1. Don’t stop until you reach ‘The End’ – you must have something entire to work on and edit, and it doesn’t matter if your first draft is raw.
2. Never give up. It’s trite, but true. You will face rejection at some point, no author gets away with this, and you must have faith and a thick skin.
3. Love what you’re writing. Is this the kind of book you would be excited to read? Have fun with it – this will inject so much life and energy into your voice.
4. Know your market. What titles would yours sit alongside? What authors inspire you? Who is going to read your book? You don’t need to be an expert but having an idea of where your work would be positioned in a commercial market is hugely helpful both to you as a writer and to the agent/editor who takes you on.
5. Research literary agents. When your book is ready, don’t just fire it off to every name you can find. Agents like to see a submission has been tailored to them, their interests and the genres they are seeking. Take care with this – agents have so many manuscripts to read and yours must stand out from the crowd.
Novel Kicks is a blog for story tellers and book lovers.
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