Ask the Author: Tyler McCalister
Answered Questions (7)
Tyler McCalister
For all of my aspiring authors out there I want you all to read this very very carefully. I repeat very very carefully. KEEP WRITING :) Don’t worry about if your book is going to be the next NYT Best Seller. Don’t worry about if people are going to hate it. Don’t contemplate on whether or not you are wasting your time. Always remember that it’s your story. No one will ever be able to tell the story like you can, so stop worrying and keep writing. Many people don’t realize this, but half the battle of writing a NYT Best Seller is actually writing the book! Once you’ve written chapter after chapter, you have now completed what most people said they were gonna do 10 years ago.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Do not edit, and write at the same time. That is why professional book editors and proof readers exists. They look to see if you have grammar flaws, and if your book flows. I promise you the only thing your editors want you to do is WRITE! So keep writing so they can continue doing what they love.
Please invest in a great book cover. Everybody knows the old saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover” However we all know it happens. I myself am guilty of it. You want to ensure that the title of your book, subtitle and cover match perfectly with the content in your book. Your cover must look professional, and be appealing to the readers you would like to reach. If you choose to self publish, getting a professional book cover can be very expensive. I am here to tell you that it is worth it! I personally got my cover from a website called 99 Designs. I highly recommend them, and Fiverr.
I highly recommend editing more than writing. Meaning when you have finished writing your book and you’re ready for editing, DO NOT TAKE THIS LIGHTLY. Editing can be the difference from you selling 100,000 copies or just 10 copies. It took me 3 and a half months to write Young, Grown & Knowledgeable. However it took me almost a year to edit. I purposely spent more time editing, because I wanted my book to not only look professional, but also read as a professionally edited book. I preach that editing for a long time is good, but don’t be the person that spends years editing. If you do this you will never publish your book, because you will always think it needs work here and there. The truth is there is no perfect book out there. Think of the first NYT Best Selling book that comes to mind. I guarantee you that there are grammar flaws, punctuation flaws, and maybe a sentence or two that could’ve been moved here or there. The point I’m getting at is, yes there is always room to improve, but there will never be a perfect book. Take editing seriously, but don’t stress if your book is not absolutely perfect. A well edited published book is better than a well edited unpublished book. Remember that.
If you self publish, consider starting a publishing business. For example let’s say you publish on Amazon and you start to receive book sells. You want to separate the money you make in book sales from your personal bank account. This will make doing taxes much much easier. I recommend starting an LLC. For example “Books By Jack LLC” or “Jack Publishing LLC” and start a business bank account, to keep your book revenue in. I started a company called “McCalister Publishing LLC” to do exactly what I just told you. Trust me you will thank me later, if you decide to do this.
MARKET MARKET MARKET!
Congratulations! welcome to the authors club. Now here’s where the real work begins, especially if you are a self published author. I would say marketing is just as important as the editing process I mentioned earlier. Without a good marketing plan, your book will just sit in Amazon’s never ending cart of books or wherever you publish, and no one will know about your brilliant masterpiece. We obviously don’t want this to happen, so it’s important to have a plan before you publish. I personally reached out to everyone I knew. Friends, family and mentors months prior to me publishing. This will generate a buzz for your release date. If you have a social media USE IT. There are book promotion pages that would love to share your work with millions of book worms. Also doing a press release wouldn’t hurt. I would talk to your editor for that kind of promotion. (They’re usually pretty knowledgeable in this part of the publishing process) I would also recommend doing pre orders, and doing book giveaways. These go a long way, and you can reach more readers. Also please establish and authors platform on your publishing source (Amazon, IngramSpark, Lulu, Goodreads) so that your followers can keep up with his your next projects. I am currently looking for more ways to promote, and market as I am a fairly new author. I am always willing to share my knowledge on different avenues of approach for book marketing.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Do not edit, and write at the same time. That is why professional book editors and proof readers exists. They look to see if you have grammar flaws, and if your book flows. I promise you the only thing your editors want you to do is WRITE! So keep writing so they can continue doing what they love.
Please invest in a great book cover. Everybody knows the old saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover” However we all know it happens. I myself am guilty of it. You want to ensure that the title of your book, subtitle and cover match perfectly with the content in your book. Your cover must look professional, and be appealing to the readers you would like to reach. If you choose to self publish, getting a professional book cover can be very expensive. I am here to tell you that it is worth it! I personally got my cover from a website called 99 Designs. I highly recommend them, and Fiverr.
