As an author today it can feel like you need to be a jack-of-all-trades. A lot of authors don’t start thinking about marketing until their book is finished. Of course, you do eventually want the book to sell, but putting yourself out there can feel a little overwhelming for those not used to working in the marketing world. Marketing is an aspect of the writing process that can often be overlooked. Let’s look at some fundamental questions to help guide your writing and build visibility for your book.

Self-publishing is a great way to get your work of literary genius out to the world without going through the traditional route with a publisher. Today, even highly successful authors are opting to self-publish in order to maintain greater control over their work and recoup more of their well-deserved royalties. Self-publishing means that you, the author, hold complete control over the entire publishing process. You’re in charge of everything a publisher would typically have handled — from editing and proofreading to cover design and distribution.

If you love writing and get paid to do it, I count it as a win—even if you have to write some weird stuff to make enough money to call it a career. As you establish your career, you’ll find your niche. It just may not be writing about what you originally pictured. Weird is in the eye of the beholder, and if you enjoy what you write, that’s all that matters.

While writing a novel is difficult at best, getting started may be the hardest part. Most authors are all too familiar with the struggle of looking at a blank page. The secret to writing a novel, and writing it without pulling your hair out? An outline. The time invested up front to create a compelling outline will save you time (and headaches), giving you a solid roadmap to reference as you watch your masterpiece come to life.

Have you thought about turning your newly published book into an audiobook? There are a couple of different things to consider before jumping in. Like translations, creating audiobooks can cost a pretty penny. Though once established it can increase your bottom line, help you reach another audience, and give you more visibility. Let’s look at some of the different aspects of audiobook creation and what you need to know.

So you’ve written your book. You’ve spent countless hours writing, reading, editing, re-writing, and splitting hairs over plot and punctuation, and it’s finally finished… but now what? Well, now it’s time to sell your book.

There I was... more than fifteen years into my career, on the edge of accepting a position as a director at a promising technology startup, and absolutely miserable. Instead of considering altering parts of my lifestyle and changing careers, I worked until I literally couldn’t get out of bed and commute to the office.

Querying for fiction and querying for nonfiction are nothing alike. Even the completeness of your novel and the quality of your writing are weighed differently. The two similarities are that both fiction and nonfiction novels will end up in book form (electronic or otherwise), and it’s very challenging to secure a contract.

You’ve found a new way to do business that works. A new marketing tactic, a new way to measure success, or an application architecture best practice guide. Whatever it is, your colleagues are interested in the topic and encourage you to publish a book about it.

There are two types of writers you’ll hear about when talking to authors. People generally fall into one of the two camps, or they straddle them in a random variation doing a little of both. You’ll often be asked, are you a plotter or pantser, as if it’s the most natural question in the world.

We know it’s nerve-wracking to sell yourself in person and email is less intimidating, but email works less often because it’s less personal. Agents are on the lookout for excellent writing, but your personality and business acumen weigh into their decision just as heavily. An in-person interaction goes a lot further to establish your fit.

A query letter can set an author apart or doom them to the rejection pile before a single word of their manuscript is viewed by an agent or acquisition editor. Knowing the ground rules of querying and the structure of a good letter is absolutely essential for any author hoping to be traditionally published.