Hey friends! I recently have been talking with some new authors that are looking to publish their stories.  I decided to share with you five mistakes that I personally made that other authors should avoid. 

Mistake #1: I used friends instead of a professional editor. I had a lot of people help me read books that were good at English. That isn't enough. I'm slowly getting my older works updated, but every book and short story needs to go through an editor that has experience working with novels/books. It makes a huge difference. Kelsey Bryant is my editor and is stellar. 

Why didn't I do this to start with? 1. It's expensive. Even with discounts, it can easily cost $200. I also didn't understand why I needed someone who edited books vs. someone just good with English.

Mistake #2: I failed to make an investment right off with some covers. People will judge a book by its cover, even short stories. Now, let me say that I knew the importance early on, but I cut corners a couple of times to speed up the process. Big things to avoid: Covers you've drawn (unless you are an incredible artist). Poor quality photos. You need professional-grade photos and high resolution. If you want to learn to make your own covers, make sure you get a lot of input from others.

Mistake #3: I said my book defied classification. I get it, some books are heard. I have one friend who has written a super sweet, near-future book. It isn't science fiction, it isn't contemporary, and it would be a stretch to call it dystopian. It's a hard book to classify. However, get guidance from authors and stick to a classification. Sometimes this may even mean tweaking your book. I made this mistake with my Taelis of Taelis series, they straddled the kingdom fantasy (non-magical/real world like) and the historical fiction genre and it caused a lot of confusion and disappointed readers. I'm working on moving them into the fantasy world. 

Mistake #4: I confronted some reviewers. When I published my first book, The Destiny of One (one of those books that really needs professional editing), I got a couple off the wall reviews that made comments about my family. I commented back and defended my family. Also a couple of times, people would get facts wrong (someone said I had said Patrick's hair was blond so they were upset I had a dark head model on the front) and I commented with a correction. As hard as it is, I've learned that it is never okay to argue or contradict a reviewer. 

Mistake #5: I haven't always taken the time needed before a book release. It's easy to get so excited about a book and rush it through the publication process. One of the things that I've learned is sometimes it is better for a book to be published a lot later than I really wanted it to then to rush it through the process and things not be done well. Take the time to release a book well and it will easier in the long run.  

As writers, even those who try to treat our writing like a job, there are times when it's hard to get the creative juices flowing. In frantic times, it often feels impossible. Here are some tips for writing when life hands you a chaotic time.

Take the time to still your heart. Even if it means you don't have as much time to write, extend the amount of time you are praying and in the Bible. Consider taking a few days where you don't watch the news or maybe even take a break from social media (or unfollow some of the people that are contributing the frantic feeling). Take some time to still your heart.

Work on a project you're excited about. I know, you have a schedule or something that you're supposed to be working on. However, sometimes you just have to take the time and work on a project you are excited about to get that captivating going. Excitement is often a wonderful way to overcome a funky writing mood.

Keep to a routine. Now, this doesn't mean that you have to write at a certain time (although that wouldn't hurt) but it means having a routine that helps your mind get into the mode. Write in a certain place, pick a candle or oil to diffuse every time. Have a social drink or snack that you drink every time. You get the idea, give your mind cues by a routine that it's time to write. 

Ask for prayer and pray over your writing. Sometimes, we discount the effort or enemy puts into chaotic and frantic times. Satan prowls around, seeking people to devour. If he can steal our peace and joy, he has won a skirmish. Aksing for prayer and covering your writing time in prayer is very important. 

Do you have any tips for writing during frantic times?

Spring cleaning is a great idea for writers too! Here are some tips for spring planning for writers.

1. Assess your goals for the year. Did you bite off more then you can chew? Adjust your plans now be realistic.

2. Sit down with your calendar and writing goals. Take the time to divide up the work for each day, at least for a month in advance.

3. Have an idea that's going to need some research? Pick one book every month to read for that project to start preparing. 

4. Are you going to need editing? Consulting? Cover design? Go ahead and contact someone and reserve a slot. Most editor and cover designers will do this. This also helps to make sure that even if they get busy, you already have a spot.

5. Life gets busy. Make sure that you are taking the time to write, even if that means you rearrange your schedule some or have to say no to some things.

6. Remember that God is writing your story, so even the best-laid plans might not happen.

If you wrote another tip for this list, what would it be?

In writing the Kate's Case Files series, I've learned a lot about writing about real places. I still am learning, but I thought I'd pass on a couple of tips to you, my fellow storytellers.

Talk to someone who has lived there. There is nothing like having an inside source. I've been blessed to have found people for each location that I've discussed who have lived at least for a time in each location. Author Facebook groups can be a great resource for this. 

Use street names and location names. In both Kate's Case Files and in A Different Kind of Courage, street names and names of parks and landmarks helped to keep people rooted in the place. It's also a way of making it feel authentic. I mean, think about how often you use street names or the names of common landmarks in your day to day speech. 

Keep in mind the visitor vs, native mentality. Whenever you are writing about a location, you need to know if your character is a visitor or a native. That is going to drastically change how they perceive things. I don't often visit tourist sites in my home area. Also, if you're not from an area and having someone who is a native to draw on is really helpful.

Stay positive or make it up. If you are going to mention a real place/business, stay positive or make up a name. You don't want to be sued for slander.

What is a location you would love to write about?

As writers trying to reach younger readers, we often ask what is age-appropriate in our books. This is a tough question because there are a lot of variables. Below, are four questions to ask yourself that should give you answers for your books.

Who is your audience? Right off the bat, there is a big pitfall. I've seen a lot of authors fall into this one. Often, they answer with who they want to read their book instead of who actually will. If you want to reach unbelievers, the story needs to be very different from the kind you would write for a conservative homeschool kid. By the same token, you can't expect a conservative audience to be okay with the same type of stuff in a secular book. Be honest with yourself. 

