Writing Tips

gaining reads + votes

DONT- Promote yourself through dm's. It's honestly really annoying when I get a message that says "hey! mind checking out my story ___?" Like, um, I'm definitely not going to read it now?

Like unless you're asking someone for advice on a chapter or something like that, please don't promote yourself. Be patient. If your story is really worth the reads, it'll eventually gain them.

This is not to say if you just published the book and want to get the word out there (ngl i do this all the time in author's notes of smi) but doing so through dm's makes things personal and kinda desperate. Don't do it.

DO- Trust that the number of votes/reads you get doesn't make any difference. I've read tons of stories and imagines with like 1k or less reads that are literally bomb af, whereas books with 300k+ aren't so great yet and could use some work. Believe in yourself and your capability-- you chose to be an author, so be an author. The amount of support you get right of the bat really and truly doesn't matter.

I mean, do you think Suzanne Collins sold 65M+ copies of The Hunger Games five seconds after she published it? Nah man, it took her like four years before it was up there but that hoe knew she had just written a masterpiece and trusted that she would touch many hearts with her work (but she didn't keep track of numbers, and neither should you).

DONT- Delete or unpublish your story just because you don't get reads right away. Seriously, chill out and be patient. If they end up not coming or only come at a very slow pace, keep writing. Maybe your first story isn't going to hit shelves, but you'll only get better and better as you grow and develop into the author-world (whether it's just a hobby or a serious career idea, you'll still improve).

DO- Be happy for yourself when you make it up there. It doesn't mean your story is better than everyone else's, and granted, it doesn't really matter when it comes to the actual story, but hey, you know what you're writing. And you know that you, just like everyone else, deserve appreciation for your hard work.

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this is the final tip update I have! good luck writers!!