A while ago (summer of 2018), I started a non-fiction project titled Simple Ways to Write, Publish, Market a Debut Novel (+ Intimate Testimonials from Published Authors).
Because of various things going on in my life (working on several fiction books, health issues, turning my newest release — Whispers and Other Strange Stories — in audio book format, now available on Amazon, iTunes and Audible),
this particular non-fiction book is taking me longer to publish.
I have, therefore, decided to release extracts from my project here, on my website. In case something happens to me before I manage to publish the book, I want to make sure I'm sharing these awesome letters with you.
These extracts are from Part 4 of the Simple Ways book, titled Intimate Love Letters: From Published Authors to Aspiring Authors. They contain, as the name suggests, letters I have gathered from authors about their journey to, through, and after publication. These are the questions I have asked them to specifically write to me (and you) about:
How was the experience of writing your first / debut novel? What is some (brief) advice you would give to aspiring novelists now?
What are the essential things to do, and others to avoid, to make a good start as a writer and aspiring author?
How has writing the first novel influenced writing your second one, and/or your writing career in general?
What did you learn the most from this author journey you’ve been on so far?
What lessons have you learned about life from reading?
What book changed your life that you would also give to a friend’s child on their 18th birthday?
What would you tell your 16-year-old self if you could go back in time ‘disguised’ as a stranger?
What is one thing that always makes you smile?
‘The thing’ of your choice can be tangible or intangible and doesn’t have to be writing related. Can also be a pet, person, book, movie, poem, memory, etc. If you’d like to mention more than one ‘thing’, please do.
I will be releasing their 'letters' one by one, every week or so, in the order they got back to me.
I hope you enjoy them and find them useful. I love reading them and think are most enlightening, especially to aspiring authors, but also to seasoned ones. It is always great to learn from others.
This next letter is from Eliot Peper.
Eliot Peper is a novelist and strategist. He writes fast-paced, deeply-researched novels with diverse casts that explore the intersection of technology and society and is the author of Bandwidth, Cumulus, True Blue, Neon Fever Dream, and the Uncommon Series.
He’s helped build technology businesses, survived dengue fever, translated Virgil’s Aeneid from the original Latin, worked as an entrepreneur-in-residence at a venture capital firm, and explored the ancient Himalayan kingdom of Mustang. His books have been praised by the New York Times, Popular Science, Businessweek, TechCrunch, io9, and Ars Technica, and he has been a speaker at places like Google, Qualcomm, and Future in Review. His stories combine the realities of technological advancements with the fictional worlds he creates and make for thought-provoking discussions and deep thinking of where we are going as a planet and as a species.
You can find Eliot Peper here.
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Hi Crina,
There has never been a better time to start writing. There are more tools and publishing paths available than ever before, and so many opportunities to build relationships with readers who love your work.
I started writing my first novel because I wanted to read a book just like it, but couldn’t find one. I’ve been a voracious reader ever since I was a small child and figured that maybe there would be more people like me out there, and that maybe they’d enjoy it too. So I sat down, opened up Microsoft Word, and started typing.
I knew the type of book I wanted it to be, a speculative thriller illuminating the human experience of building a tech startup, but I had no outline or plan. I just dove in and then kept coming back to it, getting a little closer to the end every time. It was a hobby, pure fun. While I was working on the rough draft, I began researching my options for what I could do with the manuscript after I’d completed it. The prospect of spending a lot of time and energy finding a literary agent and soliciting publishers didn’t appeal to me, and because I had been building and launching tech products myself, self publishing seemed like a great alternative.
After a strange sequence of events, I wound up getting a publishing deal from a small press and worked with them on the first two books before self publishing the subsequent ones, including Cumulus. My goal as a self publisher is to compete directly with Random House and the rest of the Big Five on equal footing, so that readers would never know the difference. To that end, I hire world class editors and designers and put my books through an extremely rigorous production process. I want every aspect of the reader’s experience with my novels to be top-notch, from glancing at the cover to reading the climax.
I’ve also worked with large publishers on subsequent books. I decide on a publishing path on a book-by-book basis, always choosing the right option and partners based on what best serves that particular story.
Here are the three most important pieces of advice I have for aspiring writers:
Read. It’s amazing how many aspiring writers “don’t have time” to read. Can you imagine someone who doesn’t listen to music wanting to learn to play the guitar? Reading is how you will develop the sense of taste that will guide your writing, but even more important, reading is a joy in itself, a window into other worlds, hearts, and minds.
Write. Want to be a writer? Write. It really is that simple. Focus on the verb, not the noun. Stop agonizing over how much you want to be a writer and just start writing something, anything. Then, and this is key, finish what you start. No matter how confused or frustrated you get with a piece, finish it before starting anything else. Don’t follow the Siren song of a bright shiny new idea. One complete blog post is worth a dozen unfinished novels. Finishing things gives you momentum and lessons-learned that will power you through new projects.
Build relationships with readers. Don’t assume a publisher or anyone else can wave a wand and share your work with millions of people. Instead, share your work with specific people you think have a real reason to love it, and if they do they’ll wind up sharing it further because they love it so much. Never depend on anyone else to intermediate your relationship with your fans. From a publishing perspective, nothing gives you more leverage than having an audience.
It’s an exciting time to write. Pour everything you can into your stories. Struggle. Learn. Grow. In the words of Neil Gaiman, “Make good art.”
Cheers, Eliot