What are your goals? I've seen some books on topics that normally wouldn't be "age-appropriate" but are written to help younger readers deal with a specific trauma. At the same time, if you are mainly trying to teach a good lesson and tell a good story, little controversial content will be acceptable for younger readers. Know your goals that relate to your audience. 

What are your convictions? Before you release a story to the world, decide what your convictions are a never violate them. Every book builds your reputation and a rapport with your readers. Being consistent is important. 

What do others think? It's very important when doing books for younger readers, and making sure you have your audience right, that you find people to test read and give you feedback about the content. Even if you don't like what they are saying, listen and evaluate your work to make sure it is right for your audience. 

As Christian authors, our goal is not just to entertain, but also to build up our fellow believers. So how do we achieve this?

The foundation of a story that will build people's hope is honesty. What do I mean by that? If we're addressing a topic, we need to honest (even though our characters) about how complicated it can be. If we are addressing a struggle, we need to let our readers see the reality of that struggle and not try to white-wash it. This often means you need first-hand knowledge of the struggle or a lot of research. If it's a historic piece or covers a social issue, this means being honest and true to the times and/or the complexity of an issue. 

If you want to share hope, you need to stay grounded in God's word. You can't impart what you don't possess. If you want to impart real hope to others, make sure you're grounded and filled with the source of your hope. 

Make sure to check your message against the truth. Does your message align with the Bible? Do the facts check out? Get advice from others. Double-checking is important. 

When I'm sick, it's easy to take medicine to deal with a symptom. It's a lot harder to make sure I'm doing things to get rid of the virus. In the same way, it's a lot easier as authors to deal with surface issues like anger, lies, and bitterness. To bring hope and healing, it's important that we address the root of the problem. I heard the illustration once that if you tell a kid to stop hitting a sibling, that's fine, but they will act out another way. Address anger, the importance of self-control, and forgiveness, you won't just end the behavior, you are dealing with the heart of the issue. 

Write from the hope within you. God has done some amazing things in your life and brought hope into some of your dark moments. Write from those experiences and share them with others. There is nothing like reading a book where it's obvious the author is writing about how God brought hope and healing in their own heart.

What do you think? How do you feel we as writers can share hope? 

Some lessons, I've learned the easy way as a writer. I knew how important from the get-go that covers were important. I hired the one person I knew with design experience to do the Destiny Trilogy covers and I paid what I thought was a lot. In retrospect, I got an amazing deal for those covers. Anyway, that isn't the real point. Because today, we are here to talk about a lesson I learned the hard way.

Book classification.

Now, let me state from the start that I'm really good and knowing genres, sub-genres, and helping to define where books go in any given system. However, I hit a snag with the Taelis series. I wanted a fictional country but I also wanted to pull in some history as well (especially in some of the books later in the series. After all, a lot of authors use this with modern princess stories and it works just fine for them so it would work for this series, right? Spoiler alert, I was wrong.

While a few people like this blending, it confused most of my readers. Some loved the fantasy aspect but then were confused by the historical aspect. The people who loved history just plain hated the books most of the time. It irritated them that it was neither straight-up fantasy or completely historical.

When I decided to have Adventures and Adversities edited, I decided to move the whole series into the non-magical fantasy (or kingdom fantasy) category. I took out all references to the real world (except those that had to do with Jesus and Christianity) and rereleased it.

How can we avoid a mistake like this?

Several friends who had read the book knew that my straddling genres would cause trouble. However, I didn't ask. So I learned that you need to ask your beta readers if they agree with your classification of the book.

Look at books that are like yours. Yes, I was one of those who thought that no one published books like mine. However, when you find books that are like yours, even if they are not exact, pay attention to their classification.

If you are caught between genres, get a lot of opinions before you pick a genre. I know, it's so easy to go with our feeling and think we as the author knows best. It's important to remember that for classification, readers, not authors, need to determine this.

Now, for a fun question! What book did you either read or write that was hard to classify? Why was that? 

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Hello fellow writers!

Today, I'm going to share a few tips for researching recent-ish history. I think there is a special challenge in researching something that is within one-hundred years of our time. Often, we almost feel like we know some things because we've heard about it from people or have seen it depicted in various media forms. In writing Emmeline, and in helping with the research for The Vintage Jane Austen series, I learned a few things.

I think the biggest thing I learned is that even if you think you know something, look it up. There were so many facts I thought I knew about the early 1930s because of what I had read and talked with my grandparents. Some of them, I was right about, a few things, I was wrong about. Recent history is great a fooling you into thinking you know more then you do.

The best resource for recent history is people. Since we were sharing what we learned as we researched for The Vintage Jane Austen series, we were all able to share what relatives and older people we knew had to say. I tell you, some of those details may not have been huge, but they added so much realism to the story.

While there are many books and movies depicting the time, I spent a lot of time reading books that were written by people who lived during the time. Grace Livingston Hill was my favorite author,  but I read a couple of others. No, they don't have a completely accurate view, but they captured the feel of the time, what scared people and gave them hope, better than anything else because they lived it.

Oddly enough, one of the things I found to be most helpful in getting a feel for the time was finding out slang words of the time. Slang changes rapidly so including period-correct slang words (in moderation) really helped bring out the flavor.

I always look at the source of my information. There are a lot of good books and online articles, but every once in a while, in looking up the source of the information, I find it not to be a reliable source. Along that same line, make sure to keep good notes on where you get what information for future reference.

This is the first in a new feature of Wednesday blog posts just for writers! Next week, I'll be giving five tips for retelling an old story.