20 Tips for Selling Your Novel, Part One: Before You Begin

Readers and planners have a head start when it comes to writing a novel

Photo: Yaroslav Shuraev for Pexels

So many people have sought me out to tell me that they have great ideas for books, but no clue how to make bring a book into the world. I felt the same way when I sold my first book 15 years ago. With my fifth and sixth books coming out in 2022, and a new manuscript heading out for submission, I’ve learned a lot since that sale.

I’ve distilled those lesson into 20 tips for writing and selling your novel.

1. Read first

It sounds basic, but it’s true: You need to read other people’s books. Your best training as a writer comes from seeing how other people wrestle with, play with, conquer, or get tripped up by language. Reading helps you discover what you respond to and what does not engage you at all. Sometimes, writing is an act of saying “I can do that” and sometimes it’s more like “I can improve on that.” Whether a book provides something to aspire towards or something to reject and replace, it enters your fund of knowledge: the bank of resources that will inform how you do and don’t approach your own work.

2. Write what you want (and need) to write