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[Dolla Dolla]

So I finally got me a form rejection from Baen. I'm not really broken up over that one though; I knew they wouldn't take it. Plus...I really have zero respect for that publishing house. I mean, I'd take their money, but then my book would have such a shitty font on its cover!

Regardless: one of the smaller publishing houses is very interested in my manuscript, which is kind of a first as far as publishing houses go. I imagine my reply to that is the same as it would be for an agent though: a brief hello and thanks, and then a recopy of the cover letter so they know who I am.

I worry a bit that this house is...well, one of those "WE CAN PUT IT ON AMAZON FOR YOU" kinds of things, which I can do myself, but there's a kind of validation here. Also, I know an author who has published through them and he's happy. His book was pretty alright.

You might want to consider taking that information and sending it along with a query to an agent you'd like to work with. If the publishing house is worth its weight in water, any agent should be interested in representing your novel and shopping it, especially if a house wants it already.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

You might want to consider taking that information and sending it along with a query to an agent you'd like to work with. If the publishing house is worth its weight in water, any agent should be interested in representing your novel and shopping it, especially if a house wants it already.

I've sent it to around a 150 agents and am in no mood to continue that task. Should this house reject the manuscript after seeing it, then the manuscript goes into the metaphorical drawer for awhile. Perhaps my second book will do better.

If not, then I self publish both and see where the third book takes me.

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

In 2013, a community in Indiana lost their sister. On September 25, thirty-year old Hylerai was coming home from a track meet when her sister, Daphnae, saw Hylerai get dragged into a black van by three men in black uniforms. Daphnae reported this kidnapping on that day, but it wasn't until a month later after failed searches that she revealed that Hylerai was the Ophiuchus. On Earth, humans are born with talents according to one of the twelve zodiacs. Centuries ago there were tales of a thirteenth zodiac, the Ophiuchus, who could possess the talents of all twelve zodiacs, but Hylerai is a wood nymph and wood nymphs cannot possess the abilities of the zodiac. The Ophiuchus zodiac was thought to have died out over six hundred years ago and if this wood nymph has it then the report of men in black suits all starts to make sense.

Not long after Daphnae's report, were there floods of posts on social media expressing conspiracy in the American government. Unknown to the public, in 2015, a childhood friend of Hylerai's, Vedus, has linked Hylerai's kidnapping to the FBI and is organizing a team to rescue her from Panultra, the most well protected prison in the country, but his tip-off proves false and he finds himself on the run from the government.

How is this? I felt like I needlessly repeated some points, but I'm not sure what to add to make it to 250 words without revealing a lot more, but I might have to for this contest.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

How is this? I felt like I needlessly repeated some points, but I'm not sure what to add to make it to 250 words without revealing a lot more, but I might have to for this contest.

Depending on the kind of story it is, I'd start with this

"On Earth, humans are born with talents according to one of the twelve zodiacs" and work it around that.

Or, start with

"On September 25, thirty-year old Hylerai was coming home from a track meet when her sister, Daphnae, saw Hylerai get dragged into a black van by three men in black uniforms"

But reword to something slimmer, like, "On September 25th, thirty-year old Hylerai was coming home from a track meet when she was abducted by three men dressed in black."

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

Thanks for the help everyone. I think I got it now.

 

[Grudy]

I got a question and not sure how to phrase it exaxtly: I have been planning a story/novel in a notebook for more than 2 years now; mostly working on characters, world building/history/lore and general story progression. Thing is, I keep having doubts on whether I am on the right path. Whenever I am stumped on a character, trying to figure out certain events, or finding character motivations, I tailor them to reach a certain point that suitably fits my story as opposed to trying to figure them out naturally. Like I usually don't think in terms of what this person would do in a situation, but I try to create a scenario that fits my needs to reach a certain point in a story.

I know that sounds annoyingly vague, but I'm scared of ending up with a convulted mess of a story, the type that breaks immersion and doesn't have a natural flow. Is this a healthy way of writing?

