2nd, 3rd, 4th drafts and beyond – self-editing Hi all and a big welcome from San Francisco. Yes folks I’m sitting on the dock of the bay while writing this post. Last time, we spoke about getting started with that manuscript. Here’s a quick recap: Time - choose or make a time to write and stick to it. Place - Find a comfortable place to write, away from distractions Set a Goal – decide how many words you want to write in a day and make sure you achieve it The main message was, just do it. When writing your first draft don’t worry about grammar or punctuation or any research at this time, just let the writing flow without you getting in the way. The 2nd draft Unfortunately, too many novice writers believe that when they have finished their first draft their book is finished.  This belief is far from reality. When you start working on your 2nd draft you enter what I term as the self-edit stage. Now ...

Getting started. In my previous post (http://www.publicious.com.au/blog/self-publishing-just-got-easy-) I touched briefly on what you need to do to start writing your book. The message was simple. Just do it! I’ve decided to base this series of posts on my tutoring and workshop material as well as my own writing and publishing experiences, hence the name ‘How to write and publish your book.’ Writing the first draft of your manuscript is by far the most important phase of the writing process. This is when your creative juices are at their peak: the time when you give birth to your baby. Depending on the type of book you are writing, you might go through a long hard labour or you might drop the little bugger before you reach the birthing suite. Either way, it is a unique and special time. When I talk about how I write at least one book per year, people who don’t know me may well think, lucky him, he must have a lot of time on his hands. Ho...

Welcome to the very first Publicious blog. I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to share with you, my fellow authors, my publishing knowledge and experience, and to keep you up to date with the latest news and trends in publishing. I’m here to offer you assistance and guidance in the hope that I can steer you away from the many pitfalls that I have experienced during my own publishing journey. “What is this Publicious thing that sounds like delicious, and who is this bloke?” I hear you cry. Publicious is a company run by self-published authors for self-published authors. We are currently helping authors realise their dreams worldwide, including, Australia, USA, Canada, UK, New Zealand and Brazil. So no matter where you are we can help you. Through our own publishing journeys we've learned the dos and the don’ts of the publishing industry and have a genuine interest in passing our knowledge on to our fellow authors....