Please welcome author, Anita Higman, as she shares 10 tips to help writers on their own journey to publication.1. Read. I have discovered that the more I read, the better I write.
2. Follow all leads from networking opportunities, writer’s conferences, and tips from writer friends.
3. Look for “holes” in the market place. One way of finding holes is to talk to booksellers and librarians. You might discover that there is a real need for a certain kind of book. Perhaps a number of patrons have asked repeatedly for a particular subject and there are few or no books written on it.
4. Try brainstorming when you are out of ideas. Then when the ideas do flow, start a file for later use. For example, you could have a file with character profiles, bits of dialogue, fresh book titles, or other items that you could eventually use in a new piece of writing.
5. Read all your work out loud. It sounds simple but it is a valuable tool.
6. Titles are very important. Make sure that your title is the very best it can be for your work. If you don’t like it, brainstorm until you find a new one, or use a dazzling phrase from your manuscript.
7. If you feel a burnout approaching, and you’re actually thinking about throwing in the towel, put your work aside, read a book for fun—not analyzing, start a journal, go on a writer’s retreat, or take a break by writing something very different from what you are accustomed to writing.
8. Try making a habit of writing, even when you don’t think you’re in an inspired mood.
9. Pray that God will guide you and help you be the best writer you can be.
10. Many popular authors have known plenty of rejection, so you are not alone if you have received rejection slips. (Years ago I collected a file folder full!) The bottom line is – if it is your calling to write, don’t give up.
* Tips used with permission from Anita's Web site.
Award-winning author, Anita Higman, has twenty-four books published (several co-authored) for adults and children. A few of Anita's books are Love Finds You in Humble, Texas, Another Stab at Life, Another Hour to Kill, The Celestial Helix, Pokeweed and Mrs. Gasp, and Big Book of Holidays and Holy Days. She also has contributions in ten nonfiction compilations, and has also written for radio, television, ezine, and advertising.
Anita has lived in Texas for the past twenty-five years, but was born and raised on a wheat and cattle farm in western Oklahoma. Besides writing, Anita's other interests are reading great books, going to the movies, and cooking brunch for her friends. She lives with her husband near Houston, Texas.
