The list of questions to ask when writing a book for publication seems never-ending at times. Notice how I tacked the word publication onto the title? Getting published (no matter the form) is often a lofty goal, and a good writer needs to be just as much a student of the craft as they are of the business. With that in mind, next year’s posts on the Word Bank blog will focus on four categories: Writing, Editing, Publishing, and Marketing. It’s been a great run with all of the author interviews, lit chat topics, and book reviews over the years, but now that I’ve gone down to posting every other week, I want to bring an even tighter focus. As always, my aim is to make every word count.
Focusing on Idaho authors with this year’s interviews has meant a lot to me in being able to showcase the wide variety of writing talent in the state, not to mention giving readers a taste of the many reasons that draw people to this neck of the woods. Also, continuing to post one interview a month while I went through treatment for breast cancer this year enabled me to keep this blog going since interview posts practically write themselves! My prognosis is good, and I’m looking forward to a great 2018.
I invite you to participate in this brainstorm of questions to ask when writing a book for publication by leaving a question or two of your own in the comments section below.
Questions to Ask When Writing a Book for Publication
Divided over the course of twenty-four posts, that means each category will contain six posts over the course of the year. It’s likely I will continue in the same vein the year after that, so the more questions generated the better. If certain questions are posed multiple times in the comments section, I will prioritize writing posts on them. Also, if you’ve emailed me in the past year with post ideas, now is your chance to leave a reminder below!
Drafting Questions to Ask When Writing a Book
It’s safe to say the majority of people kicking around on this planet have a book idea or two (or fifty) floating around in their heads, but far fewer actually get around to the drafting stage, and even fewer yet see the process through to publication. Even then, there’s no guarantee the book will sell.
- Why are you writing this book? Who will its readers be?
- When can outlining and genre research help or hinder the process?
- When is blogging a book a good idea? What approaches can be taken?
Editing Questions to Ask When Writing a Book
There’s certainly more than one way to skin a cat, but any process goes more smoothly when a certain level of know-how has been obtained. One of my personal pet peeves for self-pubbers is that a copyedit is not a proofread! And yes, errors crop up in traditionally published books. All book lives matter!
- How to best maximize the benefit of critique partners and beta readers?
- What are the differences between the many levels of editing? How to pick an editor?
- How do you know when your book is ready for self-publication or submitting to an agent?
Publishing Questions to Ask When Writing a Book
Would-be authors often bemoan how long traditional publishing takes only to rush into self-publishing an amateur effort. Impatience is not an excuse to take shortcuts. All authors need a team, whether one supplied by a publishing house or hired (or bartered) piecemeal by the author.
- What path to publication is best for you? What is the difference between various publishign models?
- Does the formatting of your self-published print and e-book look professional?
- How can you write a great query letter and synopsis? Do you know your comps?
Marketing and Media Questions to Ask When Writing a Book
Writing a book is a monumental task, but then comes the monster otherwise known as marketing. Given that writers tend to be an introverted lot, marketing can be a mixed bag. Thankfully, marketing approaches are as varied as the personalities who undertake them. A good fit can be found.
- What should every author website contain? Should an author have a blog?
- How can an author most effectively harness the power of social media?
- When and where should an author market their book(s)? Who are the readers for the book?
This list barely starts to cover all the questions to ask when writing a book for publication. But a brief start is better than no start at all. Asking questions leads to answers, and forward movement is its own reward.
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In addition to the questions to ask when writing a book for publication mentioned above, what ones would you add to the list?
Please share responsibly. Jeri Walker, 2017.
Jeri, these questions may be just the basic ones but I sure am glad you have them as a post here. In answering them, I find my reason for why I continue to write, which makes my mood a hundred percent better.
Glynis, I’m glad the writing reflections prompted her helped increase your mood. Good week to you!
What do you want to accomplish and what will you consider a successful achievement of that? Completing a book? Publishing? Sales?
Thanks, Ken. I read an article today about how posts on self-publishing are getting fewer clicks and writers are at least starting to be more reasonable about what they may be able to effectively accomplish with self-publishing. More than a few times, I seen indie authors fretting over movie rights when so many other matters are more pressing.
The question about the benefits of outlining is the most interesting and tormenting to me as of now. The drafting of my current novel has been put on hiatus due to my copywriting course and work, but since I have spent weeks drafting the outline, I was sure about the good outcome in the drafting phase. Which did not happen.
Now, in my case, the novel was hindered by the outline, but maybe something else happened that helped the hindering process.
But this is the answer to that question. As for my question, here’s how I am contributing: do you really want to write this novel or are you inspired by some sort of challenge with other authors?
Alessandro, I think there’s a certain amount of interplay that needs to happen between outlining and simply diving in. I’m the opposite of you. I dove into my novel years ago and I cut out so much due to wandering all over the place to “find” the story. Had I outlined, I could have avoided so much rewriting. Thank for for add a question to the brainstorming mix.
