WRITING FOR PUBLICATION

by Kathy Cretsinger

Every author writes for publication, but do we write to be published? There is a difference. Let me explain.

To write to be published, you are writing for the reader. To write for publication, you are putting words on paper. Which do you want to do? I\’ve had authors tell me they only want to see their book on a shelf, but if the book does not encourage others to read it, your time and space is wasted.

Let\’s think about ways to write to be published.

1. Know the subject you are writing about. Know what makes the main character tick.
2. Are you writing a specific theme? It can be in almost any genre, but what is the one thing you want to get across to the reader?
3. Do you begin with action? No one likes to read a book that has no action. Think about your life. You do have action. What is action? Something that will make the reader turn the page. Sometimes we have to rethink a book or start at a different place to make the reader want to read more.
4. Do not forget to add a hook at the end of a scene or chapter to make the reader want to read more.
5. Write a clean story. Write a story that is interesting, catches the reader\’s and publisher\’s attention, and is grammatically correct.
6. Have your book edited before you send it to anyone by a professional editor. This will cost, but it will be worth it in the end.

When I was publishing, many books came across my desk that were not written very well. These are some of the things I looked at. We all want our books to sell, but if they are not written correctly, they will not.

Read blogs about writing. Learn constantly. Even the most successful writers are still learning.