 

[Crimson_Justice]

I got a question and not sure how to phrase it exaxtly: I have been planning a story/novel in a notebook for more than 2 years now; mostly working on characters, world building/history/lore and general story progression. Thing is, I keep having doubts on whether I am on the right path. Whenever I am stumped on a character, trying to figure out certain events, or finding character motivations, I tailor them to reach a certain point that suitably fits my story as opposed to trying to figure them out naturally. Like I usually don't think in terms of what this person would do in a situation, but I try to create a scenario that fits my needs to reach a certain point in a story.

I know that sounds annoyingly vague, but I'm scared of ending up with a convulted mess of a story, the type that breaks immersion and doesn't have a natural flow. Is this a healthy way of writing?

Well, this is a tricky thing. I try to stick to my characters as much as possible, always digging into their minds to figure out what they would do. I think this is key to making strong characters. If it happens that what they would do would actually take them off track from my plan, I try to look ahead and see (sometimes through writing, sometimes just in my mind) if that would lead somewhere that I could work with (more character development, better pacing, foreshadowing opportunities, so on). Then, I find a way to get them back on the route I planned (through means external to the main characters).

For example, in my most recent story, I never planned for my characters to get stuck in a prison cell for several chapters, but they did, and I found some important things the story was missing there and kept those chapters in.

But, back to your question, it also sounds like you're talking about the actual tailoring of these events and scenarios. I would just say to make sure that these all make sense, too. By that, I mean make sure that side characters (even newly introduced ones) don't have the sole purpose of directing your main characters down a path, that even those side characters stay true to themselves and their personal story, and that things are foreshadowed. You should be fine.

This is just how I (try to) do it, though. I don't always succeed, and I'm sure others have their own way. Hope I helped, though.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

I got a question and not sure how to phrase it exaxtly: I have been planning a story/novel in a notebook for more than 2 years now; mostly working on characters, world building/history/lore and general story progression. Thing is, I keep having doubts on whether I am on the right path. Whenever I am stumped on a character, trying to figure out certain events, or finding character motivations, I tailor them to reach a certain point that suitably fits my story as opposed to trying to figure them out naturally. Like I usually don't think in terms of what this person would do in a situation, but I try to create a scenario that fits my needs to reach a certain point in a story.

I know that sounds annoyingly vague, but I'm scared of ending up with a convulted mess of a story, the type that breaks immersion and doesn't have a natural flow. Is this a healthy way of writing?

I've always looked at novels in two ways: Plot Driven and Character Driven.

Sounds like you're writing a plot driven novel. I don't think there's anything really bad about those if you're aiming for a fun story with a fast pace. I do prefer character driven stuff more, but the line between the two can be hard to find.

As of now, I'd say if what you're doing is working for you, keep going.

 

[Grudy]

Thanks a bunch for the replies guys, that was immensely helpful and reassuring.

Well, this is a tricky thing. I try to stick to my characters as much as possible, always digging into their minds to figure out what they would do. I think this is key to making strong characters. If it happens that what they would do would actually take them off track from my plan, I try to look ahead and see (sometimes through writing, sometimes just in my mind) if that would lead somewhere that I could work with (more character development, better pacing, foreshadowing opportunities, so on). Then, I find a way to get them back on the route I planned (through means external to the main characters).

For example, in my most recent story, I never planned for my characters to get stuck in a prison cell for several chapters, but they did, and I found some important things the story was missing there and kept those chapters in.

But, back to your question, it also sounds like you're talking about the actual tailoring of these events and scenarios. I would just say to make sure that these all make sense, too. By that, I mean make sure that side characters (even newly introduced ones) don't have the sole purpose of directing your main characters down a path, that even those side characters stay true to themselves and their personal story, and that things are foreshadowed. You should be fine.

This is just how I (try to) do it, though. I don't always succeed, and I'm sure others have their own way. Hope I helped, though.

That's a really good point, and one that I was actually aware of, but I am still guilty of this. I do love giving each character I make a distinct personality and such but I keep asking myself at what point should I stop? I guess I'll find out when I actually start writing the thing, now it's just a 200 page mess of a notebook.

I've always looked at novels in two ways: Plot Driven and Character Driven.

