Things I've Learnt During My Writing Career

Things I've Learnt During My Writing Career, Guest post by David L. Wallace


Using NetGalley to Promote Your Book

I’ve written three stories and for the first time, based on input from my tour host, I used NetGalley to get an advanced reader copy (ARC)of my last novel (Preordained) into the hands of readers. Readers from all walks of life (bloggers, librarians, book sellers, reviewers) are all registered on NetGalley. I’ve gotten free reviews posted on Goodreads and retailer sites through NetGalley. The only caveat is that if you submit an ARC, the posted reviews are based on your incomplete manuscript. Some reviewers don’t post the fact that their review is based on an ARC. Overall, I found the results to be great and I plan to use NetGalley for future releases.

Self-Published Authors and B&N
Things I've Learnt During My Writing Career, Guest post by David L. Wallace
https://amzn.to/2JuhtPL

Prior to Preordained, I used both Amazon and IngramSpark to get my eBook and paperback versions of my stories listed on retailer sites. This time, I decided to publish my eBook myself on B&N, Kobo, Apple, and Google. Self-publishing on B&N has given me direct access to sales metrics and price promotion services. You can easily pre-schedule price drops for specific timeframes on short notice.

Tips for Working with an Illustrator

For my children’s chapter book titled Ralphy the Rabbit, I visited the Society of Children’s Book Authors and Illustrators website and found Lorian Dean, a wonderful illustrator. She was professional, punctual, and had a fully formed project plan that we used. Her plan helped me to get the requirements nailed, she performed the design work, I reviewed and supplied feedback, and then she delivered her completed work, all on time and on budget. There are tons of reasonably priced illustrators listed on their site. Each of them has displays of their work posted to allow you to review samples of their illustrations prior to engagement with them. I provided an overall description of what I wanted depicted in each chapter and Lorian did the rest. It was a great experience

Backstory and the Hidden Story

Development of a backstory is a key component I use to construct my character actions and motivations before the start of my stories. I also use it to identify the key event that triggers the first page of chapter one. Each of my novels also contain a puzzle the main character must solve, making the hidden story another key component I need to compile and keep the story spine intact. Although my stories are primarily thrillers, they all have a whodunit big bad guy and development of the hidden story before embarking on writing the manuscript helps me to reduce the amount of time to complete the body of work.

Things I've Learnt During My Writing Career, Guest post by David L. Wallace
Before publishing his debut novel in 2016, he served over 27 years as an information technology professional working initially for the US Navy, and then the Department of the Navy and various fortune companies. He’s a UCLA writing program alumnus who writes mystery thrillers and children stories. He has three wonderful kids who he enjoys immensely. Writing is his passion and his goal with each story is to capture the imagination in the opening pages and keep it engaged to the story’s riveting conclusion.

Catch Up With Mr Wallace On: davidlwallace.com, Goodreads, Twitter, & Facebook!



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