10 Things You Didn’t Know About Becoming a Published Author

By Author and Literary Consultant E. N. Joy

www.enjoywrites.com

• You have to file taxes on the books you sell. So even though you may work a nine to five, you will have to file self-employment taxes as well. There are other options when it comes to income earned from book sells, but filing taxes on your earnings is a must!

• Building relationships increases readership. I don’t care if a person gives me that line that makes me cringe: “I don’t read.” Know the difference between book readers, book purchasers, and influencers.

• You have to have your own website to promote yourself and your book even before the book has been published. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram will all allow you to pitch a tent in their front yard, but there is no place like your own nice, comfy home. Home is where you can invite all your personal guests.

• Becoming an author means you also have to become a marketer and promoter for your work. You’ll soon find that writing the book may have been your passion/ministry, but selling the book is your business.

• You have to be a reader. That’s the number one study method for any author; reading. Network with the authors whose work you read, for they are now your peers…your equals. Don’t look at other authors as competition, but as resources. And don’t just be a taker; you have lots to offer too! Every journey to becoming an author is different. Share yours.

• You have to create an image and a brand for yourself. Who are you? Who do you want to be to your readers? Be consistent in who you present yourself to be. Be who you say you are.

• Becoming a published author means you also become an event planner. Don’t sit around hoping someone will invite you to be a featured author at their literary event. Create your own event. You can do this at almost any library in town for free…and get free promotion from the library while you’re at it and sometimes a stipend.

• You now have to be in ten places at one time…virtually. Consider hiring a virtual assistant to help you out in that area. You can’t be a published author alone. You’ll become overwhelmed.

• Becoming an author means you are no longer just a writer. Yes, there is a difference between a writer and an author. One of those differences is the fact that writers write good. Authors write well 😉 Authors know that next to writing the book, hiring an editor is the most important thing.

• Becoming a published author means you are not the boss. Readers are now the boss of you! Don’t argue with the readers on social media or shoot them a nasty response for a review they left that you might not agree with. That’s called insubordination, and the last thing you want is for a reader to fire you…and tell everyone else not to hire you.

Title: One Sunday At A Time by  E. N. Joy
Genre: Fiction
ISBN-10: 1622867173 | ISBN-13: 978-1622867172
Release date:  March 2016

Synopsis

What does crazy look like? Let Deborah tell it, it’s the reflection that looks back at her in the mirror. She has a career she loves, two beautiful children and a handsome and successful husband. Her life seems to be the blueprint almost every woman she knows would kill to live. But working full-time, being a full-time mother, full-time wife and a full-time Sunday only Christian seems to be taking its toll on her. With all the scheming and shenanigans Deborah orchestrated to get this lifestyle, she might have to come up with a whole set of new ones to maintain it.

Lynox is Deborah’s husband who she thanks God for putting back into her life after a game of cat and mouse that defies the laws of romance. He feels that all Deborah needs is to let her hair down, maybe make some new friends and live a little. When Deborah agrees and then suspects Lynox of having an affair with the woman that he suggested she form a friendship with, will he live to regret his own advice?

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About E.N. Joy

Joylynn M. Ross now writing as BLESSEDselling Author E.N. Joy (Everybody Needs Joy) 

BLESSEDselling Author E. N. Joy is the author behind the “New Day Divas,” “Still Divas,” “Always Divas” and “Forever Divas” series, all which have been coined “Soap Operas in Print.” She is an Essence Magazine Bestselling Author who wrote secular books under the names Joylynn M. Jossel and JOY. Her title, If I Ruled the World, earned her a book blurb from Grammy Award Winning Artist, Erykah Badu. An All Night Man, an anthology she penned with New York Times Bestselling Author Brenda Jackson, earned the Borders bestselling African American romance award. Her Urban Fiction title, Dollar Bill (Triple Crown Publications), appeared in Newsweek and has been translated to Japanese.

After thirteen years of being a paralegal in the insurance industry, E. N. Joy divorced her career and married her mistress and her passion; writing. In 2000, she formed her own publishing company where she published her books until landing a book deal with St. Martin’s Press. This award winning author has been sharing her literary expertise on conference panels in her home town of Columbus, Ohio as well as cities across the country. She also conducts publishing/writing workshops for aspiring writers.

Her children’s book titled The Secret Olivia Told Me, written under the name N. Joy, received a Coretta Scott King Honor from the American Library Association. The book was also acquired by Scholastic Books and has sold almost 100,000 copies. Elementary and middle school children have fallen in love with reading and creative writing as a result of the readings and workshops E. N. Joy instructs in schools nationwide.

In addition, she is the artistic developer for a young girl group named DJHK Gurls. She pens original songs, drama skits and monologues for the group that deal with messages that affect today’s youth, such as bullying.

After being the first content development editor for Triple Crown Publications and ten years as the acquisitions editor for Carl Weber’s Urban Christian imprint, E. N. Joy now does freelance editing, ghostwriting, write-behinds and literary consulting. Her clients have included New York Times Bestselling authors, entertainers, aspiring authors, as well as first-time authors. Some notable literary consulting clients include actor Christian Keyes, singer Olivia Longott and Reality Television star Shereé M. Whitfield.

You can visit BLESSEDselling Author E. N. Joy at www.enjoywrites.com or email her at en*********@ao*.com. Facebook | Twitter

 

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