Sounds like you're writing a plot driven novel. I don't think there's anything really bad about those if you're aiming for a fun story with a fast pace. I do prefer character driven stuff more, but the line between the two can be hard to find.

As of now, I'd say if what you're doing is working for you, keep going.

That's very true actually. I tend to use world events to put things into motion as opposed to being driven by character goals or motivations. I find it easier to bring them out and look at them closely when they are under fire from things outside of their control, then use those events to mold them into who I want them to be later in the story.

 

[Grudy]

Btw, did we ever have a world building |OT| on Gaf? I've been thinking about making one for a while now. It's the one thing that I turn to other communities like reddit or Mythic Scribes to read and discuss ideas instead of Gaf itself.

 

[Ash Sparrow]

My novella has been out for quite awhile now, over a year, had a blast writing it. I think everyone should write a book. Anyhow this thread was a big help through the process. Thanks. I'm sure I probably could use a few more edits which are planned, but the response from people has been pretty positive, which I'm always wary of, because you grow out of critique I feel.

Anyhows now for my question, my novella is currently free ahead of part 2...and a bit back I think I came to this thread and there were posts that said something like never make your book free. I was wondering what that was all about?

Here she goes
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/573881

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

I've hit this fucked up point in my writing life where every idea I have I just assume it should be a novel. Like, why can't I just write short stories and novellas sometimes? Why do I jump to the 100-day writing sprint that is a full book? Plus god the editing takes forever ._.

It's tiresome.

 

[sirap]

Now that my ban's been lifted, I thought I'd give an update on my indie-publishing career. Can't believe it's been close to a year since I was last active in this thread. Damn, a lot has changed.

After KU 2.0 hit, I made the decision to abandon erotica in favor of longer, 25k erotica-romance. It was a painful move, but a necessary one. Amazon started cracking down on erotica, and I grew tired of seeing how fast my books fell off in rankings. My longer novellas made up for the hit in KU payouts, but it wasn't until I fully switched to 40-50k novels that I saw a significant increase in earnings.

I still believe that shorter, 20-25k serials is the best way strategy for new authors. It's important to build a mailing list, and short books released quickly and consistently is a great way to attract fans.

I even ventured into urban-fantasy, and I can confidently say that it's possible to make a killing in genres outside of romance.

It's been a few months since I broke through the million dollar barrier, and I'm now earning six-figures in royalties every month. My next move is to invest more in advertising, and see if I can make it in science fiction. It's been a wonderful journey, and I'm looking forward to seeing where this takes me.

EDIT: Just wanted to clarify that the purpose of this post isn't to brag, but to show what's possible if you really put in the effort. I'm a terrible writer, but I make up for it with tenacity. I do envy my friends who make twice as much with 1/10th of my output, but we can't all be lucky

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Now that my ban's been lifted, I thought I'd give an update on my indie-publishing career. Can't believe it's been close to a year since I was last active in this thread. Damn, a lot has changed.

After KU 2.0 hit, I made the decision to abandon erotica in favor of longer, 25k erotica-romance. It was a painful move, but a necessary one. Amazon started cracking down on erotica, and I grew tired of seeing how fast my books fell off in rankings. My longer novellas made up for the hit in KU payouts, but it wasn't until I fully switched to 40-50k novels that I saw a significant increase in earnings.

I still believe that shorter, 20-25k serials is the best way strategy for new authors. It's important to build a mailing list, and short books released quickly and consistently is a great way to attract fans.

I even ventured into urban-fantasy, and I can confidently say that it's possible to make a killing in genres outside of romance.

It's been a few months since I broke through the million dollar barrier, and I'm now earning six-figures in royalties every month. My next move is to invest more in advertising, and see if I can make it in science fiction. It's been a wonderful journey, and I'm looking forward to seeing where this takes me.

EDIT: Just wanted to clarify that the purpose of this post isn't to brag, but to show what's possible if you really put in the effort. I'm a terrible writer, but I make up for it with tenacity. I do envy my friends who make twice as much with 1/10th of my output, but we can't all be lucky

This is basically my dream job, so thank you for sharing how successful it can be. I'm very happy for you.