Definitely looking forward to the year to come, Jeri. You’ve got a great line up on posts on the horizon. One I would add is, “How do you find and choose the right editor?” As an author and friend to many authors, I know many of us grapple with this important part of the chain.
Doreen, choosing an editor is indeed a big decision. I will certainly add that as a post topic next year.
Hi Jeri, this is a wonderful sneak peek into the year ahead for your blog. All of these questions are good and I would add the question about “Should I publish print books in addition to e-books? What are the pros and cons of print books?” I am facing this dilemma at the moment. I did both with my first book but honestly? As an Indie author, peddling my print books all over was a real chore. Many stores took them on consignment and it became a real headache keeping track of sales and invoicing. Would love your perspective on this as well as the many readers who visit you here. Congrats on making it through a tough year, Jeri! You’re very inspirational for so many reasons.
Lisa, great idea on a post that addresses the pros and cons of print books. Thank you too for the kind words. I’m looking forward to a much smoother 2018.
Great stuff here, Jeri. I think that one of the biggest things you taught me this year was the variety of editing that a writer can hire an editor to do.
I look forward to reading more on these topics and will come up with some questions–I know where to find this blog!
Yes, please come back RoseMary if you have any questions to add. You definitely know where to find me!
Excellent outline and list Jeri. I’m going to share this post with the people following my Business of Being an Author group over on Google+ and I’m sure they will appreciate it and hopefully have some good suggestions for you.
Thanks for sharing the post with your author group, Marty.
A question I’d ask is do you have a unique point of view for your book or have other authors covered this topic extensively. Do we need yet another cookbook, for example? Work backwards and ask how you would position and promote the book before you start writing.
Great point, Jeannette, especially when it comes to informative nonfiction. I will keep it in mind.
Most of mine would be on marketing and generally covered above. Although the prospect of a book becoming an audio book and marketing that is more specific.
The specifics of a post on marketing an audiobook is a great idea, and I’d certainly learn a lot by doing such research on the topic for readers here.
Excellent post Jeri. I look forward to your new series in the new year. 🙂 x
Excellent article Jeri.
My questions are;
1. Who is my target audience?
2. What do I hope to achieve?
3. Will I continue to blog? How will this promote my book?
Phoenicia, the question of whether or not to continue to blog is a great one that I will be sure to address in the coming year.
I’m asking myself the first question right now!
Why are you writing this book? Who will its readers be?
It wasn’t something I’d done before I started writing and I’m rethinking a great deal…
Thanks!
Candy, such questions can be powerful revision tools even when the writer can answer them in advance. A story continually shifts due to so many factors.
Great list! I’m interested in reading about the marketing part of it.
I’d like to know how to create a professional low-cost audio book?
I love the idea of starting with these questions, rather than writing a book and then trying to figure them out. Also, it’s so great to hear you looking ahead to 2018. May it be a little less eventful than 2017!
Meredith, I hope 2018 is a lot less eventful! I’m glad to be getting back to full-time freelancing.
Great questions to start off with.
As for me, the writing aspect I can comprehend, it comes to me natural.
I would like to know more about marketing and promotion. Not just an overall question, but one about specifics into where and how they promote their book.
Thanks, William. I’ll be sure to address marketing, especially local and regional marketing.
Marketing: Where do the ideal readers for you work gather online? Offline?
Writing: Your ideal readers care about your subject matter. What else do they care about? Can you connect to some other things that matter to them?
Writing: Are you being completely honest with your reader? Are you allowing yourself to be vulnerable and real?
Editing: What have you promised your readers? Have you delivered it?
I feel like this list could go on forever!
Happy, research into ideal readers is of paramount importance. I’ll make sure to address it in the coming year, especially when it comes to figuring out what else they care about when it comes to other things that matter to them outside of the subject matter of the book at hand. You are right! This list could indeed go on forever 😉
‘m so glad you did the review of Idaho authors this year. I came into this year knowing very little about Idaho. And I feel like, in learning about your authors, I got a sense of some of the people and a little about the life. And of course, got to learn about some great authors. And I’m reading one of their books right now.
Looking forward to next year. I’ve never really thought of writing a book. But my husband has a comic book series, and my ex-roommate recently published (her father is a book publisher so it’s a little easier for her.) So I’m surrounding by those with books, so maybe I’ll become inspired.
Erica, and when you do become inspired you have a blog full of wonderful information that you can shape into a book 🙂
I found myself nodding as I read each of your questions.
I’m glad 2018 is looking up for you, Jeri. I look forward to your focused topics and reading your thoughts and advice.
Loni, I always learn a lot when researching such posts, and I intend to try to be as in-depth as possible in the coming year.