My debut novel, Ashes Swept, was released one year ago today. It’s hard to believe so much time has passed since then, but I definitely think I’ve learned a a few things in my first year as a published author. Here’s what I’m taking with me into year two:

It’s an amazing experience.

Okay, well, duh, probably–but honestly, I wasn’t prepared for just how amazing it would be. So many more people have read and enjoyed my book than I ever expected, and it’s pretty freakin’ cool to know so many people have inhabited a place and known people that were all created in my head. That makes it even more exciting (and scary) to do it again!

Don’t sweat the small stuff.

In the beginning, it was hard not to focus on numbers, reviews, who liked it and who didn’t. Now that my “book baby” was out in the world, I wanted it to do well, which also meant really caring about that. But you can also drive yourself crazy by caring too much and watching too closely.

Find your tribe.

Writing, publishing, and everything that happens in between can be frustrating and draining at times, so it’s unbelievably important to have friends in the writing community. Not only can they be valuable resources for advice and feedback, but it also makes a huge difference to know you’re not alone in the things you’re feeling and experiencing.

Advertise later.

I dove right in with facebook ads and Instagram ads, and I probably won’t do that again until I have a few more books in my backlog. Some debut authors may have more luck with it, but I really didn’t feel that advertising made a noticeable difference in my sales. Luckily I didn’t spend too much on it, but that money could have been put to better use.

Stay focused.

I wrote my current WIP (which will be published book #2) during NaNoWriMo last year, and was sending chapters for beta before it was even done. Then my productivity took a nosedive for three months and getting into the swing of things again was difficult. For a while there I was only writing a chapter a month, so I fell way behind on my goal to publish another book before the end of the year. So, while it’s tempting to take a nice long vacation after your book comes out, a week or two is probably enough. More than that and you might lose your momentum.

Be patient.

I’ve been plugging away on book #2 much more steadily these last few months, and I’m getting pretty close to finishing another draft. Then it will go to my other critique partner for review, back for more edits, and then back for critique. Sometimes I get a little antsy because I’m ready to get this book out and move onto the next one, and other times I get a bit disappointed with myself for falling so far behind. But, I’ve also learned it’s important to be patient–not just with myself but with the process. Life happens. Things get in the way and sometimes you can’t write through them. But as long as you get back in the saddle, that’s all that matters.

I’m looking forward to year two and all the adventures it will bring!

Several months ago, I started hearing about other indie authors losing reviews on Amazon. One day their book would have 50 reviews, the next day it would have 30. Some people were unable to leave reviews or had lost their accounts all together. Rumors swirled, theories ranging from faulty bot algorithms to deletion due to social media connection. The only thing that’s for certain is reviews must abide by Amazon policy, and those policies are pretty strict. They have to be, because a lot of people try to game the system.

One of the things that’s forbidden by Amazon is review trading. In other words, “If you review my book, I’ll review yours.” That makes sense because it’s sketchy as eff-all, but unfortunately, Amazon can’t tell the difference between traded reviews and two authors who just happened to read each other’s books.  This is a huge problem because it’s not uncommon for writers to read each other’s books, not because they agreed to, but because they were genuinely interested. Often times, you may not even know a fellow author has read and reviewed your book, so if you happen to read and review their book, too, you could appear to be review trading without even knowing it. But it doesn’t matter whether you knew or not, because if Amazon sees you’ve reviewed each other’s books, you could both lose your Amazon account.

That said, I’ve decided to stop reviewing books on Amazon from this point on. It already feels risky enough, and with what is and isn’t allowed constantly changing, it’s much too easy to run afoul of the rules. Instead, I’m going to start reviewing books here on my blog, which I’ll cross-post to social media. And then I’ll continue to post reviews on Goodreads.

Hopefully Amazon will eventually find a more precise way to cut down on scammers, but until that time, better safe than sorry.

I’m so pleased to welcome author Jade Young to my blog!

A lot of the writing I do is very character driven. Therefore my goal is for my readers to connect with my protagonist. I want my protagonist to come alive for them and for his or her thoughts and actions to jump off the page and draw the reader in. Ultimately, I want my readers to feel like they are the protagonist.

That’s essentially what Deep Point-Of-View or Deep POV is. The reader forgets they’re reading a book because it’s written in such a way that they feel like they are living the character’s life. Basically, you the author, do everything you can to remove dialogue tags, filter words, and passive voice. This establishes a deep and emotional connection with readers.

Now, this isn’t the easiest technique to master. It’s so easy to slip back into your regular writing style. However, practice makes perfect and if this is something that interests you, read on for my four tips.

Tip One: Get Inside Your Protagonist’s Head. In order to help readers get lost in my protagonist’s head, it’s essential that I get inside my protagonist’s head first. This means I need to know my character inside and out. I need to understand their goals, motivations, relationships, and other facets of their lives. This will add a level of realism to your protagonist and make them relatable to your audience. To check out my personal five-step process for creating relatable and well-rounded characters click here

Tip Two: Watch out for Filter Words. Filter words are words like saw, heard, thought, felt, watched, etc. If writing in Deep POV, they are unnecessary because they take readers out of the character’s head. The goal of Deep POV is for you to experience the story through the protagonist’s eyes so you need to write the action as it happens. Think about your own life. You don’t go around using filter words so why should your protagonist? Let readers experience story events as a character does. Confused? Here’s two examples:

Not Deep POV: Mary heard a gunshot and saw Eric fall to the ground.

Deep POV: A shot ring out! Mary stifled a cry as Eric’s body fell to the ground in front of her.

Not Deep POV: Eric thought the baby smelled bad. Time for a diaper change!

Deep POV: The baby smelled bad. Time for a diaper change!

Tip Three: Show Don’t Tell. Many of us are familiar with this rule, and it’s interesting to note that in some cases, telling can be effective. However, the goal is for our readers to feel like they are the protagonist and become immersed in their world. Therefore, we want to create dynamic scenes and use our protagonist’s five senses to tell the story. When conveying emotions, describing the setting, or during conversation be sure to stay inside your character’s head and avoid lengthy info-dumps or descriptions. For more information on show vs tell, and how you can master both, click here.

Tip Four: Write in Active, not Passive, Voice. Writing in passive voice can pull your reader out of your character’s head. Why? Because passive voice indicates that something has already been done or is being done somewhere the protagonist isn’t. For example,

Active Voice: The dog bit Katie.

Passive Voice: Katie was bitten by the dog.

Active Voice: Joel hit Nick.

Passive Voice: Nick was hit by Joel.

Note: An easy way to help you identify passive vs active voice is to add “by zombies” after the verb in the sentence. If the sentence makes sense then it’s passive. For example, if we were to use the examples above:

Passive: Katie was bitten by zombies.

Passive: Nick was hit by zombies.

Still confused? Check out this blog post by Kaitlin Hillerich for more examples and tips.

Tip Five: Remove Dialogue Tags. Dialogue tags are common in most novels. For example, “she said,” “he yelled,” “Mary screamed,” “Jack whispered,” etc. Though small, using dialogue tags can jar your reader out of your protagonist’s head and remind them that they’re reading a book. They can also kill the tension. I found an amazing blog post by Laura Drake that explains dialogue rules and can help you effectively delete dialogue tags in your novels. You can read it here.

I hope this blog post was helpful in helping you master Deep POV. If you have any other suggestions, or additional questions, please leave them in the comments down below.

Happy writing!

Jade Young is a blogger, and writing coach, currently working on her debut novel. You can find helpful tips, writing advice, and more information about her services on her website at www.theeducatedwriter.com.