Using Your Research for More than Your Novel

Writing a novel is hard work and takes time. Writing a Historical Fiction novel may require more time and hard work due to necessary research.

Then there’s publishing. Whether you publish traditionally or indie publish, it takes time to publish the book and make sales. Let’s take a look at ways you can use your research while you wait:

1) Writing short pieces – you can purchase the current Writers Market Guide, the current Christian Writers Market Guide (or both) to find magazines that might be interested in an article about your research topic (i.e. the California Gold Rush). Then you will need to find the magazine’s website and download their guidelines. Be sure to follow their guidelines carefully because they will not consider your article if it isn’t written, formatted, and submitted according to their guidelines. You can do this any time during your novel writing process.

However, I don’t recommend putting the next two suggestions into practice until closer to the time of releasing your novel, six months to a year prior depending on how many pieces you can write and put into use. You don’t want to run out of writing subjects for these important items before your novel releases.

2)Building your audience and building your brand – I’ve been told many times that it is very important for a writer to have a presence on Social Media – specifically, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I’ve also heard that Pinterest is a great place to connect with readers. You can connect with readers on these sites by posting interesting things from your research. Be sure to connect it to your novel by giving them a small tidbit of information like revealing the name of your novel’s town and sharing history about that town.

  You can also create a blog and write blog posts about something you’ve researched for your novel. This is a great place to include pictures as well. You might write about men’s and women’s fashions from the time period of your novel and include a couple pictures showing some of the clothing from that time period.

3) Market your novel – You can write an additional story that connects with your novel and release it for a reasonable price or offer it as a free gift for purchasing your novel. It could be a novella about the backstory of one of your characters and how they ended up in the time, place, and/or situation of your novel. You could use a scene from your story to create Flash Fiction story, or maybe create a short story about one of your minor characters.

Any of these suggestions can put your research to good use and make it work for you as it builds your brand and/or audience or as it draws readers’ interest in your upcoming novel. Your research can serve multiple purposes and be an enjoyable endeavor, making all your hard work pay off.

Kelly F. Barr lives in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She is married and has three sons. She writes historical romance. She has also been a blogger for ten years, and every Friday, you can find her Flash Fiction stories posted for your reading pleasure. She loves her family, including the family dog, books, walks, and chai lattes.

You can find her online at:

• Website: https://kellyfbarr.com/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/kellyb_26
• Facebook: Kelly F. Barr, Writer