Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Guest Post: Night Secrets by B.K. Walker


Practical Advice for New Writers


So you want to write a book?

Good for you! Don't think you can't, because anyone can write a book. Everyone has a story to tell, though some just choose to keep those stories to themselves. If you have an itch to tell a story, that would be your muse kicking in. Don't know what a muse is? That is the drive behind your storytelling. Your muse is what pushes you to get that story out of your head. Embrace your muse.

Once you accept the fact that you now share your body with your muse, or better yet, your mind, I encourage you to put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard. Get used to the voices in your head, because once you start, they will never go away. Don't worry, your not schizophrenic, it's just the characters talking from the story that's trying to get out of your head.

Just show up!

Everyday you need to write something. Even if it doesn't make sense yet, just write. Set a time aside, 30 minutes to an hour each day to write. Before you know it, your story will start to take shape, forming right before your eyes. Keep going, you're doing great!

Feel your characters emotions.

When you can do this, the story will flow like a stream down a mountain. You'd be surprised how well you write a certain scene when you actually feel what your characters feel.

Write from your experiences.

When you can write what you already know, the story will be that much more believable. If you already went through a situation, you know exactly what a character is experiencing. Show, don't tell. Make your readers feel it too.

Edit It!

Once you write down those last words, set it aside for a few weeks. I know, you're so excited to put it out there, but you want to put out a good, edited version. After a few weeks, read it again, you'd be surprised how many mistakes you find. I do it all the time.

Send it to the editor for final corrections.

Publish It!

I love self-publishing because it gives you total control. You set the price, the format, and even who you sell it through. I personally use Kindle Publishing, and take part in their KDP Select program. It's a beautiful thing. There are many places you can publish to though. Here are a few:

www.lulu.com
www.createspace.com
www.amazon.com

All three suggestions have easy to follow steps to get your work out there.

Market It!

It's an everyday task, but if you want to get out there and see sales, you need to work on marketing everyday. Do something, whether it's posting the buy link to Facebook, chatting it up on Twitter, or sharing your cover on Pinterest. Put in 30 minutes everyday to talk about your book and market it.

Congratulations! You're now an author!

About the Author:

Jack of all trades, master of none. BK Walker is first and foremost a mother and a wife. With three beautiful children and a wonderful husband, she enjoys her days living on their farm in Eastern Pennsylvania.

When she’s not writing, she manages her time organizing virtual book tours for other authors, coaching marketing strategies and helping her husband as a consultant in their jointly owned business. Putting most of her time into research, BK is always seeking for the most effective ways to market and promote books and business alike. Art is a secondary love, and you may often find her sketches popping up on one of her blogs, or simply catch her reading the magic created in the pages of a great novel. Who knows, it just may be yours.

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Email – bkwalkerbooks@comcast.net

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3 comments:

  1. One of my fav paranormal creatures is Barrons from the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the guest post. There was some good advice even if I'm not a writer.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hmmm... I love Vampires. ESPECIALLY Eric from the 'Sookie Stackhouse books' by Charlaine Harris.
    He's my favorite because he's hot and Swedish.

    mestith@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete

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