How to Self-Publish for Under $100. Cinquanta Cox-Smith

done with two of my books. As a self-published author, you are constantly learning what works for you when it comes to writing. You can use your reviews or your interactions with your readers to figure out what needs to be tweaked in your story.

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      I want to go back and elaborate on the five creation tips I gave you. I don’t want to just tell you what to do, but I want to give you ideas and great instructions to lay out what each tip means.

      • Speak from Experiences

      Depending on the genre, this could be the easiest step of them all. I know a lot of people have interesting, “small moment” stories about their life. You can even use a “remember that time” story. When I write my realistic fiction stories, I sometimes create a story from just a small moment in my life. It could be a memory from my childhood that I turn into a short story, or it could be a life changing moment in my life that I can use, exaggerating the event or the characters to turn it into a full novel. If you have friends or family members—who don’t mind you using their life stories as a stepping stone—feel free to use a small moment from their story and turn it around. I love taking positive things from my life and changing it into a negative trait of a character. I do this because, just like in life, everything’s not going to be sunshine and roses. When you create fiction stories, you have to show the good and the bad. Sometimes, stories you create are just a small part of your life and will reach someone in your audience differently. You want to create storylines that will make people laugh, cry, or feel mad, all at the same time. A big part of original content comes from your experiences.

      • Ask Your Audience

      Whether you’re a content creator or a regular person with dreams of being a great writer, you have some type of audience. A blogger has its readers who come to her blog to read new content and leave comments. A vlogger has viewers who come to his channel to see his new content in video format. We have the social media mavens who are influencers for different brands. They all have one thing in common: they have a voice and people listen. My YouTube audience was the audience who helped me get the courage to publish my first book. They were also the first to purchase a copy. I now involve my audience in most of my new writing by giving sneak peeks on Facebook. If they love it and share it, I continue to write. If I don’t get a lot of interaction, I know I need to tweak some things. For the new writer, I advise you to share snippets of your work in different Facebook groups, look for creative writing groups at your local library, and share it wherever you see fit. Your audience will give you the feedback you need, and they will also let you know what they like to read. I often ask people on my Facebook page questions like, “What are you reading? How many books have your read? What genre do you enjoy?”

      • Set A Timer

      This is pretty much like freewriting to me, but in a timeframe you set for yourself. It could be as simple as picking two to three topics or ideas that you want to write about, and then scheduling thirty minutes to write about each. You will find your winner by noticing when a subject has a larger word count than the others. You can set the same amount of time for all three, but when you end up with a higher word count for one, this is the idea or topic you need to focus on. It’s obvious, because either you have more background with that idea or you’re more connected to that topic. I can always tell the stories that I’m more passionate about because I finish them faster. When creating your content, sometimes procrastination can come into play. So, when I know that I am on a deadline, I also set a timer or create a schedule to be finished by. Not all deadlines will be met that you set for yourself. Things like this are flexible because life happens. I suggest you get used to pulling out that timer to get some good creative writing going.

      • Write It Down