I'd love to know more details, though. For instance, how much time does it take you to pump out a 25k novella? Are they linked (i.e., a series)? How long for a 40-50k novel? How much editing/peer reviewing are you doing? Are these all under a single author name or do you have pseudonyms for different genres?

I've actually considered writing something of a serialized account of a knight-at-arms in this vein. I imagine sci-fi would work as well.

Interestingly, we have all in some sense locked ourselves into the belief that novels (especially world-building fantasy novels) are these huge, weighty tomes. See Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive. But in the YouTube generation, where if a video lasts longer than 5 minutes then it's likely going to be passed over, writing 1000 page epics is really only going to work for a very small number. The people who consume short entertainment on YT, FB, Twitter, CoD campaigns, etc. also want shorter books.

 

[sirap]

This is basically my dream job, so thank you for sharing how successful it can be. I'm very happy for you.

I'd love to know more details, though. For instance, how much time does it take you to pump out a 25k novella? Are they linked (i.e., a series)? How long for a 40-50k novel? How much editing/peer reviewing are you doing? Are these all under a single author name or do you have pseudonyms for different genres?

I used to hit 10k words a day back when I operated on a polyphasic sleep schedule. Dengue pretty much derailed that, and I'm finding it extremely difficult to go back (It's probably just age, I'm getting closer to 30 now)

These days I write a minimum of 5k with the help of short, 25 minute pomodoros. I usually take a day for a complete snowflake outline, 10 days for the first draft, and another day for line edits and cover work. So that's roughly two weeks for a complete 50k novel. Divide that in half for novellas, but if it's a one-off short, I tend to finish them faster.

All my romance books belong in the same series/universe. Different protagonists, but related to one another. Siblings, same town, rival companies etc. All of them are published under the same pen-name, but this wasn't always the case. I used to have multiple pen-names, each catering to a specific niche. However, now that I focus more on marketing and branding, I find that it's best to consolidate everything under one recognizable name. Granted, the sub-genres I write in make this possible, as billionaires, sport stars and even shifters share many similar tropes.

I've actually considered writing something of a serialized account of a knight-at-arms in this vein. I imagine sci-fi would work as well.

Interestingly, we have all in some sense locked ourselves into the belief that novels (especially world-building fantasy novels) are these huge, weighty tomes. See Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive. But in the YouTube generation, where if a video lasts longer than 5 minutes then it's likely going to be passed over, writing 1000 page epics is really only going to work for a very small number. The people who consume short entertainment on YT, FB, Twitter, CoD campaigns, etc. also want shorter books.

Yes, there's definitely a market for coffee readers. Amazon even has a short-reads section specifically for 5,10,15 and 25k books.

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

Wait, I thought you were permed? How did you come back?

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Wait, I thought you were permed? How did you come back?

A wizard arrives precisely when he means to.

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

This is basically my dream job, so thank you for sharing how successful it can be. I'm very happy for you.

I'd love to know more details, though. For instance, how much time does it take you to pump out a 25k novella? Are they linked (i.e., a series)? How long for a 40-50k novel? How much editing/peer reviewing are you doing? Are these all under a single author name or do you have pseudonyms for different genres?

I've actually considered writing something of a serialized account of a knight-at-arms in this vein. I imagine sci-fi would work as well.

Interestingly, we have all in some sense locked ourselves into the belief that novels (especially world-building fantasy novels) are these huge, weighty tomes. See Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive. But in the YouTube generation, where if a video lasts longer than 5 minutes then it's likely going to be passed over, writing 1000 page epics is really only going to work for a very small number. The people who consume short entertainment on YT, FB, Twitter, CoD campaigns, etc. also want shorter books.

Damn! I thought my book was long. I'd have to consider these shorter things, but shit, it takes me a while just to write one book. My first took 3 years. I rushed and did my second in 6 months and I'm still working on my current which I started two years ago. This one should be short compared to my first though. I'm only aiming for ten chapters.

I definitely need to work faster. I'm pretty slow in writing and drawing apparently. Can't seem to focus on writing when I'm in the house. I get too distracted. I try to go out every weekend to a restaurant and write there, but weekends are not enough. I would go during the week, but I'm usually exhausted after I get off work and I don't have a car so I will have to walk to wherever to do it. If I had a car, I'd do it almost every day.

