First rule of being a writer: write. Often. Every day if possible.

Second rule of being a writer: self evaluate. Kill your babies.







There's even a button on the Kindle uploading site now that you can push to get Amazon's "suggested price".

There's also a decision to make on opting in to "KDP", a programme where you make your work available for lending and for download as part of a bulk-purchase package. I'm registered for that but it doesn't give me much (you get a proportional share of the whole income pot divided by reads); I think my biggest monthly cheque has been $12. On the other hand, it does get my name and work seen so there's no way of telling if that factors in to other direct sales.




Marketing is every waiting-to-break-through writer's weak point. If there was a certain route it would have been found by now. It almost definitely isn't those companies that charge an upfront fee to "promote" your book.




A lot of publishers are really cagey about sales figures. Royalty statements don't usually come with any explanation for the total, not even to say which book or books they are for. I've had to really push to get an idea of what actual sales they represent.

One reason is because a lot of contracts these days give the author a back-end percentage (usually 60% net sales in my experience). If there's an advance its usually small (I've never had one over £3000) but those are rare in small-print publishing and getting rarer.

The "net" part is important though, because before calculating your share of profits the publisher gets to deduct expenses - production costs, complimentary giveaways, advertising, admin etc. The best contracts I've had specify what is eligible as a cost on the gross and cap how much it can be, either by a fixed sum or as a percentage of gross. Most contracts don't and you have to rely upon the publisher's honesty not to sneak a finger onto the scales.

To be fair, many reputable small press companies do play fair in their own opaque way. On the other hand, I've had stories in a couple of anthologies where I've never seen a penny because they have "not yet recouped expenses" (e.g. the cost of the publishers going to ComiCon).

I reckon that's partly why publishers are reticent about sales figures. They don't want authors doing the maths. They also sometimes don't want to upset authors with how poorly books have sold or else to inflate the author's expectations because things have sold well. Finally, they don't want other publishers to know what brands and which authors sell well because that's commercially valuable information.







My advice then, is to write at least three chapters/12,000 words then go back and revise chapter one before posting. In long-form prose you will inevitably have a better grasp of your style and story a bit further in and it will demand changes to your opening.







I was concentrating of the other side of Liu Xi's demonstrated personality, a selfless tendency to put her own troubles aside and support her friends.







People ask that about comic book series too. Then again, how many places can Wolverine be in at the same time?