Finding an Agent/Publisher

[ravendta]

I have written five fantasy books, two of which I've been submitting to agents and publishers. I've gotten many rejection notices - got another one today - and I'm getting frustrated. Anyone have any suggestions as to where I should send my work? Anyone have an agent who handles fantasy fiction and is looking for new writers? Anyone work in the publishing industry?

Thanks...

 

[ravendta]

...Anyone? I'm desperate...

 

[Tariel]

Sorry...I'm not trying to get published yet

 

[Knowledge3]

....

 

[thenightmarehero]

Your first ministry, which is what you do for God's people, is what will service God the most, that being what follows this quote of Joseph Campbell: "Follow your bliss." Your second ministry is what you do for others, non-godworshippers and worshippers alike. This usually involves doing mineal tasks like taking jobs that aren't very pleasurable. If you want God to help you get published, you have to get your focus off your first ministry and work on your second ministry.

I have this incredible idea for a religious science fiction fantasy, but I don't have all the details to write it. Needless to say that God is my inspiration in writing this story. And I know he will only trust me to write it when he knows I am passive enough to receive his knowledge and wisdom. He will not trust me to publish it, but may even impede me, if I rushed to publish my work to the public. The point is that you cannot be too hasty to seek glory at the expense of passiveness and at the expense of seeking God. Ask yourself why you want to get published so badly so quickly. Is it to gain wealth and notarity (glory) because if it is God will oppose you until you have developed enough patience to do the little tasks that he want you to do. God wants you to work and do good on the little jobs before he trusts you with the big jobs.

If you have a job, focus on doing good in your line of work and increasing your passiveness. Passiveness is a character trait, the ultimate character trait, from which all other virtues stem from, including glory and patience. Learn to be passive, and your soul will seek out and find the answers that you seek to your life. You need not ask God always for answers, but allow your soul to respond to you. Glory comes after grace. Don't always think the only road to glory is the straight one. There may be other avenues to following your bliss besides publishing that you havn't thought of. Don't get discouraged.

This wisdom by the way is pharaphrased from Rick Warren's book The Purpose Driven Life.

 

[ravendta]

Your first ministry, which is what you do for God's people, is what will service God the most, that being what follows this quote of Joseph Campbell: "Follow your bliss." Your second ministry is what you do for others, non-godworshippers and worshippers alike. This usually involves doing mineal tasks like taking jobs that aren't very pleasurable. If you want God to help you get published, you have to get your focus off your first ministry and work on your second ministry.

I have this incredible idea for a religious science fiction fantasy, but I don't have all the details to write it. Needless to say that God is my inspiration in writing this story. And I know he will only trust me to write it when he knows I am passive enough to receive his knowledge and wisdom. He will not trust me to publish it, but may even impede me, if I rushed to publish my work to the public. The point is that you cannot be too hasty to seek glory at the expense of passiveness and at the expense of seeking God. Ask yourself why you want to get published so badly so quickly. Is it to gain wealth and notarity (glory) because if it is God will oppose you until you have developed enough patience to do the little tasks that he want you to do. God wants you to work and do good on the little jobs before he trusts you with the big jobs.

If you have a job, focus on doing good in your line of work and increasing your passiveness. Passiveness is a character trait, the ultimate character trait, from which all other virtues stem from, including glory and patience. Learn to be passive, and your soul will seek out and find the answers that you seek to your life. You need not ask God always for answers, but allow your soul to respond to you. Glory comes after grace. Don't always think the only road to glory is the straight one. There may be other avenues to following your bliss besides publishing that you havn't thought of. Don't get discouraged.

This wisdom by the way is pharaphrased from Rick Warren's book The Purpose Driven Life.

Ah, The Purpose Driven Life - Christianity's new "Bible."

Funny, cause I bet this thing has brought Mr. Warren a good deal of cash.

Anyway, it amazes me how you think you can know exactly what my motives and desires are from a 5 sentence post. Yes, the acquisition of wealth is a factor is my need to get published. However, I'm certainly not looking to live in some big fancy house or be some famous celebrity. If I only made enough to live in a studio apartment for the rest of my life, I'd be fine with that. But right now I have a limited amount of time left in my current living situation, and if I cannot get my career off the ground before that time runs up, I may very well be looking at homelessness.

