Being a writer now compared to 20, 50 or even 100 years ago, is very different in many ways. Long-time authors will know, you have to adjust very slightly with the times. Here are some helpful tips on how to write for a modern audience.

Leave the offensive comments at home.

It’s 2019, you can often tell when an author is writing if they believe in what they’re portraying. Especially if what you are writing is an audio biography. If you come across as racist, homophobic, transphobic, sexist or xenophobic etc. your writing is not wanted, nor will it likely get anywhere.

Triggers

If you’re dealing with a sensitive topic in your book, of course, that should be mentioned, but be aware that it could trigger some people. Look at some famous modern examples and how they do it.

New ideas!

It’s pretty hard to be original nowadays. Unfortunately, almost every idea you have maybe in some way similar to another idea. So just be wary of very obvious similarities. Any books about a wizarding school will now be associated with harry potter even if it is an original idea.

Look at the genres that are selling

If you live in 1880 and wrote poetry, you were writing for the masses. Nowadays, poetry is very rarely sold – every now and again one will sell very well; but we won’t lie to you, it is rare. See what’s selling if you’re not sure what genre to gravitate towards!

You can’t get away with a bad book cover

Really work with your publisher with the cover. There are 3 million books published each year (roughly), you need to stand out. And an old fashioned, dated cover will make you slip to the side.

There’s a lot of competition

As we said, there are millions of books published each year. You need to have the best opportunity to stand out. This means getting yourself social media accounts and updating them regularly, having a website, joining book groups. Understanding that if you don’t sell straight away or the bookshop won’t pick you up in your first year, it doesn’t mean your book is bad, it’s just that it’s hard to see when there are 3 million books around you.