Joe Mynhardt runs Crystal Lake Publishing in South Africa. He publishes horror and dark fiction in both paperback and e-book format. 
Joe’s put together some advice for horror writers but it can apply equally well to fiction writers in any genre so I thought I’d share it with you:
- Write
- Read
- Join a forum and participate in it
- Read non-fiction books, especially about marketing. You’ll need it eventually.
- Always be open and ready for opportunities.
- Have confidence in yourself. Every small step becomes part of the bigger journey.
- Have a story or two on standby at all times.
- Write every day, even if it’s only 10 minutes.
- Learn how to edit your own work.
- Be as visible as possible on the internet.
- Be professional in everything you say and do. Growing a tough skin goes a long way in not acting like an emotional roller coaster on social media. Think before you post on impulse!
- Help others as much as you can, even if you just share or re-tweet/re-blog their stuff. Celebrate their successes with them, and don’t be jealous. One day you may be grateful for their help!
- Eat, breathe and sleep stories, but take time to rest. Writer’s fatigue is no joke.
- Take some time to just sit and think about creative things to do, whether they’re story or promotion ideas.
- Don’t listen to negative thoughts. You’ll have off days when you’ll just have to ignore yourself.
- Take care of your body, especially your back and wrists. Being an author is not a race, but a marathon that never ends.
If I had to pick out just two of those points as being the most important I’d go for ‘Write every day’ and ‘Don’t listen to negative thoughts’. What about you?
Joe is currently running a competition on the Crystal Lake Publishing website. First prize is e-book copies of the first seven books published by his company so far. Details are here. It closes 31/12/2013.
And do have a look at the brilliant covers on the Crystal Lake books – some of them are quite terrifying!
Related articles
- Spotlight: Crystal Lake Publishing (davebrendon.wordpress.com)
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