The 6 Most Common Mistakes Authors Make (And How To Fix Them)

1) Not Getting Enough Feedback

It can be hard to find good people to read your book and give you helpful feedback, especially if you are, like most writers, on a tight budget.

It takes a lot of time and effort not only to read but to make notes and catch mistakes. It can be dangerous to get a friend or a family member –especially your mom – to read it if they’re not willing to give you the cold, hard truth.

A good editor will cost you anywhere between $1,000 and $5,000 but I know most people don’t have that kind of money so at the very least you should get a copy editor to check basic spelling and grammar. You can hire someone off Fiverr or Upwork (Formally Odesk) for a very reasonable price.

2) Tinkering With Your Novel For Too Long

On the opposite side there is tinkering with your novel for too long. Don’t be a James Joyce or a F. Scott Fitzgerald, at least if you hope to ever make a living out of writing. If they were alive today, neither one would be making any money. (They didn’t make much money back then either.)

With new books being published every day, there is just too much competition out there. You need to get your books out there and start writing the next one. That is the most effective way to get discovered. Your writing doesn’t need to be perfect. It has to be good and entertaining but don’t worry if it’s not Shakespeare. Once you have a couple of books under your belt and you really feel your calling is to write the next great American novel then go for it, but just be warned: It will most likely be a passion project and not a money maker.

3) Not Writing An Outline

This is something I resisted for the longest time.

To be clear, I don’t like outlines and never have. But they are so important. As stated above, you need to economize your time. It’s the most important asset you have and you can’t be wasting your time going down some rabbit hole only to realize your characters don’t work or your plot twist is unrealistic.

Plan ahead and try to systemize your writing as much as possible, just as any other business tries to cut costs and be as efficient as possible. I know that’s probably not what you wanted to hear. It’s not very creative but it will allow you to write an amazing novel in the shortest time frame possible which in turn will make you the most money.

4) Not Doing Enough Research

If you are in unfamiliar territory then you need to do your research. Nothing turns a reader off faster than a poorly researched novel. There is nothing worse than having an unbelievable court room scene, or the procedures of your main detective are all wrong, or you mix up a revolver with a semi-automatic.

An example of this was in my novel Re.Evolution, one of the main characters siphons gas from a newer-model Audi. I didn’t know that all new cars actually have an anti-siphoning device that prevents you from doing so. Luckily my editor caught this mistake and corrected.

I would suggest you do all your research just after you complete your outline. You know where your story is going and you’ll know what sort of research you’ll need. In fact, you should have 95% of all your research completed before you start your novel. This will improve your work flow and help you concentrate on your writing.

5) Not Eliminating Distractions

This is very important for everyone, but writers especially. It is one that will boost your creative output immensely. I always turn off my wifi on my computer, make sure my phone is on silent and not within arm’s length of my desk.

Some people get distracted at coffee shops while others get distracted at home. Personally I can’t help but be distracted with all the different people coming and going in a coffee shop. But I would suggest you find what works for you.

Distractions are the number one killer of production and you’ll probably be surprised at how fast you can write if you eliminate those distractions. And don’t worry if you’re not as productive as you would like to be at first. In the modern age where there is so much stimulus we need to practice concentration and you’ll find you’ll be able to write for longer periods of time without feeling the need to turn to Twitter every five minutes.

6) Not Building Up an Audience

The number one thing that I see writers doing wrong is not building an audience right from the start. Writers get too buried in their work and don’t think they have time to use blogging and social media effectively.

You should spend at least fifty percent of your time on building an audience. So whatever time you have per week, say it’s 14 hours to write, seven should be blogging and social media and the other seven should be writing your novel.

Most people will think that’s crazy but if you look at most other businesses you’ll see between 35-50% of their budget is spent on marketing. If you think of the huge Hollywood blockbusters often the marketing budget will exceed that of that actual cost of the film.

For writers you should think of your time budget. So spending 50% of it on your marketing is not unreasonable. Perhaps it’s because writers don’t like social media or they deem it a waste of time. Find something you enjoy doing and keep at it. But above all, be consistent with it.

Joel Mark Harris is a writer, film producer and marketer. (@joelmarkharris) He is the founder of Story Laboratory which helps artists market their work. To get a free ebook on How to Make Money Blogging and a Content Marketing Tool Kit sign up HERE

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