Publishing my first book: seven things I learned along the way

Publishing ELYOR was thrilling and exhausting in equal measure. These are the seven things I wish I had known before.

1. A book is never "finished". At some point you decide it is done, and that moment does not arrive on its own.
2. The cover is narrative. It is not decoration: it is the book's first sentence.
3. The first review is scarier than publication day. You survive it.
4. Readers see things you never put there. And sometimes they are right.
5. Marketing starts before you write the last page. Even if it is only sharing the process.
6. A small, real community is worth more than a thousand cold followers.
7. Writing the next book is the best promotion for the last one.

What I would do differently

Start sharing the process sooner: sketches, doubts, deleted scenes. People do not only fall in love with a book, they fall in love with how it is made.

If you are on your first manuscript: finish it. Everything else can be learned afterwards.

Keep reading: ELYOR, my first romantasy novel · all my books · more blog articles