 

[Delio]

Now that my ban's been lifted, I thought I'd give an update on my indie-publishing career. Can't believe it's been close to a year since I was last active in this thread. Damn, a lot has changed.

After KU 2.0 hit, I made the decision to abandon erotica in favor of longer, 25k erotica-romance. It was a painful move, but a necessary one. Amazon started cracking down on erotica, and I grew tired of seeing how fast my books fell off in rankings. My longer novellas made up for the hit in KU payouts, but it wasn't until I fully switched to 40-50k novels that I saw a significant increase in earnings.

I still believe that shorter, 20-25k serials is the best way strategy for new authors. It's important to build a mailing list, and short books released quickly and consistently is a great way to attract fans.

I even ventured into urban-fantasy, and I can confidently say that it's possible to make a killing in genres outside of romance.

It's been a few months since I broke through the million dollar barrier, and I'm now earning six-figures in royalties every month. My next move is to invest more in advertising, and see if I can make it in science fiction. It's been a wonderful journey, and I'm looking forward to seeing where this takes me.

EDIT: Just wanted to clarify that the purpose of this post isn't to brag, but to show what's possible if you really put in the effort. I'm a terrible writer, but I make up for it with tenacity. I do envy my friends who make twice as much with 1/10th of my output, but we can't all be lucky

Hey Welcome back!

 

[zulux21]

writing 1000 page epics is really only going to work for a very small number.

luckily I am not doing this to sell, but to tell a story i want to tell and hope that at least one person out there likes it

especially since early estimates would put it at about a 4k page story if I released it as a single book lol.

 

[Valhelm]

I'm 15,000 words into something I like a lot but it's so derivative of Pynchon I could probably never publish it. Part of me just wants to give up, but I'd love to have a novella under my belt, even if just for fun.

 

[Hop]

luckily I am not doing this to sell, but to tell a story i want to tell and hope that at least one person out there likes it

especially since early estimates would put it at about a 4k page story if I released it as a single book lol.

I'm not saying this to be critical of you (or anyone in particular), but I just cannot process how a story can be that long. I mean, it's probably just that the scope of story I feel is complete and interesting falls a lot shorter, but... damn.

(For the record, my book is 282 pages. My novels are short. I'm actually gonna start doing novellas soon, try and have more frequent content coming out.)

 

[zulux21]

I'm not saying this to be critical of you (or anyone in particular), but I just cannot process how a story can be that long. I mean, it's probably just that the scope of story I feel is complete and interesting falls a lot shorter, but... damn.

(For the record, my book is 282 pages. My novels are short. I'm actually gonna start doing novellas soon, try and have more frequent content coming out.)

It's because the overall scope of the story is similar to a number of Japanese shonen manga such as one piece, naruto, bleach.

Though my story is a lot more character focused that those are obvious as nothing but combat wouldn't work great in writing.

as it stands right now I have about 75% of the first and second arcs written out, each sitting at around 50k words with the ending of both needing to be written (I have detailed outlines for the end of the first arc but I wanted to jump ahead to the second arc since I needed to actually define the supernatual abilities far more clearly for that arc and thus wanted to work on that and go back and use those defined abilities in the first arc)

quick look at the overall story outline translates to about 14 total arcs. it could end up being shortened, but so far everything has gotten longer not shorter.

I know it's a crazy scope, I know it's likely a dumb focus and that I could likely create something better that was far shorter, but well, it's what i want to do thus I figure why not just do it lol.

my current plan is over the next 5-10 years I am hoping to fully finish the story, and then from there start pushing out the final versions of each arc every 6 months to a year. In the mean time though I very well might start posting the rough draft somewhere for some people to enjoy to help inspire me to continue writing.

 

[H.Protagonist]

Now that my ban's been lifted, I thought I'd give an update on my indie-publishing career. Can't believe it's been close to a year since I was last active in this thread. Damn, a lot has changed.

