If you want to become a better author, then this article is a must read. Writing is a creative process and allows an author to grow their skills. Preflight Books has summarized effective ways to help you grow your author-related skills and ultimately become the best author you can be.
1. Research, research, research!
To become a better author, it is essential that you do your research. Research about different trustworthy publishers. Research about all the parts of a book. Research the topics used in your writing. Research other competitor books. Research ultimately helps you to be more knowledgeable on your writing process, the publishing process, your reader market as well as what is happening in the world around you.
Hint: The Preflight Blogs are a good source of information related to the publishing process.
2. Attend a writing workshop.
As an author your primary skill is writing. To improve your authorship, improve your writing. A great way to improve your writing is to visit and attend any trustworthy writing workshops. You can find writing workshops presented by universities, publishing institutions, as well as online on the internet. Before attending a workshop, try to read reviews about the workshop to scope out its trustworthiness. It is also good to practice what you’ve learned at these workshops and incorporate it into your writing. This helps you improve your spelling and to add some new words to your vocabulary!
3. Set daily tasks!
Set tasks daily to help you be more productive in your writing process. These daily tasks can relate to the many different aspects surrounding your manuscript, not just writing. For example, setting tasks to research reliable printers or to create marketing content for your social media. You can start with a few tasks each day that need to be done and later increase the number of tasks. Don’t overwhelm yourself, just make sure you get to complete your daily tasks. Each task you get to complete helps you move forward and eventually leads you closer to getting your book published.
4. Know your Publishing Process.
As an author you will most likely need to know how a piece of writing like a book is published. Familiarise yourself with the publishing process and the types of publishers. The publishing process of a traditional publisher and self-publisher is different. For example, Preflight Books as a self-publisher has the following publishing process:
Phase 1 – Manuscript Preparation (Manuscript assessment, copy-editing, proofreading)
Phase 2 – Production (Design, layout, formatting)
Phase 3 – Printing
As a self-publisher, we don’t do the marketing of your book. This is your responsibility as the author, but we can advise you on how to effectively market and sell your book.
5. Become Tech-savvy!
In our technologically advanced world, everything has become a lot more digital. As an author it is good to have computer literacy skills as most publishers will require you to submit a digital manuscript. Familiarise yourself with applications, like Microsoft Office Word where you can easily write your manuscript on a Word document. It is good to know about the digital formats used in the publishing process as it will allow you to have an easier writing experience and make it more convenient for publishers to assist you with publishing your book.
Feel free to reach out to Preflight Books if you might be interested in booking a writing workshop. We also offer manuscript assessment services if you would like to know more on how to improve your manuscript. Preflight Books are here to assist you with your publishing needs!
Contact Us
To request a quote for your own title, please reach out to us and use the following contact details:
Email: info@preflightbooks.co.za
Contact number: 012 342 5347
