Addicted to YA discussion

Hi everyone!

My name is Charlotte Leonettti and I'm about to enter my senior year at high school. I've been hanging around this group for a while, and I just finished writing my first novel, and have decided to go indy/solo and publish it myself as I would like to have more control over my book and connect with my readers better :)

I was wondering if any of you would have any advice for a new author/ new YA book. I just published on Smashwords and am working on getting it onto amazon.com as we speak. The learning curve is crazy but I'm getting there, and any support for a young author would be grateful!

And are there any other young authors out there? I'd love to connect with you!

Thanks everyone and I look forward to your comments :)
Charlotte

Oh, and here is my book ;)
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

Hi Charlotte, well done on your first book! I am not young....in my 60s in fact! But my first book will be published in September on Amazon. There is so much to learn isn't there. What genre (except I guess YA) is your book?

My best advice is to make sure you triple checked your grammar and editing. I try to read lesser known authors, but it drives me mad when I'm distracted by poor editing. I tend to give very low ratings when this occurs.

Charlotte wrote: "Hi everyone!

My name is Charlotte Leonettti and I'm about to enter my senior year at high school. I've been hanging around this group for a while, and I just finished writing my first novel, and h..."

Hi,
I'm a new writer too. Recently started writing a book called Not The Same Without You. Planning to have published when I'm done. :)

Hi! Congratulations on your book! I have to agree, as long as the grammar/structure is good, then I'll have more reason to give it a go :)
I also have a question about writing.. I've been writing for a while mostly short stories and fan fic, but I am yet to actually finish any of my original stories because I have so much trouble researching - does anyone have any advice for researching things like m/m romance, or how to not look suspicious when looking up military weaponry/tactics? :P
I've read a few books on both but of course everything is going to have they're own spin on it.
Anything would be greatly appreciated, thanks!! Good luck to all the other writers too :)

Liz! Great question! Ive always found someone who knows what they are talking about, buy them a coffee and let them 'man-splain' the topic to you - much faster and then you can write it in your own words easier!Let me know what other answers you find....

And thanks Jasmin! I've had my book proofread to be on the safe side and it's now going through friends/beta readers :)

Hello Charlotte,
Congratulations on finishing your book, that is a huge accomplishment. I'd love to read it.

Thanks for the advice Charlotte! :) I'll definitely invest in bribing people with coffee haha and good luck with your book, you must be so proud, I can't wait to read it :)

Thanks everyone! So far it's going well :)

Next step is getting reviews - does anyone know any good review websites? Or booktubes? I'd love to talk with a reviewer about the book, as I think there are so many hidden details readers might not get at first glance (unless they are Alice in wonderland fans).

Thanks

Congratulations!

Hi Charlotte
Congratulations on finishing! That's a huge achievement in itself - most people who start a novel never get to the end. In terms of reviews, you can try:
- Goodreads, obviously. You can put out appeals for reviewers or 'read for review' type offers. Be really careful not to contravene Amazon's T&Cs. You can't give anything in exchange for the review except for the book itself. There are few exceptions such as paid review services like Kirkus who are accepted as independent, professional reviewers but unless you have pots of money, I wouldn't bother with that to begin with.
- If you are in the US you can do an author giveaway through Amazon which can be another source of reviews.
- Perhaps put your first two chapters onto Instafreebie to build a mailing list (with a sales link in the back, of course, for people who want to read on). You can then gently ask your mailing list people to review.
- It's worth putting a page in the back of your book, asking readers to leave an honest review.
- There are services like Netgalley which you can buy into for a month through a Netgalley coop, such as Espresso or Pikkos House. In my experience you don't get many useful reviews from it but other people may have different experiences. (We gave away 50 copies of The Devil's Poetry to librarians, bloggers, educators etc but only got three reviews, which, talking to other writers is quite typical. Still good exposure but not necessarily for the retail end of the market iyswim.)
- You can try to hook up with reviewers/bloggers on twitter and ask if anyone wants to join a review tour or blog tour. It's quite hard work to do it on your own but if you have the time, it's great to make friends with bloggers and reviewers anyway.
Finally, develop a really thick skin. The first few reviews you get will be from people who love you or know you, and they'll also love your book, but they'll be nice. Once it's out in the world not everyone is nice. Some people just won't like it and some people have their own reason for being negative. It's their right but it can be surprisingly hard to take. Don't respond. Let readers and reviewers do their thing and respect their right to do it even if it seems unfair. I've seen some fellow authors get horrible one star reviews which have been really unfair but it goes with the territory.
I can't think of much else about reviews just now but if you have any other questions, you can always message me. Good luck!
Louise