If you’ve published two or more books, you probably experienced how much easier it was to publish the second time around.  For many authors, publishing the first book is similar to paying learning fees.

A titanic sea of choices and decisions faces every writer who seeks to get published.  Many never make it through to publication, so having a book published is a rare accomplishment.  Congratulations.

Publishing a book with no room for improvement is even more rare.  But what do you do when you discover shortcomings in your bookcover, your title, your layout, or your content? 

The compassion of your niche.
One way to move beyond shortcomings is to move deeper into your niche.  The closer you get to your nice audience, the more forgiving you’ll find these people.  These are the people who count you as a hero for writing in the area of their great interest, for offering them insight, entertainment, comic relief, guidance, etc.  These people care little for whether your margins are perfectly justified, or if the color choice on your cover is exactly right.

 Focus on your niche. If you’ve written a novel on surfing, perhaps going deeper into your niche means spending next summer on the beach in California. If you’ve written poems about love, perhaps going deeper into your niche means developing relationships with dating websites and becoming a valuable resource for these sites.  If you can first succeed with your niche, you’ll often find ways to go back later and broaden the market appeal.

The second printing.
If a first book is learner’s fee, the second printing often feels like salvation, a chance to fix mistakes, tighten the focus and make a fresh start.  Keep your eyes and ears open for everything you can learn.  And keep a list of steps to make your next book even better.