I’ve Written a Book: What Next?

Most people think that writing a book is hard. It absolutely is, but it’s only the first step in a long journey. Once the draft is finished, you have to edit it, get feedback, and then decide how to share it with the world. For me, the actual writing is only about 5-10% of the work. Now that I’m almost done with my book, I want to discuss what steps I have to take next.

The Editing Process

Editing is crucial. The first draft is very rough, and it has to be polished. I started by reading through the whole book and fixing minor errors. Then, I shared each chapter on an online writing site to get feedback.

Based on other authors’ critiques, I’ve rearranged chapters, resolved plotholes, and made my characters more realistic. I’ve probably worked through each section five to ten times by now.

Getting Feedback

To me, getting feedback from other writers and avid readers is incredibly important. After working through the critiques I received online, I read the whole book aloud and got live one-to-one feedback from a very patient friend.

This month, several other authors from my writing group are reading the book. Receiving more general feedback instead of chapter-by-chapter analyses will be incredibly helpful as I get my work ready for publication.

Self-Publishing or Pitching the Work to Agents?

Once the book is ready, I have to decide whether to pitch it to literary agents or self-publish it on Amazon. I want to try traditional publishing first.

Getting an agent is incredibly challenging, but I think it’s worth a try because self-publishing is time-consuming. The market is quite saturated, so it’s hard to stand out from the crowd without a traditional publisher. Later on, once I’m more established, I might give self-publishing a try.

More Writing

While pitching my first book to agents, I’ll start writing the second one. I’ve learned so much about the process in the last few months, and when I read my work from a few years ago, I can see a big change in how I write. Hopefully, my second attempt will be more successful.

Do you have a creative hobby or profession? If so, how does the process work? Do you spend most of your time creating, or are there lots of extra tasks? I’d love to hear from you.