Since the dawn of time, stories have been passed down through the generations, connecting us with those who came before. Whether it’s a classic tale or a modern fair isle, stories allow us to travel back in time and experience life as it was lived centuries ago, or as it is now and in the future. However, with the world now connected through technology and the internet, it’s never been easier for authors to share their work with the world, potentially earning them a great deal of money and fame. However, with great power comes great responsibility, and authors must always consider the rights of the reader. In this tutorial, we’ll discuss some of the basic principles of writing and publishing an eBook to ensure you produce a high-quality, professional-looking work that will appeal to readers and attract them to your brand.
Set A Budget
One of the first things you should do before starting any book project is to set a budget. Even if you have a generous benefactor who’s willing to pay for all your creative endeavors, you must still consider how much you can spend on this particular project. You can’t expect to create a masterpiece if you’re constantly scraping by just to pay your bills. So, setting a budget will help you prioritize your finances and ensure you don’t waste your precious creative time on unproductive endeavors. You can also use the extra money to invest in better equipment or materials for your creative projects, helping you to become a more successful and well-rounded artist.
Get A Good Editor
Even if you’re a naturally gifted writer, you must still enlist the help of an editor to produce a professional-looking product that will appeal to readers. An editor’s job is to improve your work and make it more accessible to a wider audience. However, good editors aren’t cheap, so it’s important you find one who’s a good fit for your budget and has the necessary skills to improve your work. Once you’ve found a satisfactory editor, make sure to follow their advice and put into practice what they’ve told you. They can help you find the hidden gems in your work and bring them to light, enhancing your story-telling abilities and making your book more accessible to future readers.
Revise
Once you’ve finished writing, it’s time to revisit what you’ve written and make necessary corrections and revisions. Although your initial instincts may be right and the story you’ve crafted is good, you must still go through it line by line, word by word, seeking out the areas that could be improved upon. For instance, did you run out of steam halfway through the story and feel it was dragging a little? Did you make a mistake in spelling a word or using a synonym that could trip up a reader? Did you leave out a crucial piece of information that would have enhanced the narrative? Did you choose the wrong words in places where you felt the story needed a boost of interest or emotion?
A lot of writers like to think that the more they write the better they get, but that’s not necessarily true. Just because you’ve written a few stories and novels doesn’t mean you’ve mastered the craft; there’s always room for improvement. Make sure to go through your work and find the places where you’ve done well, as well as the places where you could have done better. Consider each area a separate piece of music with different instruments playing in different orders, some of which you’re likely to recognize and others that you may discover are hidden gems waiting to be heard. The trick is finding those instruments and knowing how to play them all, perfectly transitioning from one to the other to create a cohesive whole that still surprises the listener with its beauty.
Proofread
Finally, don’t forget to proofread your work! Even though you’ve edited it extensively, there are still a few minor errors here and there, which can easily be overlooked if you’re not careful. Did you notice that a word was misspelled or used incorrectly? Did you leave out a word that should have been there? Did you transpose a word or leave out a letter, rendering the sentence nonsensical? A little correction here and there will not ruin your work, but it will make it much more enjoyable to read and, perhaps, even find some inspiration in your writing. So, before you publish your work, make sure you go through it carefully and have another set of eyes examine it. Even if you think you did everything correctly, you never know what may have been missed by others, so it’s always a good idea to double-check.
At the end of the day, whether you choose to publish your work as an eBook or a conventional book, the important thing is for you to feel happy with what you’ve created. Never let anyone or anything stand in the way of your creative process, because that’s how you came up with the idea and that’s what makes you special, unique, and perfect for the art you love and, potentially, earn you thousands, if not millions, of dollars.