I've had so many people ask me about publishing a book, especially if you're doing it independently with a small press. While I have a much longer post about publishing Dos and Don’ts, let’s begin with four basic writing tips.

Four Writing Tips

1. Read, read, read.

I do not understand writers who don't read. At all. You must read genres you like and in genres you write. I write narrative nonfiction, specifically memoir, so most of the time, I read nonfiction. Occasionally, I will read a novel because the best nonfiction reads like fiction. Read for enjoyment but also for analysis. What did you like about the book? What did the author do well? What didn’t they do well? Reading other people’s works helps you discover your voice. You’re not copying other writers; you’re getting a sense of the genre.

2. Write a great story.

I know this seems obvious, but a great story will trump bad writing every day of the week. For example, E.L. James is a mediocre writer who made millions with her 50 Shades of Grey series. I read it because I wanted to understand why the book did well. But I only read the first book, and I could barely get through it. I was so annoyed by the grammatical errors that I almost threw my Kindle across the room. The characters were unlikable and unrealistic. I knew the author wasn’t American because the idioms in the book didn’t make sense for her American characters. When I discovered the book started out as fan fiction, it all made sense because the content is trash. (And I don’t mean smut, just bad writing). None of that mattered: It was the right book at the right time that landed with the right audience—older women wanting more spice in their lives.

Another example is Rachel Hollis’s first memoir, Girl Wash Your Face. I didn’t read this book; instead, I listened to the audiobook. Rachel tells interesting stories. The book’s structure is intriguing; each chapter is a “lie” she told herself. The book was published by Thomas Nelson, the world's leading publisher of Christian content. Why does that matter? Rachel had a pre-built-in audience of Christian moms who were ready to buy her book after following her content online for years. Her subsequent books have not done as well. Thomas Nelson never published her books again, and her sales have fallen. As they say, there’s riches in the niches.

3. Edit, edit, edit.

Even if you edit for a living, which I used to do, you need an editor for your material. There are three levels of editing: content editing, line editing, and copy editing.

Content editing involves a deep dive into the material. You may move content around or omit entire paragraphs or chapters. If editing were baking cookies (I’m not sure this analogy will work), content editing would be like gathering together the ingredients. Perhaps adding more of this or less of that. You’re not worried about grammar, punctuation, or spelling at this point because so much might change. Content editing is the most time-consuming and expensive. TIP: Beta readers are not technically content editors, but they can find the flaws in your shitty first draft.
Line editing involves going through the work line by line. Line editors may still suggest removing content or changing words to improve the material. They look for inconsistencies in the story. If you’re writing nonfiction, fact-checking your sources may be part of the line editing process (less so with memoir). Think of line editing as stirring together the ingredients and then shaping and molding the dough. TIP: Some editors combine content and line editing as part of their services.
Copy editing looks for mistakes in consistency, style, formatting, grammar, punctuation, and spelling. It’s deeper than proofreading, but not changing content the way line and content editors do. A copy editor stays true to the work unless they find a glaring factual error missed by previous editors. (It happens. Trust me.) If we’re staying with the baking analogy, copy editing is making the perfect balls of cookies and putting them on the pan to bake. TIP: A strong copy editor is worth their weight in gold.
Proofreading assumes the content has gone through multiple levels of editing. A proofreader is looking for basic spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors, as well as any remaining formatting issues. It’s not a proofreader’s job to change your work. Even the best copy editor will miss things. After my book was published, a reader who had been a nurse noticed a mistake that no one else caught. I used the word “auxiliary” when I meant “axillary.” That’s right: multiple editors missed that we had confused two homophones: words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings. I corrected the error in the next edition of my book. TIP: You’ll never find every mistake; do the best you can.

I cannot count the number of rounds of editing my through went through. Combining all of the above, I would say maybe 20. I don’t understand serious writers who refuse to use editors. Anne Rice, a famous American author of gothic fiction and erotic literature, refused to use a content editor after a certain level of fame. She “believes in the solo voice with all my soul.” While she insists she still uses copy editors, her work has never been the same. There’s nothing worse than reading a potentially good story that lacks editing. Those books go in my Do Not Finish (DNF) list on Goodreads. Don’t be cheap with editors either. You get what you pay for. Grammarly is helpful, but it’s not an editor.

