For many of us writing is fun. It’s what comes afterward, the promotions and marketing, that’s too much like work. But that’s life, and something authors must do.

When you’re promoting your book, one of the best ways to let the world know that you wrote this generation’s Great American Novel is to be interviewed by someone who caters to writers and sparks an interest in readers. TV is great, but those spots don’t come along all that often. There’s radio or Internet radio as well and of course newspapers. But as a writer travelling in the social media circles frequented by other writers, you’ll more often run across bloggers looking to fill a spot on their site who are quite happy to have you answer a dozen questions about yourself and meet their fans and followers.

If you do enough interviews you’ll find that there are only so many questions these bloggers ask. You’ll often repeat your answers throughout the year. One of the great standards used by bloggers is also potentially helpful to other writers if you’ve got a good idea. I think I have. Here’s a question I’ve encountered many times:

‘What is the best piece of advice you could give someone starting out on a writing career?’

The best practical advice I can offer a new writer isn’t my original thought. I learned this reading an interview with Robert B. Parker. When asked why his books were so popular, Parker gave a simple answer, ‘Because they sound good.’ Most of my twenty-seven Sam Jenkins mystery novelettes were written for audio books and had to sound good when read by an actor. So, I knew exactly what Bob Parker meant. I apply this same principle with my full-length novels

Here’s my recommendation on how to produce a quality piece of work. When you think your story, novelette, novella, novel, or epic is finished, when you truly believe you’ve found and corrected all the typos and nits and it’s ready to sell, go back and read it ALOUD to yourself. Pretend you’re the star of your own audio book. Read it slowly and professionally as an actor would. Then, ask yourself, does it sound good? Do all the paragraphs smoothly transcend to the next? Does each sentence contain the right number of syllables? Does each word flow into the next without conflict? Or did you find yourself tongue-tied on occasion? Does it have a pleasing rhythm? Basically, does it sing to you? For a guy who doesn’t dance very well, I have a great need for rhythm in my writing. If you notice any “bumps,” go back and rewrite it. Smooth everything out. If something bothers you now, it will annoy the hell out of you in the future and someone else will notice it, too.

With that accomplished, you’re finished, right? No. Now you’re ready to hand it off to a freelance editor or proof-reader—whomever you can afford if you’re self-publishing, or to the editor assigned to you by your traditional publishing house. A second (or third) pair of eyes is essential for ANY writer.