Under Cover

W ord count is the almighty criteria by which any book will be deemed finished or worthy of publishing by an agent or book company. At least that’s what a lot of writers think. The word count criteria is important, but it’s not a strict defined limit as either too few or too many words as many seem to understand it. Word count is a bit more critical for a first-time author to a publishing company than the cagy veteran since word count is the quickest way of gauging the understanding of the writing process and coming within a range shows that your manuscript may have the right ingredients to bake a nice soft batch of cookies. Now I’m hungry. What if I’m going to self-publish? If you self-publish you don’t have to live under the fear of rejection due to a book that is too short or long. However, be mindful that word count guidelines exist for a reason. Readers have an expectation of length based on the genre of book they are interested in. Word count guidelines have come through ge...

 A book is nothing more than just a bunch of words on a few hundred pages. It can’t be that hard to write one, right? Most people don’t like doing taxes since it takes hours to complete. Imagine if your taxes took you a minimum of six months to file. Writing a book is a long laborious process that isn’t just writing out a story, it involves rewriting and editing and many times you never feel like it’s ever complete. Image by nensuria on Freepik Many people dream of writing a book someday. In the United States about 15% of the population has started writing a book. Of those only about 6% make it halfway through. Those who keep pushing might become published and about .15% of people in the U.S. are self-published. About 0.001367% of the U.S. population are published traditionally. If you make it to the point of holding your book in your hand no matter who publishes it, you are in small company. It might not feel that way when you see just how many books are published weekly and year...

H olding your published book in your hands for the first time is like holding your first-born child. OK, maybe not quite, but it's still a fantastic feeling. The first time I held my published work in my hands was a great day and it felt like stumbling across the finish line in a marathon, but even that is an understatement of the process. Receiving your author copy in the mail is more like the halfway point of the marathon if you intend to sell any books. Writing a book sounds like fun and it’s a great feeling to pour your thoughts and creativity into a written piece of work. Many think it’s like carving a statue, picking out the perfect curves, and chiseling pieces to create a masterpiece. Unfortunately, it’s nothing like carving unless you intend to use a quarry for one piece. It might seem like once you get a solid outline of a book or create enough details you should be able to just sit down and crank it out in a few days. If only it were that easy. Don't kid yourself. ...