How to Make a Book in 7 Steps

I've had a few people ask me about my experience either writing or self-publishing a book. I'm not exactly an expert on either of those things, but since the question is about my experience and not my expertise, let me lay it out for you.

Spoilers on screen

Step 1: Write a book! I know, I know, sounds easier said than done. But this is by far the best part of the process. Obviously. I feel like that goes without saying. I'll do a post on the writing process at some point.

Step 2: Edit the book! Not the most fun part of the process, especially if you have a hard time looking at your own work critically. This is where it helps having a best friend who's a copy editor. I'm just saying. (If you don't have one, find one and feed him/her coffee and sushi. Should do the trick.) Seriously though, edit the book at least a million times before you let strangers read it. I'll do a post on self-editing tips later.

Step 3: Beta reading! This is a part of the process I discovered last year. A beta reader is someone who reads a mostly-polished unpublished mauscript and gives their impressions. Think of them as guinea pigs. Nice guinea pigs, who volunteer a lot of their own time for free to help you out. Don't forget to be nice back to them.

Step 4: More editing! At this point, you might opt for a professional edit if you didn't already do that in step 2. I've personally never had a professional edit done because I have so many editors, teachers, and writers in my life helping me out. But if I ever do that, I'll share my experience of that, too.

Look! A cover ^

Step 5:  Do you have a cover? If you feel comfortable enough designing one yourself, I say go for it! I used Canva to design my cover for Knockout Girl and I love it. I also got a lot of good feedback from it which is super important, too. What I didn't love was putting the front cover together with the back cover and I did have to have a lot of help with that. Again, helps to know people who may be good with photo editing programs. Oh! Don't forget that you're going to need an awesome back-of-cover blurb. This blurb might be repeated in a lot of places (such as descriptions online) and it's your audience's first introduction to the story.

Step 6: Have you formatted your interior? This is just as important as having a good cover because no one wants to open what looks like a great book to find garbage formatting inside. You can find a lot of tips online for how best to lay out a book, what fonts to choose, how you want everthing to look. And most self-publishing companies, such as Kindle Direct Publishing, will give you a template to use which is a life-saver. KDP will also check over the manuscript (and cover) you upload to make sure everything is in place. Again - and I can't stress this enough - knowing people who are good at these kinds of things truly helps. Alternatively, you can find paid services for book interiors and exteriors.

Step 7: Upload everything. Hit enter. Watch yourself get richer. I mean, I'm half-serious but actually I find this part pretty easy after all the rest is done. I'm publishing through KDP and everything is pretty clear. You set your price (dependant on how much you want to earn in royalties), upload your manuscript and book cover, and then away you go. It's published! Yay! You are officially an author.

Did you notice anything missing from these steps? If you said "Yes, where's your marketing plan?" then you're correct! The reason I didn't include marketing as one of the steps is because marketing is kind of just this ongoing thing that you always have to think about. Writing a book? Post about it! Looking for betas? Post about it! Did you make an awesome cover? Post it everywhere for the world to revel in its glory! Are you set to publish/have you published it? P.O.S.T. I.T. Marketing is important and I'm not great at it or in any position to be giving advice. But I'm always learning new things to try and I hope that means I'm getting better at it. Just remember - you're awesome, your book's awesome, and you need to let everyone know.


Thanks for coming along for the ride with me, folks! And don't forget - Knockout Girl is out this Wednesday, October 3rd!

- Natasja

Let's hear it for the B team!

Just wanted to post a little update...

I know tons of people are always wondering "What's Natasja up to these days?" (Okay, I know that doesn't really happen, but when you're a creative fiction writer, you can imagine just about any old thing that pops into your head.)

Anyway, lately I'm been doing a lot of beta reading for other unpublished authors, which is actually a very interesting and rewarding experience. Funny enough, it gives you a pretty good idea where you sit on the quality scale. There are some authors out there that I would say have some work to do before they get to my level, but there are certainly a lot that are way better than me. It's a learning experience and the more I do, the more aware I am of how I write and how to better myself.

By the same token, I've been having a few of my novels beta read as well which is... well also interesting and rewarding, but it's hard. I know, it doesn't sound like it's hard to just have someone read what you've written but trust me, it is. When you love something as much as I love my books, it's sometimes hard to hear any negative thing about them. On the other hand, it's also twice as rewarding to hear good things about them.

So between the beta reading, the editing, and trying desperately to finish writing a book, I haven't had a lot of time for my blog. But I'm still here and it's still here and I'll update it when I have time for it I guess.

Interested in all this beta reading jazz? Hit me up!