I highly recommend editing more than writing. Meaning when you have finished writing your book and you’re ready for editing, DO NOT TAKE THIS LIGHTLY. Editing can be the difference from you selling 100,000 copies or just 10 copies. It took me 3 and a half months to write Young, Grown & Knowledgeable. However it took me almost a year to edit. I purposely spent more time editing, because I wanted my book to not only look professional, but also read as a professionally edited book. I preach that editing for a long time is good, but don’t be the person that spends years editing. If you do this you will never publish your book, because you will always think it needs work here and there. The truth is there is no perfect book out there. Think of the first NYT Best Selling book that comes to mind. I guarantee you that there are grammar flaws, punctuation flaws, and maybe a sentence or two that could’ve been moved here or there. The point I’m getting at is, yes there is always room to improve, but there will never be a perfect book. Take editing seriously, but don’t stress if your book is not absolutely perfect. A well edited published book is better than a well edited unpublished book. Remember that.
If you self publish, consider starting a publishing business. For example let’s say you publish on Amazon and you start to receive book sells. You want to separate the money you make in book sales from your personal bank account. This will make doing taxes much much easier. I recommend starting an LLC. For example “Books By Jack LLC” or “Jack Publishing LLC” and start a business bank account, to keep your book revenue in. I started a company called “McCalister Publishing LLC” to do exactly what I just told you. Trust me you will thank me later, if you decide to do this.
MARKET MARKET MARKET!
Congratulations! welcome to the authors club. Now here’s where the real work begins, especially if you are a self published author. I would say marketing is just as important as the editing process I mentioned earlier. Without a good marketing plan, your book will just sit in Amazon’s never ending cart of books or wherever you publish, and no one will know about your brilliant masterpiece. We obviously don’t want this to happen, so it’s important to have a plan before you publish. I personally reached out to everyone I knew. Friends, family and mentors months prior to me publishing. This will generate a buzz for your release date. If you have a social media USE IT. There are book promotion pages that would love to share your work with millions of book worms. Also doing a press release wouldn’t hurt. I would talk to your editor for that kind of promotion. (They’re usually pretty knowledgeable in this part of the publishing process) I would also recommend doing pre orders, and doing book giveaways. These go a long way, and you can reach more readers. Also please establish and authors platform on your publishing source (Amazon, IngramSpark, Lulu, Goodreads) so that your followers can keep up with his your next projects. I am currently looking for more ways to promote, and market as I am a fairly new author. I am always willing to share my knowledge on different avenues of approach for book marketing.
Tyler McCalister
(For this question I will speak from the Self Publishing side of the house)
The best thing about being a writer is that you literally get to create a world of your own! Not a lot of jobs let you have full creativity in how you work. Often times we are restricted to certain rules, and can’t say or do certain things. However being a writer is the complete opposite. There are no limitations or rules to your crazy and unique imagination. You can write about hobbits and unicorns, or fairy tales and living in another dimension. The world is yours once your fingers hit the keyboard, or your pen hits the piece of paper. I genuinely enjoy having the creative freedom to talk about whatever comes to my mind, and know that my work won’t be denied.
The best thing about being a writer is that you literally get to create a world of your own! Not a lot of jobs let you have full creativity in how you work. Often times we are restricted to certain rules, and can’t say or do certain things. However being a writer is the complete opposite. There are no limitations or rules to your crazy and unique imagination. You can write about hobbits and unicorns, or fairy tales and living in another dimension. The world is yours once your fingers hit the keyboard, or your pen hits the piece of paper. I genuinely enjoy having the creative freedom to talk about whatever comes to my mind, and know that my work won’t be denied.
Tyler McCalister
Believe it or not, the readers themselves are what inspire me to write. When I think of an idea for a new project, I fast forward to the potential completion of the project and think “How will the reader feel about the content in the book?” “Did I achieve my goal in how I wanted the audience to feel after reading this book?” “Did I make a lasting impression on the reader, making them want more content from me?” These kind of questions are what drive me to start, and ultimately complete a project. I believe the reader and I want the same thing. We want to be entertained, and we want to know that our time and money wasn’t wasted on a poorly written book. That is why the reader is what inspires me to write.
Tyler McCalister
As I finished my final semester of college I reflected on my life thus far, and thought to myself “How can I help my peers, so that we can all achieve our goals” This simple thought is the reason Young, Grown & Knowledgeable exists. I put together various topics, based on what I believe the young adult community needs the most. For example “The importance of your credit score” “Getting out of your comfort zone” “Having a mentor” and many more topics that will help young adults as they enter adulthood.
Tyler McCalister
I am currently working on a children’s book series, that I plan to publish this fall.
Tyler McCalister
This might sound crazy, but I deal with writers block by closing my laptop, and indulging in other activities. Whether it be eating, watching tv or working out. When I take my mind off of the project for a while, I tend to get a second wind of the writers flow. Overall I believe as a writer, it is good to incorporate small breaks while writing. Taking small breaks definitely helps me get back on track, and even come up with new ideas for the project.
Tyler McCalister
I was awoken from a deep sleep at 3am. I walked into my kitchen and saw a note that read “STOP SNORING” on my kitchen counter. I live alone.
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