This is one of the most important things you can decide as a writer. People see pictures and are drawn to colors and uniqueness. It is what grabs their attention and makes them check out the blurb and decide to read the book. The cover and title. That's responsible for more than half your sales. Start out buying premade if you have a limited budget but find something that works for your books. There are entire groups on facebook dedicated to authors finding cover artists. Use them. And treat them well. A good cover artist decides how amazing your work looks coming out of the gate so keep that in mind when you deal with them.
Plagiarism closely followed by poaching. Everyone knows about plagiarism though so I will talk about poaching. Riding off another author to succeed is wrong. I am not saying don't work with other authors but for example, finding a book with similar traits to your own and replying to every reviewer to check your book out is wrong. Join newsletter swaps (they tell their readers about your works and vice versa), join giveaways to build your own mailing list, get a group of advanced readers, market market market. Authors put in the time and effort to build an audience, its like a right of passage. Need help there are classes that teach that, some even free, and other authors sometimes mentor beginners. Use resources. Being an indie author does not just make you a writer. You also become involved with cover and image design, marketing, blurb writing, formatting, marketing, and publishing. If that is to much work for you-pick a different career or you better have enough money to pay everyone to do all of this for you when you start.
Take breaks. When you are beyond stressed and you know you need to step away do it. Leave off in the middle of a scene. That way when you come back its a smooth transition. Even if it's bad you can change it later or work with an editor to make it better. Trust me though it is better to stumble than to burn out and lose your passion for something you used to love.
My mother says I was basically born reading. By age 3 I was reading picture books, by myself, to anyone that would listen, especially my baby sister since she couldn't run away. When I was in kindergarten and they asked us to do a project that showed what we wanted to be when we grew up I wrote a book about a green dragon in a town of red dragons and his journey to self-acceptance. My whole family says it seemed inevitable because I was never without a book and a blank notebook where I wrote my own ideas down daily.