- Natasja

Me, Myself, And All The Other People In My Head

A post about character creation and how good characters will take over an entire project.

First off, let me just say that I do not "base my characters on people I know." To do so would inevitably land me in a great deal of trouble, especially if I kill the character you thought was written after you. If a character happens to share a certain trait with you, this is either coincidence or I might just like that thing about you. This applies to everything I write, with the exception of two short stories I wrote for two very special people in my life.

Now that I've finished my disclaimer, I can say that, yes, of course you're in my stories! Because you're a part of me, and I'm a part of each and every one of my characters. In order for you to properly enjoy a book, the characters have to feel like real people. Which means they have to have real emotions, reactions, traits, mannerisms, etc. And who better to base those things on than you?

Anyone who knows me and my writing knows that I don't write books. I write characters who happen to do interesting things. Almost all of my stories have started with at least a couple characters with interesting personalities and histories. Sometimes they become so realistic that they start doing things on their own and the next thing I know, I'm in the middle of a plot without a paddle!

 If you love a good character-based story and have a little extra time on your hands, I'm now in the midst of having Knockout Girl beta read and you are welcome to do so as well. Just click here to let me know!

- Natasja

Hello and Other Things

As you can see from my last blog post, two years ago I joined nanowrimo. I did actually win in 2015, then in 2016, and again this year. I've had a few questions about what I've been writing the last couple of years and the answer is:

The Onepian Chronicles

I call the genre of this series "light sci-fi," or a space soap if you will, because it centres around real human beings doing real things, except they have space ships, live on different planets, and it's set far into the future. It's a little like Star Trek, but without alien races and a little less technical. Each book focuses on the story of a new set of characters that have been previously introduced, so they read well as stand-alones but are part of a bigger overall story arch. The series is nowhere near ready to be published (or even read by people who don't love me unconditionally). I mean, one of the books isn't even finished and two or them don't have titles. (Contact me if you want to take a crack at that.)

Other than that, I've been working on perfecting another young adult novel called Knockout Girl. This book is very dear to me as it's one of my favourite books I've ever written. Elli, the first person narrator, is witty and sarcastic and at least half-full of teenage angst. But she's got a good heart and genuinely wants to see her friends succeed. Currently Knockout Girl is going through some rounds of beta reading and last touches, after which I plan on self-publishing again.

Of course, none of this is possible without the help and support of my amazing friends! Writing a manuscript is one thing. But having it edited and read over and over again and then publishing it requires a lot of work and is hard to do with a small group of people, let alone by yourself. So just know that I appreciate each and everyone one of you lovely people.

- Natasja

Knockout Girl

I've spoken a lot in the past about a book I have called Less Than Perfect. It's a book I wrote a few years ago that I hope to one day have published (either traditionally or self-published). However, I've been rethinking it and reworking it and it's just not ready to go anywhere yet. But that's okay! I have plenty of other books and today's post is actually about one of those.

Knockout Girl is a new young adult novel that I finished writing a few months ago. It's about a girl named Elli who is forced to move from Hawaii to Toronto in the dead of winter. Although she's rather resistant at first, she makes friends with Julian, who she discovers is being used as a punching bag for the school's boxing champion, Red. Elli quickly realizes the only way to get this guy off her friend's back is to beat him at his own game. With the help of a cute jock, a sweet tattooed loner, and Elli's burnt out boxing champion uncle, she and Julian enter a boxing tournament where Julian will have to face his bully in the ultimate showdown.

Why I love this story so much is because, for starters, Elli is hilarious. She's moody, sassy, and generally unhappy with her life, which somehow comes across in the funniest of ways. Once she learns that living in Canada is not the end of the world, however, she becomes a pretty good friend to Julian. (Just friends.) Julian is a perfect counter-part to Elli's narration - he's calm, cool, and collected. He's smart and and a self-admitted loner. But he's also compassionate to Elli's plight in having to be the new girl in school and in a new country.

This story isn't just about bullying or how two people learned how to beat someone up. It's a coming-of-age story about finding friendship in unlikely places and having courage in the face of adversity. I don't want to give away the ending,* but I will say that before Julian even fights Red, he's already won in the eyes of his peers.

So there it is! This story is already being sent around a little bit. With a few minor tweaks, it would be ready for publication. If I can't find a publisher or agent who wants to take it on, I'll do it myself, because I really believe in this book. (My mom says it's great, so obviously it is.) No matter what, I'll see this manuscript turn into a book.

- Natasja

*Interested in finding out what happens? Ask about being a beta reader.