I've been trying to write a book for seven years now. Nobody has seen the drafts, not even my wife. In fact, I have panic attacks about somebody in my family seeing my writings. They might think I'm some kind of lunatic or something were they to read it. And since my book revolves around a dysfunctional family, many in my family would take personal offense. Especially since much of it is based on true events in my life. People would recognize themselves in the book and probably sue me!
The vast majority of books published fail miserably. But some hit the lottery such as J.K. Rowling, Tom Clancy and Stephen King. All three of those writers were regular people like most of us. None of those three have advanced degrees - elite members of academia. But they struck a chord and have made themselves a part of our popular culture. There are many others like them. Ken Follet, John Grisham and Khaled Hosseini just to name a few who made it big.
So I'm sure there are a few published writers here on Free Republic. How do you go about getting published? Do you just send in manuscripts to publishers or get an agent first? What can you reasonably expect in a book deal? What kind of advances? What kind of royalty schedule?
And above all, aren't we all insane? People who spend hours and hours writing are just not right in the head. Of course, that would include me. Thousands of pages written in the past 20 years and yet nothing published except what I write here on Free Republic.
But this will be the summer. Last summer wasn't, but this one will be.
Google self publishing, they can help you as little or as much as you want. If you want you can just publish from 10 to 10,000 books......
Sam, I’ve read your postings over the years.
You are a fine writer and you’ll be a terrific author.
Now finish that book!
JKR is laughing all the way to the bank. She has been ridiculed and accused of being anti-Christian. Yet she has now completed the series of books she envisioned so many years ago.
Sam, I forgot, publish that book and get that monkey off your back.....if your book is anything like your writing here I am sure it is wonderful...... good luck
I have just finished writing a book, a novel, based on an idea that I have had for a long time. It took me 8 months to write the story out (many nights working 10pm till 4am before getting up for work. I have spent the last few months doing a rewrite with editing, but I am ready to seek a publisher or agent. Do a lot pf research before you get either.
LOL - I wrote a book while in the throws of divorce. I wouldn’t want it to see the light of day even after I’m dead.
And it happens about as often ...
Ping! ;)
bttt
*snicker*
It took Ian two decades and research in three continents before it was published. He, his wife, plus the entire family, heaved a sigh of relief when the book finally hit the commercial shelves. The agony of writing impacts family and friends to varying extents, not only the author himself.
The book was successful.......and to me who loves biographies and autobiographies it was extremely fascinating. However, as would be expected, it sells better in Europe than in the USA where most folks wouldn't know Lawrence Durrell from their neighborhood Good Humor man.
Leni
Writing a book is not so hard—it’s the sharing of it that’s breath taking! LOL! And explaining yourself—that’s hilarious!
I have about six novels going right now—I may never even send them in to a publisher. They’re something for me to do, and it’s hard to tell whether it’s any good or not by letting family (extremely biased prejudice!) read your manuscripts, or re-reading them yourself.
Mine amuse me, and they’re much better than a lot of stuff I’ve read that got published.
I have one children’s novel going—the kind I loved when I was a precocious young reader—lots of action, magic, animals, good versus evil—with lots of new, but not too difficult, words in it. Children are so eager to learn, more than just Dick and Jane. I loathed those books, by the way!
My niece read some of it—why did you name the characters this? Why did you do that? So, have you gotten anything published yet? She’s ten, and she cracked me up with her questions! She did like the story, though!
Keep writing, and let your FRiends know when you publish!
And you’re right—we are insane! I’ve always enjoyed the worlds inside my head far more than anything on TV!
marker
I like action novels. Usually the author’s bio says something like, “Joe Blow and his family live in New York, Cape Cod, and Bermuda.”
Three pingie-dingies.
They appear to be to be a massive waste of paper, and their narcisstic authors could just keep their thoughts to themselves. But no, they think they HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY that the world is breathlessly waiting to read and in most cases, that is not the case.
Recommend that they self-publish and distribute the dosens of copies to their friends and relatives and quit stuffing libraries with their output.
Just the humble opinion of the OldPossum.
Flame and belittle the non-literary OP if you wish; possums have tough skins. They also are known to snarl back.
Despite this, our book got great reviews and tons of publicity. We were featured in Playboy, the Star and In Style and interviewed on a number of radio and TV shows, including Inside Edition. And the book still didn't sell, I think because the publisher misprinted it, miscategorized it, overpriced it, failed to publicize it and didn't even get it into stores. This was the Internet infancy days, so Amazon was no help.
I was getting letters from people who said they'd had to go to five different bookstores, even in major cities like Chicago, trying to find a copy. Naturally, the publisher put it out of print after about a month, claiming the low sales proved nobody wanted it(apparently, they expected people to fly to New Jersey and pound on the warehouse door for a copy). One magazine even named it "The Best Hard-To-Find Book of the Year," not exactly the honor I was hoping for.
We now have the rights back to it and would like to bring out an updated version, but can't find a publisher. They assume it must be a bad book because it didn't sell well the first time, even though I'm still getting fan mail from as far away as Australia, begging us for an updated edition. So we're working on creating a website to promote it and selling a better quality self-published version. That's what I did with my last book, and the best part of having to do all the work myself was that I didn't have to deal with any publishing industry morons.
The big publishers are like dinosaurs with three feet in a tar pit, and they don't even realize it. It's not surprising to me that none of them saw the potential in "Harry Potter." If they weren't mostly owned by big multinational corporations that use them as PR arms for their movie & TV branches (another Paris Hilton book, anyone?), most of them would've been gone long ago. /rant.
I'd say don't waste your time, but you know about the old saw about wise men & advice. I went through the same ups/downs, self-doubt & delusions of grandeur. The most money I made was retaining the copyright on alternative media, which paid off years later. The trick to being published is no different than all businesses: address what's currently hot.
Try marrying the right person.
I remember many years ago reading about a high school English teacher who met a woman in a bar in NYC. At the time he was living in a rent controlled apartment that was so small it was impossible to vaccuum if anyone was visiting.
The woman he met was an editor at Harper Collins or one of those publishers. They married. She encouraged the man to submit his novels to a publisher. Hers.
The result: Angela’s Ashes.