I’ve written before about what it took me to get published. It was a collection of tips and lessons-learnt, which Lifehacker grandiosely called “The complete guide”. However, every so often I come across an article from one of the literary greats about the topic.

A couple of really good ones I came across recently, from two of my own heroes:

• Neil Gaiman – advice for a 14 yo wanting to become a writer
• Stephen King – 22 lessons on how to become a great writer

While they normally use polite language, I think it can be summarised as:

Just effin’ write!

And also read a lot.

But seriously. Just park your ass and write.

So with that in mind, I really should be curtailing my social media marketing activities, and just write more. I know my books are good, because my reviewers tell me so. I also know I can still be better. But to do that I need to practice, which means parking my effin’ butt in the chair, and writing.

So while I know some of my sales are linked to my social media marketing, I also know it takes far too much effort for not enough gain.

So I am going to focus on what matter here.

Oh, and regarding publishers? I’m going to continue to self-publish. I’ve learned a lot, and I know the next book will be done better.

I also don’t want to be this guy.