After KU 2.0 hit, I made the decision to abandon erotica in favor of longer, 25k erotica-romance. It was a painful move, but a necessary one. Amazon started cracking down on erotica, and I grew tired of seeing how fast my books fell off in rankings. My longer novellas made up for the hit in KU payouts, but it wasn't until I fully switched to 40-50k novels that I saw a significant increase in earnings.

I still believe that shorter, 20-25k serials is the best way strategy for new authors. It's important to build a mailing list, and short books released quickly and consistently is a great way to attract fans.

I even ventured into urban-fantasy, and I can confidently say that it's possible to make a killing in genres outside of romance.

It's been a few months since I broke through the million dollar barrier, and I'm now earning six-figures in royalties every month. My next move is to invest more in advertising, and see if I can make it in science fiction. It's been a wonderful journey, and I'm looking forward to seeing where this takes me.

EDIT: Just wanted to clarify that the purpose of this post isn't to brag, but to show what's possible if you really put in the effort. I'm a terrible writer, but I make up for it with tenacity. I do envy my friends who make twice as much with 1/10th of my output, but we can't all be lucky

Welcome back, sirap~

Always interesting to hear about your forays into Amazon publishing. It's amazing how well you've done, and definitely inspiring for everyone to see it's possible to make a living at this. Shame about the downturn in erotica, though, and KU in general. Profits have definitely faded. But, while the experiment we did wasn't anywhere near as successful as your stuff, it did show that for very little time/effort we could all pump out a small book and make a bit of cash. Heck, I'm still getting mini-payments from Amazon. I only made enough to buy a couple of nice 6-packs, but it was fun and easy.

Anyway, please do keep popping in and updating us, especially on your various adaptions. I'm thinking it might be fun to do another mini-book challenge and I'll be looking to some of your strategies to help out.

 

[Futureman]

Hi all!

I run a paperback book printer at work (the Espresso Book Machine). This guy who I helped a little with the interior formatting wants to start selling his book digitally. I'm setting up a website for him so people can pay him with PayPal to get a physical copy, but he also wants to be on Amazon/Kindle. I have a Word document version and a PDF of his book. The formatting is very specific in Word with headers and page numbers and spacing etc... is this an easy conversion to Kindle?

Thoughts on this? Any other services he should look at besides Kindle?

 

[Hop]

Hi all!

I run a paperback book printer at work (the Espresso Book Machine). This guy who I helped a little with the interior formatting wants to start selling his book digitally. I'm setting up a website for him so people can pay him with PayPal to get a physical copy, but he also wants to be on Amazon/Kindle. I have a Word document version and a PDF of his book. The formatting is very specific in Word with headers and page numbers and spacing etc... is this an easy conversion to Kindle?

Thoughts on this? Any other services he should look at besides Kindle?

I used Pronoun for my book. The upside is, it was very easy to do and got me on Amazon, iBooks, Google Play, Kobo, and Nook. The downside is, unless you make an epub yourself (and I'm not even sure you can in that case), you're limited to the formatting options that they offer. Those options are great for an ordinary book, but if you have very specific formatting, it may be lost in the effort. May be worth a look regardless, doesn't cost you anything.

 

[phillipgessert]

Hi all!

I run a paperback book printer at work (the Espresso Book Machine). This guy who I helped a little with the interior formatting wants to start selling his book digitally. I'm setting up a website for him so people can pay him with PayPal to get a physical copy, but he also wants to be on Amazon/Kindle. I have a Word document version and a PDF of his book. The formatting is very specific in Word with headers and page numbers and spacing etc... is this an easy conversion to Kindle?

Thoughts on this? Any other services he should look at besides Kindle?

The easy method would be to use something like Vellum, or to chance KDP's Word conversion. Or if more control is needed, the best result would be to rebuild the book from the Word source into HTML / CSS. You can send him my way for the ebook conversion if you like (gessertbooks.com).

 

[Hyams]

Now that my ban's been lifted, I thought I'd give an update on my indie-publishing career. Can't believe it's been close to a year since I was last active in this thread. Damn, a lot has changed.

After KU 2.0 hit, I made the decision to abandon erotica in favor of longer, 25k erotica-romance. It was a painful move, but a necessary one. Amazon started cracking down on erotica, and I grew tired of seeing how fast my books fell off in rankings. My longer novellas made up for the hit in KU payouts, but it wasn't until I fully switched to 40-50k novels that I saw a significant increase in earnings.

