Ask the Author: Lorilyn Roberts

“Ask me a question.” Lorilyn Roberts

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Lorilyn Roberts Mark, I’m answering on my phone, so forgive any mistakes. It’s probably easier for me to tell you what not to do than what to do.

Don’t let the scammers flatter you. Don’t let them mock you. Don’t pay for stuff that you can do yourself. Don’t buy the lies of the evil one that your writing isn’t any good. Don’t give up. Never, never give up. Don’t let the negative things that people tell you about your book discourage you from continuing to write. Don’t let one and two-star reviews keep you from believing in your writing. Don’t give away books through Amazon Kindle book giveaways. If you want to give away books, do it through the Goodreads giveaway program, Book Funnel, Pay Hip, or something like that.

I have learned that when you give away books on Amazon‘s platform, people will come along and rate your book low, and because it’s a confirmed "free purchase" on Amazon, you can’t get it removed. I feel like if someone is going to rate my book low, they need to buy my book rather than receive it for free. I learned that the hard way.

What can you do? Pray to God to help you get your book into the hands of those readers who will appreciate it. Spend time with God daily, giving him your dreams and asking Him to bless you, because if you are a Christian and that’s your dream, then God gave you that dream. God doesn’t give us dreams that He doesn’t intend to fulfill. That also means you must be in the right relationship with God.

Don’t harbor unforgiveness in your life. Read your Bible each day. Pray and encourage others. Ask God for wisdom. Try to insulate yourself from negative people.

On the practical side, make sure you have an active website. You need to have some presence on a couple of social networking sites. It can be Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook, along those lines. I also highly recommend that you enter at least three or four book contests. Make sure you enter legitimate ones. I like FAPA, Christian Indie Book Awards, International Book Awards, and Reader's Favorite Book Awards. But there are also others, but these particular ones are easy to enter, are not overly expensive, and I know they are legitimate contests.

Entering contests is not just about trying to win, but it’s about making sure that what you are writing will be the best you can write because nobody enters a contest to lose. It’s just my way of validating that I am writing to win awards, and by writing to win awards, I know I am giving God my very best for His glory.

Your taking the time to send me this question shows me that you are truly seeking to get your book out there. So keep up the good work, and God will help you.

Lorilyn Roberts
Lorilyn Roberts My inspiration to write comes from my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Lorilyn Roberts I just finished "Seventh Dimension - The Prescience, book 5 in my YA Seventh Dimension Series. I'm marketing and blogging right now. In January I’ll start on book 6.
Lorilyn Roberts 1. Don't give up.
2.Find a writer's group.
3. Read books on writing.
4. Go to writer's conferences.
5. Take courses on writing, if possible.
6. Make sure you familiarize yourself with your computer if that's how you will write. Know how to back up your writing, et cetera.
7. Set goals and stick to it.
8. Focus on the process and not the outcome.
9. Know you won't get it right the first time.
10. Re-write, re-write, re-write.
11 Find a mentor or beta readers to help you grow as a writer.
12. Enjoy writing - make it your passion, not a chore.
13. Don't let anyone take away your dreams to become an author.
Lorilyn Roberts I can express my thoughts and feelings much better on paper than in person. I loved the creative process, and I love sharing my thoughts with others.
Lorilyn Roberts I don't have writer's block. Every moment I have to write is a gift to be snatched up before something else pulls me away from the keyboard. I also map out scenes in my head before I ever sit down at the keyboard to write. I create scenes driving, captioning, paying bills. It's the only way I can write at all. Time is so limited, my writing usually ends up being in the middle of the night.
Lorilyn Roberts Seventh Dimension - The King, Book 2, A Young AdultFantasy, comes out of my experience from being in Israel during the 1991Gulf War.

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