Have you finished your novel? What is next?

2 July, 2019 authorallyaldridge@gmail.com 24 Comments

Writing a novel is mainly a solitary project that you work on for months. And, when you type ”The End” it is a huge achievement, but what do you do next?

For me, I sat alone at my PC. After editing 85k words there was nobody around to celebrate with me. To be honest, that isn’t the end.

Entered Wattys

https://www.instagram.com/p/By_MZ8jg4jN/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

If you have been following my blog, you are probably aware that my novel is posted on Wattpad so when I finished editing, it was very easy to submit my novel into their annual competition.

Beta Readers

While it is sitting on Wattpad being judged by the judges, I decided to send my novel to a select group of beta readers to get feedback. 07I will take their feedback into consideration and make any necessary amendments and then I will decide whether to query agents, self publish or enter other competitions.

Research

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Meanwhile, I will be researching literary agents to see who is a good fit for my novel. I am attending an event about the publishing industry (how to get published, attract an agent, attract an editor with Phoebe Morgan) and an agent one-to-one with Florence Rees.

I am also part of World Indie Warriors which is a collaborative group that are supporting authors in the self publishing industry or those aspiring to self publish. Meeting them has been a very enlightening experience and as a result I feel more motivated and informed about self publishing. It no longer feels like a scary unknown.

I am also attending a marketing course with Pagan Malcolm on book prompting which will be beneficial whichever route I take.

Next Project

Although I’ve taken a creative break, I have already started plotting the next novel. I am going to rework and finish Diamond of the Sky. This will be my project for Camp NaNo (July 2019).

Read

This summer, I will be catching up on my reading. Reading is a great way to continue to develop my writing skills as I soak up the methods others have used. It is also a great way to support other writers.

What do you do when you have finished writing a novel?

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