Blogging A2Z Blogging Challenge, P is for...

 

   Prologues:

Not many writers, it would seem, agree with the use of a prologue. That’s not me, I believe in them as well as their twin the epilogue, maybe it’s because I come from a generation of readers who had them placed in the novels that they were reading. The prologue sets up the story that you are writing with information that you won’t be stating in the novel. Handy in a series.

Proof reading:

As mentioned before, if you aren’t that good at it yourself (you’ll know when you get your manuscript back from beta readers covered in red ink), save up and purchase the ability of someone that is way better than you.

Platform for Authors:

I would recommend that you lay off this until you are ready to send your novel out to beta readers, it is recommended on many sites that you start pages on all the top social media sites and several book sites. On these pages you will put up who you are and all about your novel.

Most platforms should consist of, a blog, e-mail newsletter (if you can manage it), social networking, podcast (again only if you can manage it), video (Ditto), digital downloads, etc the idea is that these will gather followers or a community of people who are interested in what you have to say. This is usually a long-term process, which in the beginning, and possibly all the way through your career you will have to manage yourself.

I also recommend here that you check out some of your favorite authors and their web presence, especially their websites (which may contain links to the other sites they are on), for an idea of how to create your own. At this stage, when beginning and bearing in mind that you may not have a lot of money, choose a free site that you can make look professional, that has clean lines and build a site that is easy to not only maintain, but use.

Printing off chapters:

When we are just starting off, we don’t have much money. Printing off chapter after chapter can use up all your expensive ink. If you can, save up and either pay for more ink, or pay for a printing service to print it off. A service might work out cheaper, if you have a kid at uni, maybe they can print your vomit draft for you for a couple of dollars.