It's later than you think, by Catriona

Aside from promotion, what’s the first thing a new author should do after publishing their first book?

Angela, Gabriel and Eric have said a lot of it and very well already this week, but I'll chip in. It's about promotion, The thing is, by the time your book's out it's quite late (too late?) to start promoting it. I've learned this the hard way. Ideally, you should be on the case months before the publication date - sending out review copies, pitching articles and guest posts, building a list for a newsletter, getting a vibrant online presence up and running . . . putting the finishing touches to the bunker where you'll go and hide because that all sounds too dreadful to be borne.

Truly, it's quite an unusual combination to find inside just one human skin: a love of sitting alone in a room typing for 90% of the time; and a passion for jumping up and down saying "buy my book!" for the other 10.

What makes it less dreadful is to be among friends. Angela's point about building community is really key. If people are boosting your signal because you're a good 'un who lifts up other voices in between hoping they'll lift yours, it's a lot less soul-destroying, like peeing in the ocean, lonely.

I don't know what writers would do who don't LOVE reading books quite like the books they write - not my only or even main question for these individuals (because isn't that kind of weird?) - but it's quite easy for me to spend almost all my online time talking about the wonderful books I've read, am reading, want to read, can't believe I've only just heard about . . .

For example. here's what's happened since I got to Scotland on the 2nd of June:

The one bit of promotion that does need to wait until the book actually exists - so yay you're not too late for it! - is personal appearances. Whether it's public libraries, schools, Rotary clubs, bookclubs, writers' groups, conventions, festivals . . . there are a lot of committees with a lot of speaker slots to fill year after year. If you're willing to travel a bit, donate profits from books sales to a good cause and be felixible, easy to deal with and entertaining, you can be quite busy while you write that second book, submit satellite short stories all over the place, plan the next round of promo further in advance and . . . remember to take your book off the shelf and smell its wondrous pages every now and then,

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Get (back) to it by Eric Beetner

 Aside from promotion, what’s the first thing a new author should do after publishing their first book?

There are a lot of answers to this including taking a moment to enjoy the feeling, be proud of what you’ve done. There are an equal number of things authors should NOT do, including obsessing over reviews on Amazon or Goodreads. 

I think one thing that doesn’t get discussed enough, or practiced enough, is to get to work on the next thing. Always be writing. Ideally, this process should have started long before a book is released in that slow liminal space while the gears of publishing grind slowly to move the lumbering beast forward inches at a time. But please don’t ever sit back and enjoy the glow for too long. Anyone who has ever sat in front of a fire knows that in time, usually shorter than you think, the fire dims, the coals stop giving off heat and you are left cold and alone.

Let’s think positively and say your book does well. Readers, agents, publishers will all be anxious for your next book. Maybe it’s a sequel, maybe another stand alone, but either way if you haven’t even started it yet, then the gap between books will stretch to a point where readers might move on.

Use the momentum of a fresh release to urge you on. Writing is all about inertia. If you don’t let the engine stop turning, then it won’t fight you the next time you try to fire it up. 

And don’t rely on a contract deadline because there will come a time when you don’t have that to motivate you. Every writer starts writing without that looming deadline to all them along, so you know you can do it. Write each new story under your own deadline where the goal is simply to finish and make it great. You don’t need the carrot on a stick to keep you trotting along. 

Yes, take the time to share each new triumph whether it is appearing on a best seller list or just getting a 5-star review. But never dam up that creative river with a book that’s already out in the world. Keep writing, keep working. 

There is a difference between a writer and someone who has written. If you are a writer, then you have more than one story to tell. Keep writing as if hordes of readers are banging down your door to get to the next story. Write as if Hollywood producers are pacing the floors of their ocean-view offices wondering where the next blockbuster will come from your pen. Write because you are a writer and that’s what you do.

Every writer should be able to tell anyone what their latest book is about and also be able to give a tease about the thing they are working on now. Don’t delay.

If you look at the output of your favorite writers, the most prolific and most successful, they will all be working constantly on the next thing.

So congratulations. Now get back to the keyboard and do it again.