Marketing

It's never too early to think about marketing. If nothing else, keep details of people who say they want to buy your book. Put a star by the ones who have lots of friends. These are your hubs that talk and the best marketing is by word-of-mouth!

How-to books

Seek out all the how-to texts, read them, and keep re-reading them. You will pick up advice and tips that once went over your head.

Genre

Genre is the French word for ‘type’. It’s an easy shorthand to brand work. If your novel is cross-genre or doesn’t fit the current list, don’t panic. Novels that mix and, even better, transcend genres are gaining in popularity.

Character flaw

Every well-drawn, appealing character has one or more weaknesses or flaws. This flaw may be physical, emotional or spiritual. Pip in Dickens' Great Expectations is a snob. Humbert Humbert's flaw is his monumental passion for Lolita. The job of the author is to build a complexity of motives, desires and needs, and ensure the character faces them head on!

Repeated phrases

When editing your manuscripts check you’ve not repeated a phrase within three to four lines. More often the repetition happens in a descriptive passage, but be careful about removing repeats from dialogue. We naturally mirror speech.
‘We do?’
‘Yes we do!’

Keeping at it

The one thing all published novelists have in common is the ability to keep going.

Numerology

Google numerology to find out more about your and your character’s personality traits. While I believe most readings could easily apply to a large percentage of the population the ‘off the beaten track’ results might prove useful.