Common Mistakes Authors Make

We all make mistakes – it is part of the learning process. No matter what we undertake in life, it is more than likely we will make mistakes along the way.

Writing a book can be similar to learning how to walk, you take a few steps, fall down and then stand up again. It requires a lot of practice writing, determination, and the right mindset to just keep on going and doing it.

In this article, we take a quick look at some of the common mistakes authors make.

Fear

Perhaps the biggest mistake of all is letting fear rule your life, and by doing this you do not take the first steps to become an author, you do not write your book, and you fail to share your unique set of experiences and knowledge with the world.

Mindset Failures

There are countless resources available to help teach you skills in publishing and book marketing. Why is it then that only a few authors achieve great success? One of the biggest reasons is you fail to prepare yourself mentally for what it will take to succeed.

The most common mistake authors make is not getting mentally prepared to write – tell your family and friends, organise your writing space and writing time, set your daily goal.

Not Writing a Book Pitch

This is a common mistake, especially among self-published authors. Through inexperience, authors do not understand or appreciate the importance of writing a great book pitch. Writing a book pitch will give you clarity, and it helps set you on the path for commencing the writing journey with the right mindset.

Not Testing the Readers Central Question

Writing a book about your passion and ideas only answers your central question, not that of your readers. Ask your target reader what they want to learn about and answer these questions. If you aren’t addressing these questions no one will buy or read your book. Leaving you with an expensive, time-consuming book.

?Poorly Designed Cover

The good old saying, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’ does not apply to books – readers do judge a book by its cover. No matter what your thoughts are, a well-designed cover is crucial to the success of your book.

Incomplete Back Cover

A common mistake is giving little to no thought about the back cover. The back cover is the second thing a potential reader will look at and it can be the thing that cinches the deal.

Inappropriate Book Title

A common author mistake is trying to be too clever with the book title. Your book title should immediately let the reader know what your book is about and why they should read it. A clever, funny title, while it may be humorous, may not benefit your book.

Not Using a Professional Editor

Not using a professional editor, or using a friend, is a common mistake self-publishing authors make.

There is nothing that screams ‘unprofessional’ than a book that is full of grammar

mistakes, style inconsistencies, jargon and typos.

Amateur Internal Layout

Using the graphic designer who has previously designed your letterhead and logo may seem like the ideal solution because they know you and you have been happy with their work in the past. However, it can actually be a huge mistake.

Internal layout is an art form in itself, and it is something that you shouldn’t even notice when reading a book.

A beautifully typeset book gives a professional feel and quality to your book. Using a hard to read font, small type and poor hyphenation can all contribute to your book being difficult to read.

?Print Thousands of Books

It wasn’t so many years ago that there was no other option but to print thousands of books, as to print any less was far too expensive.

This is no longer the case, as with the advent of ‘print of demand’ (POD), it is a very viable option to print any number of copies from 1 to several hundred.

Failure to Leverage Your Book

This can be one of the greatest failures of all. After having spent so much time and energy writing and publishing it can be exhausting to turn around and market and leverage your book to ensure it becomes the powerful tool you dreamed of.

There is a general lack of understanding that this is indeed the hard part of writing.

Fear can also play a big part in not leveraging your book. You may worry about what people think – will they judge me, will I get bad reviews – the list goes on, depending on your own imagination.

All authors make mistakes, whether they are writing their first book or their fifth. Essentially, publishing isn’t rocket science, it is a process that starts with writing, following a plan and structure, the publishing steps, building your author platform and leveraging your book.

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