Eleanor Romany Books

This post is part of an advice column for fellow indie authors. If you’re a writer, I’d love to feature your tips in a post. Send me an email so we can sit down for an interview!

For first-time indie authors, nothing is more exciting than knowing you’re so close to publishing that first book. Your brain races in anticipation, and you might be tempted to take shortcuts because you’re so eager to put out your work.

Do NOT listen to that part of your brain. It’s sick and twisted, and it’s not looking out for your future self. It’s only wanting instant gratification! Okay, maybe it’s not sick and twisted, but it’s definitely not thinking straight.

Slow down. I made this mistake with book one of my ENCHANTED MOUNTAINS series, and it was completely frustrating and honestly embarrassing. So I decided to be open and honest, in hopes that others will learn from my mistakes.

Avoid changing your characters’ names halfway through the writing process.

• Two weeks after publishing book one, my mother-in-law was happily reading chapter eight when the MMC’s name suddenly switched from Luke to Marcus.
• I will always be mortified by this. Especially because she’s an author that I respect.
• I had the same reaction as Blanche Devereaux did here.
• Spend the time to make sure you’re happy with name choices during the outline phase, and don’t make it a habit of changing them halfway if it’s not 100% necessary.

Consider deadlines and launch dates to be arbitrary. Take advantage of being indie and publish the book when it’s ready.

• My series is based on the place my family vacations each summer. After returning home in summer 2025, I was so hyped up and eager beaver to finish the manuscript I had started a year ago.
• It was 75% written, and I rushed to finish it. And it showed.

Engage an outside editor that’s never read a word of the manuscript.

• This is obvious but see tip 1: I was so eager that I didn’t do this for book one. Again, I will always be mortified by this.
• A dear friend, who is a fellow writer and one of the best proofreaders I’ve ever known, gave me some incredible pointers for book two. Her feedback was so crucial to how happy I was with book two, that I re-edited book one using her feedback.  

Do one more read on the final platform, whether it’s print or e-book.

• If you’ve been looking at a Word doc for months, I promise you’ll find one more thing to fix when you read it in paperback or on your Kindle/other device.
• I actually did this one, yay me!

Wait before ordering a bunch of print copies.

• Book one has gone through three versions over the last eight months. I ordered 25 author copies of version one because I was sooo excited, and now I have no use for them, except maybe photo ops.
• I recently published an updated draft of book one that I finally feel at peace with. But I’m so afraid of ordering print copies!