying to get it through by a reputed publisher. In most of the cases, if your writing is so good and impressive, you will surely be getting a good publisher. Self-publishing should not be explored at the very beginning. Moreover, this option should only be explored when you are fully sure about your work at hand. If beta-readers and the pre-readers and the early-readers have approved your writing, you can surely self-publish it and make sure you sell enough to take out the investment part and then think about profit too. (Mark me, you have to be sure of your writing.)

Pushing Your Published Book:
If we talk of the minimum, more than a thousand new titles are published every month in India (the English ones) and the number can get large if we add the books published in Hindi or other languages. How do the readers decide which book to read? This is the question that should be met with a proper answer by the authors. How will you approach? What will be your strategy?

Understanding the psychology of the readers and offering them what they want to read is always the ideal way. And once your title is selected for publication, you have to begin the make-the-momentum job right from there. Today, there is no better resource than the web and the digital platforms – social media, book blogging websites, literature news sites and many others. As an author, it might be the case that you don’t get the time to do everything for the book at different stages – pre-launch, post-launch, and during the launch. Therefore, you can hire a reputed and a dedicated Book Promotions agency. I will advise you should look for one as soon as the book is selected by any publisher. You can go for BookBoys PR as well. (website address is http://bookboys.in/ ) BookBoys PR will create unique strategy depending on your book’s genre, potential readers and scope and will execute it perfectly to make sure that your book meets the publicity and readership that it deserves.

Continuing The Journey:
After your first book is launched and sold out and you are pumped up, you should not take rest! You have to continue the momentum and you can do so spending your time in writing, socialising with other authors and reaching out the readers. Use social media, social gatherings, literary events, reading clubs and anything else which you can think to be helpful. There is nothing like enjoying the success until you have reached the pedestal you have dreamt of.

Final Views:
Being an author also brings to you a responsibility – you have to build not only ‘sellable’ plots but also visionary novels or whatever you write. Social responsibility also is a part of the writers’ life and they have to take it and wear it as a badge on their ‘pen’-full chests. Write the things which you think can make a constructive contribution to the literature of the country you reside. Readers will not remember you for how many copies of your book have been sold; they will remember you for the timeless contributions you have made to the literature. Be among the ones who are remembered for their writing!