Kenzie Reed
1.) Read a lot. Read in a variety of genres, and also read in the genre you want to write.
2.) Study the best-sellers in your genre - their books, their blurbs, their covers, the tropes that they use.
3.) Join author's forums and author's groups where you can ask questions.
4.) Find good beta readers who will critique your book, and don't take critiques personally. If a lot of people have the same issues with your book - starts too slow, hero or heroine is dislikeable, drags in the middle, or whatever - they are probably right and it's something that needs to be addressed.
5.) Use an editor. I am a former newspaper reporter, and I've made the mistake of thinking I could edit my own work. Ha! Ha, I say. Character's eyes changed from blue to brown. Commas were forgotten or misplaced. People who were already standing, stood up. The reviews reflected that - deservedly. I say again: use an editor.
2.) Study the best-sellers in your genre - their books, their blurbs, their covers, the tropes that they use.
3.) Join author's forums and author's groups where you can ask questions.
4.) Find good beta readers who will critique your book, and don't take critiques personally. If a lot of people have the same issues with your book - starts too slow, hero or heroine is dislikeable, drags in the middle, or whatever - they are probably right and it's something that needs to be addressed.
5.) Use an editor. I am a former newspaper reporter, and I've made the mistake of thinking I could edit my own work. Ha! Ha, I say. Character's eyes changed from blue to brown. Commas were forgotten or misplaced. People who were already standing, stood up. The reviews reflected that - deservedly. I say again: use an editor.
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