I still believe that shorter, 20-25k serials is the best way strategy for new authors. It's important to build a mailing list, and short books released quickly and consistently is a great way to attract fans.

I even ventured into urban-fantasy, and I can confidently say that it's possible to make a killing in genres outside of romance.

It's been a few months since I broke through the million dollar barrier, and I'm now earning six-figures in royalties every month. My next move is to invest more in advertising, and see if I can make it in science fiction. It's been a wonderful journey, and I'm looking forward to seeing where this takes me.

EDIT: Just wanted to clarify that the purpose of this post isn't to brag, but to show what's possible if you really put in the effort. I'm a terrible writer, but I make up for it with tenacity. I do envy my friends who make twice as much with 1/10th of my output, but we can't all be lucky

Congratulations on your success! If you don't mind me asking, what's the pen name you're publishing under?

 

[Syncytia]

I still believe that shorter, 20-25k serials is the best way strategy for new authors. It's important to build a mailing list, and short books released quickly and consistently is a great way to attract fans.

That's good to hear since that is what I'm more or less planning on doing. I have ideas and outlines for much longer novels but maybe it isn't worth it for me to go for full on novel/epic yet since I'm still horrible at keeping up with my writing.

I'm pretty sure my first release will be a collection of four or five short stories in the range of 4-7K words each. I just get too distracted between my ideas, and whenever I get a new idea I always want to write a page or two description of what's in my head. And then I get excited and start actually writing it. Only to add it to the pile of things that will never get finished. Or, looking at it optimistically, it just means I will have plenty of things to work on once I learn how to write more than 1K words a day.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

So as if yesterday my second novel is DONE! No more fucking with it. Went from 97k words in draft one to 80k words in draft five. That's a lot of dead words.

Tomorrow I resub to Writer's Market and start sending it out.

Can't wait to have my inbox bombed with form rejection letters again :V

 

[Crimson_Justice]

So as if yesterday my second novel is DONE! No more fucking with it. Went from 97k words in draft one to 80k words in draft five. That's a lot of dead words.

Tomorrow I resub to Writer's Market and start sending it out.

Can't wait to have my inbox bombed with form rejection letters again :V

That is a lot of dead words. Nice job, man. Best of luck with the submissions.

 

[disastermouse]

Hey guys!

I'm writing my first novel using Scrivener as we speak. I'm 50k words into a first draft. Outside of story 'tentpoles' I'm not doing much outlining. It's first of a series of three.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

That is a lot of dead words. Nice job, man. Best of luck with the submissions.

Thanks. Just got done sending it out to a handful of agencies. Thing I'm realizing is that almost every agent wants YA these days, even if the fit doesn't make sense. Gotta go for that money.

As a result, I'm passing up on more agents than I did with my first book. That went to anyone who might care, but this one is only going to people who really will care. I don't want to get fucked.

And of course I already found a great fit but the dude isn't accepting queries at this time D: Hopefully I'll go back in a few months and he'll be open again. Keeping an honest-to-god spreadsheet this time.

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

Can anyone recommend me a book to write in? I'm tired of these tablets falling apart and turning yellow.

 

[JaseMath]

Can anyone recommend me a book to write in? I'm tired of these tablets falling apart and turning yellow.

Moleskine's are always top shelf quality. If they're a little too pricey for you (because let's be honest, you're buying the name), Yoobi has pretty good hardcover notebooks as long as you don't mind louder colors.

 

[Dolla Dolla]

Can anyone recommend me a book to write in? I'm tired of these tablets falling apart and turning yellow.

Leather and Moleskin journals are really nice. Go to Barnes and Nobles, look for them.

This is one of my favorites to use:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hom...d=Google_&sourceId=PLGoP1096&k_clickid=3x1096

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

Leather and Moleskin journals are really nice. Go to Barnes and Nobles, look for them.

This is one of my favorites to use:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hom...d=Google_&sourceId=PLGoP1096&k_clickid=3x1096

Will it snap back shut if you don't hold down both sides? It looks like it and will make it irritating to write.

