Fourteen little overlooked tips for writing and being in the writer world

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1. You can always improve, so never settle for "I'm good enough!" The great ones never did.

2. If you know how hard it is to write a book, you are NOT obligated to give any book five stars.

3. Swapping reviews will put a lot of bad books under your nose and you just might detest reading after a while.

4. Learn how to use your verbs. It's actually an art form.

5. Thinking your first draft is good for publication is like going to the bathroom but you didn't wipe your butt or wash your hands before you came out.

6. Don't ever publish with a publisher who makes you pay them money or you've been had.

7. And make sure they have a website so you can scope them out first.

8. This goes for people who want to review your book, too. WHERE IS THE WEBSITE.

9. Scammers try to bully you into handing over your book and act like you promised them something when you never did. They also like to give you pep talks on keeping your promises where no promise was given. Treat them as if you were on the phone with them and hang up. They also like to gush about how great you are. Where did they hear this??? Nowhere. They also like to say things like, "You're a new author so we don't know if you'll sell well, so you better pay us first." Then of course you don't sell well because they don't do anything for you and so when you come to publish again, you pay again. Also, red flag if and when they grow angry when you want to pull out and then they treat you as if you're the one being a jerk. They also claim they've started your services already when no payments or agreements have been made. I once saw a person who worked for a vanity press get into a massive argument with someone in a facebook thread because the person was telling the person who made the main post to stay away from the vanity publishers. The woman from the vanity press started name calling and acting like a brat.

10. Don't listen to just anybody on social media. Most don't know what they're doing.

11. Being different isn't how the masses say you should be different.

12. Warning: Writing communities aren't the supportive groups they claim to be. They're full of trolls and angry people. Be very paranoid of where you go and remember that you risk your peace of mind in going to those places.

13. Buying books to support fellow authors, but then not reading those books is NOT support. It's a waste of money.

14. Buying books so other authors will be obligated to buy yours doesn't make a profit and doesn't get you any readers either. Okay, maybe two out of twenty crap books you picked up. Thinking that this is a good idea for gaining readers is nuts. If you can spend this much just for two readers, why not spend this much on ads and then you have the freedom of not filling your yard sale boxes with brand new books labeled for 25 cents.

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