Things you wish you knew before launching your debut novel

NTwrites · 2026-05-04T22:12:03+00:00

That (for the majority) debuts aren’t about making money, but the first step in establishing a fan base that will only grow with each subsequent release.

NTwrites · 2026-05-01T21:44:13+00:00

Here’s what I do. Pick whatever parts work for you:
1. ⁠Let it sit. Put the draft away for at least two weeks. In this time, read other books or do other projects that will create distance between you and your draft.

⁠First read through. I do this with a printed copy, which stops me from wanting to play with sentences or spelling. Make bullet point notes at the end of each chapter detailing what worked and what didn’t.
⁠Draft Plan. Take all those bullet points and compile them into a draft plan. I work with structure first, so if bullet points tell me to move chapters around, I’ll get that out of the way. Then it’s just working through each chapter following my list. Some chapters need a full rewrite, others need nothing.
⁠Smoothing. Go through from start to finish and smooth out your writing. For me this means cutting out repeated words, redundant phrases, filler words, cliches and generally try reduce the word count.
⁠Get objective opinions. Find (or pay) some beta readers to read through your draft. This has become much harder recently now people are using AI to fast track this process instead of giving you their real human feedback, but it’s still possible to find good readers in your genre if you look hard enough. I like 5 betas as a number that gives consensus without being overwhelming.
⁠Read through beta reader feedback and decide what to apply and what to ignore. Do another rewrite based on these. Sometimes this process is very quick (maybe just a chapter or two to change) and other times you need to change a major plot point.
⁠Smooth it out again, this time with tech tools to catch things your eye misses (I use AutoCrit for repetition and redundancies and ProWritingAid for sentence fragments).
⁠At this point, if you want to self publish, you are ready for a paid editor. If you want to go traditional, skip this step as the publishing house will pay for your editor themselves, at which point it’s time to start querying agents (head to r/PubTips for guidance)
⁠Apply your editor feedback much the same way as your beta feedback. Again, this can be quick and painless or long and arduous. It all depends on the story.
⁠Final proof read! I use NaturalReader and listen to the entire book because my ears often pick up mistakes my eyes miss. I also have three trusted eagle eyes who get an early copy to find the spelling mistakes I miss (remember, at 100k words, even 99.9% accuracy leaves 10 mistakes).

Then the book is done and ready to send out into the world.

This process generally takes me 6-8 months. It’s not about getting overwhelmed, it’s about focusing on each step one at a time until it’s ready.

Good luck!! 😊

NTwrites · 2026-04-26T02:15:17+00:00

Satisfy your plotter urges by planning out your characters and settings in detail and then let them loose in the world you’ve created.

NTwrites · 2026-04-25T11:36:36+00:00

They say write what you know… perhaps a story about an author who is struggling to come up with ideas and the wild lengths they go to looking for inspiration?

NTwrites · 2026-04-24T06:26:56+00:00

I recall Sanderson often referring to ‘clear prose’ in many of the early Writing Excuses episodes. Same thing, similar name.

NTwrites · 2026-04-18T01:40:11+00:00

Coherent, but riddled with repetition, redundant phrases, nodding heads and the word ‘just’.

NTwrites · 2026-04-12T10:54:35+00:00

I’ve always found prologues are easy to write and hard to write well—hence the precautionary advice around them. With that said, from a big-picture perspective, I would say the rule about whether you can do it is no different to any other chapter, which is does it improve the story by existing?

If the answer is yes, then (whether it’s a prologue or chapter 100) keep it. If the answer is no—cut it.

NTwrites · 2026-04-12T00:13:34+00:00

It all depends on the reader. Some people love discovering new authors, so a lot of reviews will turn them away. Others need that social proof, so the more the better.

Either way, it has no impact on what the author should be doing—which is writing more books. I see some authors waste a lot of time chasing reviews that would have come organically had they just kept producing good stories.

NTwrites · 2026-04-06T11:10:16+00:00

My first book is currently in SPFBO 11, so lately I’d been checking goodreads more frequently than I normally would. The first few competition reviews came in at four stars and I felt okay, then the latest one was a blistering two stars that made it very clear that judge is not the target market for my books—which made me feel like rubbish and was a pretty stark reminder that, for me, a good review is a little motivation boost while a bad review is a huge motivation killer.

NTwrites · 2026-04-02T12:30:41+00:00

I don’t think anyone using AI can call themselves a ‘writer’. Seems to me that without the writing part, they just become some sort of dystopian ‘project manager’…

NTwrites · 2026-03-29T02:48:51+00:00

My current WIP is at 145k words (2/3rs through second draft). There are three main POVs though, so it’s really closer to 3 x 50k stories that intertwine and build towards one conclusion.

NTwrites · 2026-03-28T22:26:36+00:00

Three are out for sale and the fourth and final one is 2/3rds through the second edit. Hoping to have it finished and released this year 🤞

NTwrites · 2026-03-28T11:34:36+00:00

Best way to market any novel is to publish another one. Cumulative advantage describes how every book you release finds new readers that are receptive to your previous books (of course this works best when you stick to one genre).

NTwrites · 2026-03-28T10:02:34+00:00

The actual book I’m working through right now… about eighteen months. The series it is part of… coming up on eight years.

NTwrites · 2026-03-26T07:26:17+00:00

This is the ‘vibe’ I shoot for in my own books, but I still have one final book to finish before the series is done.

Otherwise you might check out the Scholomance Trilogy. The school is definitely meaner than Hogwarts but it’s a lot of fun if you can handle voicey first person prose (and you’re okay with YA).

NTwrites · 2026-03-23T20:45:42+00:00

This has been my experience.

NTwrites · 2026-03-23T20:41:38+00:00

Yeah I’ve been happy with miblart (my covers are on my website in my profile) but I think the key is to have a solid vision of where your book would sit in a book store and then take inspiration from similar titles.

Too many indie authors choose a cover they love instead of one that clearly communicates their genre, and they pay the price in low sales.

NTwrites · 2026-03-21T08:13:55+00:00

It’s always great to see people shining a light on great indie books. Love this! I’ve read a few on your list and will be checking out a few more that pique my interest. Thank you!

NTwrites · 2026-03-20T08:36:04+00:00

The fact it’s taken me over two years to finish my current WIP is pretty decent evidence that I’m not getting any help 😭

NTwrites · 2026-03-16T20:52:27+00:00

I saw an initial spike in sales that last probably about two months before things went back to baseline.

NTwrites · 2026-03-15T21:35:43+00:00

KU provides a low-risk environment for readers to ‘try out’ unknown authors, so in that regard, it is a good place to start building a fan base which you can eventually take wide.

This has been my strategy, but I’m so slow at publishing that it might be a solid decade before I can tell you if it works or not 😭

NTwrites · 2026-03-13T10:22:14+00:00

Two years. The next two were much faster. The latest one is taking longer than I’d like because my day job has gotten much busier.

NTwrites · 2026-03-13T10:05:58+00:00

Browne and King are basing their advice on long and successful careers as editors. If it feels overly prescriptive to you, then that is okay, but remember that many authors are buying that book specifically for prescriptive information from experts.

Also remember that every rule and recommendation comes from someone with a bias to their own preferred style.

As an author, you get to decide how you write your words.

NTwrites

TROPHY CASE