Rowanvale Books
  • Home
    • Self Publishing Wales
  • About Us
    • Our Story
    • Not Sure Where To Start?
    • Rowanvale's Five Commandments
    • Meet The Team
    • Manuscript Guidelines
    • Design Galleries >
      • Design Gallery - Chrissie
      • Design Gallery - Rebeckah
      • Design Gallery - Kayleigh
      • Design Gallery - Alex
      • Design Gallery - Alice
    • Meet Our Authors
  • Our Services
    • Pre-Publication Services >
      • Proofreading and Editing
      • Book Illustrations Service
      • Scanning And Typing Service
      • Editorial Assessment
      • Literary Agent Package
      • Beta Readers
      • Custom Book Cover Design Service
      • Developmental Editing
    • Publication Services >
      • Children's Book Publishing
      • Paperback/Hardback Publishing
      • eBook Publishing
      • eBook and Paperback Publishing Package
      • KDP Publishing Package
    • Post-Publication Services >
      • Amazon Analysis
      • ARC and Book Review Service
      • PR Services
      • Marketing And Aftercare
  • Blog
  • Bookstore
    • New Releases
  • FAQs
  • Our Reviews
  • Contact Us

5 Costly Mistakes that are Hurting Your Career (and How to Avoid It)

1/3/2023

0 Comments

 
Picture
A career in writing can be a rollercoaster of steep learning curves. To avoid derailing your writing career, we've compiled a list of five common mistakes and how to avoid them.  
 
Costly Mistake 1: Editing 
 
You might have the most amazing story, but the reader will still abandon your book if it's riddled with mistakes. That’s why a professional editor needs to comb through your story pre-publication.  
The different types of editing your book should go through before publication are: 
 
  • Developmental-editing 
  • Copy-editing 
  • Proofreading 
  • Beta readers 
 
To get the most out of any editor, ensure your manuscript is as clean as possible. This way, the editors are not fixing simple problems, but are addressing mistakes that have genuinely gone unnoticed. 
To get a clearer idea of what type of editor your story needs, check out our post on different types of editing.  
 
Costly Mistake 2: Formatting 
 
An oddly formatted book can ruin a reader's experience. Again, your story may be remarkable, but if it’s difficult to even look at, it is unlikely many people will read your book.  
The key to formatting is making sure your book remains consistent and meets genre expectations. 
When formatting your book for publication, keep in mind: 
 
  • Text alignment 
  • Font size 
  • Line spacing 
  • Paragraphing 
  • Page breaks 
  • Margin spacing 
  • Page numbers 
 
For more information on how to format a book, check out our post on four ways to format a book. Or, read through our eBook, Paperback and Hardback Publishing Package.  
 
Costly Mistake 3: Cover Design 
 
A book’s cover is like a film poster. The cover gives us the first glimpse of the story behind it. Skimping out on the cover can harm an author’s career in two ways: 
 
  • The cover doesn’t entice the reader with the promise of an intriguing story, meaning that fewer people are likely to pick up your book. 
  • The cover conveys a false message leading to misguided reader expectations. The reader may feel cheated and disappointed by the story.  
 
Getting the cover right is essential, so please feel free to contact our team to discuss a custom book cover.  
 
Costly Mistake 4: Market Research 

 
Let’s say you’ve written a beachy romance--a December release date may not give your book its best chance. Or a story about an unknown virus--it's unlikely to be well received post-2020.  
Avoid these blunders by developing an outline of a marketing plan: 
 
  • Research trends on social media 
  • Stay up to date on current affairs 
  • Understand what tropes reel in your target audience 
  • Look up price points of other books in your genre 
 
To get to grips with marketing your book, our Marketing and Aftercare team is on hand to guide you.  
 
Costly Mistake 5: Quitting 
 
The hardest part of releasing your book for publication can be seeing your book not do as well as you hoped. At this point, it can be too easy to make the worst mistake of your writing career: GIVING UP.  
But that’s the wonderful thing about writing. If one book does not go as planned, you can begin again. 
 
For tips on how to begin again, read our post on how to develop a writing habit.  
 
To keep up with the latest insider knowledge on navigating your writing career, follow us on: 
 
  • Instagram 
  • Twitter  
  • Facebook 
​
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    January 2021

    Categories

    All
    Book Distribution
    Marketing
    Royalties
    Self Publishing Guide
    Self-publishing Guide
    Social Media
    Writing

    RSS Feed

Services

Children's Publishing
Paperback Publishing
eBook Publishing
KDP Publishing
All Format Publishing
Book Illustrations
Writing Advisor
Scanning & Typing
Editorial Assessment
Proofreading & Editing
Literary Agents
Beta Readers
Custom Book Cover Design
Developmental Editing
Amazon Analysis
ARC Review Service
PR Service
Marketing & Aftercare

Company

Meet The Team
Accessibility
Contact Us

Support

FAQs
Terms of Use
Privacy Policy
Cookie Policy
Rowanvale Books is the largest and one of the longest running self-publishing companies in Wales.
Visit us on our Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn below.
UK: 02921 280 895
Intl: (+44) 2921 280 895
e: info@rowanvalebooks.com
Picture

© Rowanvale Books Ltd 2023
Registered in Wales | Company Registration No. 8820249
Website Powered By Digitally Brilliant
  • Home
    • Self Publishing Wales
  • About Us
    • Our Story
    • Not Sure Where To Start?
    • Rowanvale's Five Commandments
    • Meet The Team
    • Manuscript Guidelines
    • Design Galleries >
      • Design Gallery - Chrissie
      • Design Gallery - Rebeckah
      • Design Gallery - Kayleigh
      • Design Gallery - Alex
      • Design Gallery - Alice
    • Meet Our Authors
  • Our Services
    • Pre-Publication Services >
      • Proofreading and Editing
      • Book Illustrations Service
      • Scanning And Typing Service
      • Editorial Assessment
      • Literary Agent Package
      • Beta Readers
      • Custom Book Cover Design Service
      • Developmental Editing
    • Publication Services >
      • Children's Book Publishing
      • Paperback/Hardback Publishing
      • eBook Publishing
      • eBook and Paperback Publishing Package
      • KDP Publishing Package
    • Post-Publication Services >
      • Amazon Analysis
      • ARC and Book Review Service
      • PR Services
      • Marketing And Aftercare
  • Blog
  • Bookstore
    • New Releases
  • FAQs
  • Our Reviews
  • Contact Us