Writing & Marketing & Business

As an early entrepreneur in my twenties I made a lot of mistakes. Here are my top 5.

#1 - Lack of Confidence in What I Was Doing

It has been decades since I began my first tiny business. It was way before the internet and the ease of access to do things yourself.

I opened a small craft and flower shop in the small town where I lived. I didn’t have fresh flowers, only silk which was a very big deal at that time.

My time was spent doing the craft items and floral arrangements I made. I did keep my bookkeeping up to date in a large ledger book though.

But, when it came to...

That is the worst kind of dabbler. Someone who loves their hobby or unique skill set and yet won’t take the chance to make it their career.

Maybe...

   Now uploading to their site is not for the faint of heart, but it has improved since I uploaded my first novel and their customer service is great! It was worth it. 

I knew I wanted to see my novels in hardcover form with a dust jacket, something my graphic artist may never forgive me for. But, she rose to the challenge and tweaked and tweaked until it fit their specs perfectly...

...It is important to not rush any step of this process. Take your time with rewrites and using a grammar program. Then when you get it to a live person, either a free team or a professional editor, it will be much easier for them to do their job. 

You can’t have too many people read and mark your manuscript. My process is to let one person read it, then make those corrections. Then I give it to another persona and so on. One of the last people I let read and review the manuscripts is a woman who was and English professor at a university for many years.

Don't rush this process. I promise you will...