4. Start your story in the right place!
If you've managed to hook in a reader with your cool cover and hooky blurb – you don't want to lose them at the first chapter. Don't start your story in a boring place! Don't give your reader a reason to put your book down!
Remember that the reader doesn't owe you anything – e.g. you can't say "it's a bit slow at the start, but keep going, it really kicks off at chapter five!" and expect them to do so. They won't! Minimise the effort it takes for them to read through it. If it gets better at chapter five – is there a way that you can start the story there instead?!