4. Sell, sell, sell.

If you want to be a successful author, your number one job is to sell your books. Even if you have a traditional publisher, it’s not their job to sell your book. They’ll publish and distribute it, and if you’re lucky, they may do a marketing push. But you're one of many authors. Ultimately, the task of selling falls on your shoulders, as it should. Why? Because no one knows your book or the subject matter better than you do! You need to hustle, hustle, hustle, and then when you think you’re done hustling, hustle some more. Whether it’s in-person or virtual book tours, award submissions, book bloggers, Goodreads giveaways, or podcast interviews, you need to talk about your book to anyone who will listen and give you an audience. Think you can throw up your perfectly edited, amazing story of a book on Amazon and it will sell itself? Think again.

BONUS Tip #1: Writing your book is not a marathon.

Remember, writing your book is not a marathon. Writing is the training part of the marathon; it’s a grind! It’s the weeks and months of day-in and day-out training. As someone who has completed six marathons and one half-marathon, the training is harder than the marathon itself. I usually trained for five months for a full marathon, working out six days per week, with one day being a long run. I still remember doing my first 20-miler in the pouring rain for four hours in Griffith Park in Los Angeles. (I’m not that fast.) I hated every minute of it, but I did it anyway. That’s what writing a book is for me: training with good days, bad days, I-want-to-give-up days, and everything in between.

If writing isn’t the marathon, when does the marathon begin?

The marathon begins the day your book goes on sale, whether it’s a pre-sale before the publication date or the day of publication. That’s when you’re off to the races. However, before you get to the starting line, you’ve done several important things, such as gathered endorsements, recruited your review crew, scheduled promos, etc. (I’ll do a deeper dive on those topics in a future blog post.)

When the gun goes off and the race begins, that’s when your marketing marathon starts. Most people don’t want to do the marathon. They don’t want to spend the time or money marketing their book. Why? Because for many authors, especially if they’re shy, selling their books is much harder than writing them.

BONUS Tip #2: Choose two buckets.

When it comes to being a successful author, you can’t have it all. Typically, authors have the following wishlists. They want to

Sell millions of copies and make money from their books
Be on the New York Times (NYT) bestseller list
Receive critical acclaim for their writing

You can rarely get all three. Choose two. Just two. Without a mainstream publisher, it’s hard to sell millions of copies of your book and nearly impossible to get on the NYT bestseller list. In fact, the list is highly political and often includes books that don’t have major sales. David Goggins is one of the few exceptions: an independently published author who made the list. Like Rachel Hollis, he had a built-in following prior to publication, making him and his book sales impossible to ignore.

For me, I knew the NYT bestseller list was out of reach, so I let it go. It’s a nice brag, but I don’t need “New York Times bestselling author” in my obituary. I had two goals with my book Better Off Bald: Receive positive critical praise and sell books—in that order. I accomplished both.

I wanted positive reviews from doctors, so I sent them preview copies and gathered many endorsements. I wanted the medical community to embrace my book, recommend it to their patients, and place it in their patient libraries. I was thrilled that the Mayo Clinic Libraries and Mercy College of Health Sciences decided to carry my book along with dozens of other libraries. In addition to the healthcare sector, my book has received positive reviews on Amazon (4.6 average) and Goodreads (4.54 average) from readers around the world. It has also won numerous awards in various contests, including finalist, first place, grand prize, and even cash.

I’ve also sold and continue to sell books. Five years later, I still receive royalties. I could improve my sales by doing more giveaways and Amazon advertising, but for now, I’ve put that stuff on hold. (The marathon isn’t over; I’m just taking a break.) Once you’re published, you should never stop selling. While book sales are not my primary source of income, being a published author of a critically acclaimed, award-winning medical memoir has led to other opportunities that I couldn’t have anticipated. I am a thought leader in my area of expertise, and that comes with its own set of benefits.

Stay tuned for my next blog post titled 10 Publishing Dos and Don’ts.