Moleskine's are always top shelf quality. If they're a little too pricey for you (because let's be honest, you're buying the name), Yoobi has pretty good hardcover notebooks as long as you don't mind louder colors.

Same thing when I looked up Yoobi's.

 

[tiggerkiddo]

So what public places do folks like to go to get some writing done? I have a pretty old laptop but it still can power up and do the job so I wouldn't mind taking it out to get some writing done outside of the apartment.

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

I typically go to some close by restaraunts (i.e. CookOut), my old school, and Panera Bread.

 

[FlowersisBritish]

I usually try to write at my desk and only my desk. I like to section off my work space. Occasionally I'll write in a notebook at work, but that leaves the problem of typing that stuff out later.

 

[JaseMath]

Will it snap back shut if you don't hold down both sides? It looks like it and will make it irritating to write.



Same thing when I looked up Yoobi's.

Only at first. The spine breaks in pretty quick.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

So what public places do folks like to go to get some writing done? I have a pretty old laptop but it still can power up and do the job so I wouldn't mind taking it out to get some writing done outside of the apartment.

None because I'm not THAT pretentious

 

[JaseMath]

I started writing in my "room in the basement"/man cave. That's where I'm the most comfortable.

But in the months since I began my first draft, I've written large parts of the novel at the library, at work, and entire chapters in my car.

 

[zulux21]

So what public places do folks like to go to get some writing done? I have a pretty old laptop but it still can power up and do the job so I wouldn't mind taking it out to get some writing done outside of the apartment.

I now only write at home on my computer for the most part (during work I make some paper notes)

back in college I would often write during classes, but if I wanted some place quiet to write I often went to the cemetery nearby as it was usually nice and quite and no one bothered me lol.

that or if I was feeling motivated I would go up a hill and sit near the tennis courts by a large tree on the grass.

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

.

 

[Hop]

So what public places do folks like to go to get some writing done? I have a pretty old laptop but it still can power up and do the job so I wouldn't mind taking it out to get some writing done outside of the apartment.

Lucky for me, Workfrom started in Portland so it has a huge list of places I can write in. Mainly coffee shops, couple of restaurants, some private places that are totally not worth looking into.

 

[JaseMath]

Lucky for me, Workfrom started in Portland so it has a huge list of places I can write in. Mainly coffee shops, couple of restaurants, some private places that are totally not worth looking into.

How does that work? Denver has a bunch of Workfrom locations, but they're almost all coffee shops. Isn't that kind of cheating? Coffee houses are quiet by nature, but I wouldn't go write at one.

 

[tiggerkiddo]

I've wrote in public places a few times (mainly restaraunts and cafe's) and I found I got more production done that way, especially since my ancient laptop lacks a wireless card anymore so I don't have the internet to distract me.

 

[Hop]

How does that work? Denver has a bunch of Workfrom locations, but they're almost all coffee shops. Isn't that kind of cheating? Coffee houses are quiet by nature, but I wouldn't go write at one.

It's just a catalog of places amenable to remote work. I mean, I prefer kinda-quiet-but-not-silent, so the places people find for it are perfect for me. (Most of the time. I've gone places listed there and they were full of screaming children. >_< )

 

[RoyaleDuke]

So does anyone want to take a look at a couple things I'm writing? One I am definitely going to try to publish somewhere, somehow, maybe digital, the other has too much legal work and it started as a concept I already had that I morphed into a Lovecraft/Stephen King/Clive Barker tribute. The music lyrics are the main headache if I were to ever try to publish it and obviously certain direct and indirect references to places/people/things from King's works.

EDIT: That said the original idea, concept, character were already in place I just decided to amp up certain elements to mimick, and reference from my favorite King/Barker/Lovecraft stories. Initially, it was a reinterpretation of those authors styles into a classic haunted house story. This idea still remains at the core. Honestly I could probably strip out a lot of the music and direct references, and rewrite it enough to publish.

One is pretty far along and I've yet to decide how many chapters it will be but I am trying to conform to the table of contents I laid out beforehand as well as writing notes.