Yes, I need to trust in God to help me find a solution. But that does NOT mean that I can just sit on my hands waiting for Him. We work together to accomplish the goals I've set for myself.

Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

You suggest that I put my writing on the backburner and focus on my current job. My current job - a job I hate - is a dead-end one. I make barely enough money to pay my car insurance bills, let alone pay rent. There are a whole host of other issues going on in my life that add to the difficulty (no money for advanced education, a father with Alzheimer's Disease who needs constant care, and several other things).

So maybe you can understand why I am eager to get my career started - I have to get something going soon if I want to have a chance to be happy with my life. I will NOT be one of those people who works his life away in some job he hates simply because he wasn't willing to put in the effort to seek out the perfect road that God planned out for him.

Proverbs 16:9
The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.

So while I appreciate you taking the time to tell me how to live my life, please realize that The Purpose Driven Life seems to believe that everyone's life can be simplified by just reading the Bible and praying. It's not that simple - otherwise we'd all be sitting on our butts waiting for God to magically open doors for us. It doesn't work that way. We have to work hard to create the life we want for ourselves, and God will HELP us along the way.

God may be saying to me, "Not yet," but that doesn't mean I should stop trying.

If I did, "Not yet" would instantly become, "Not ever."

 

[ThinkJesus]

I don't publish novels. But I know of another forum that may be of some help. It's AbsoluteWrite Forums. Many of my writers post there and they are very nice people.

I wish you much success!

 

[Windlord]

I have written five fantasy books, two of which I've been submitting to agents and publishers. I've gotten many rejection notices - got another one today - and I'm getting frustrated. Anyone have any suggestions as to where I should send my work? Anyone have an agent who handles fantasy fiction and is looking for new writers? Anyone work in the publishing industry?

Thanks...

What have the Editors said in their rejections? Have they offered any tips on improving your stories, or told you that it isn't really the kind of work that they are looking for?

If you've never published before you might have a higher opinion of the quality of your work than you deserve, most beginners do. I learned that the hard way myself. It is also hard to know which publishers are interested in your kind of work, and I'm still trying to figure this out myself.

If you have a mentor, ask him/her to help you see either who your books might appeal to, or what you could do to improve your books. If you don't have a mentor, then if you can, get one.

The last thing I can suggest is, unless you have a ton of money, don't try to self-publish. It costs far more money than it seems to at first, with the costs of advertising and the amount of effort you would have to go through to get your work into bookstores, especially considering that if you send your work to a publisher instead they do all the advertising for you. And if your book flops your out thousands of dollars, whereas if you get it published by someone else even if it flops you've still got that first check for your work.

Peace,

Windlord.

 

[YellowSapphire]

I recomend getting a copy of Novel & Short Story Writer's Market. They list publishers by genre, help point you to publishers that are most interested in previously unpublished authors, and they list agents.

If you are sending in your manuscript cold, the publishers could be rejecting your story just based on that. Each have specific guidelines regarding font, margins, staples vs. paperclips. Some will take your whole manuscript. Some only want 3 chapters, some only want a query. This might be stuff you already know, but I thought I'd mention it anyway.

Have you asked this question at the NaNoWriMo boards? There are some very knowledgable people over there and a good 40% of that board is fantasy writers. You might also want to look for an online fantasy critique group. Also, look at amazon for genre writing books. I got something for romance about even an idiot can publish a romance book-- there might be something comperable for fantasy.

Self-publishing won't cost you a dime if you do POD. You can sell them at your free online store-- it's just a matter of finding people to buy it.

I hope some of that helped. And good luck. IMO, you're not going to be able to pray your way into a book deal. However, with a lot of hard work on your part, and faith in Him to lead you the right direction, you could do a lot. Sounds like you're almost there! Finishing a book is a BIG deal and a huge accomplishment. I'm jealous .

Best of luck.

 

[walrus2034]

You suggest that I put my writing on the backburner and focus on my current job. My current job - a job I hate - is a dead-end one. I make barely enough money to pay my car insurance bills, let alone pay rent. There are a whole host of other issues going on in my life that add to the difficulty (no money for advanced education, a father with Alzheimer's Disease who needs constant care, and several other things).

Boy, howdy does that sound familiar. My mother died May 7th 2006 of alzheimers. I was her primary care giver and used that time to write my first two books. At my age, 57, jobs are pretty scarce and I am still having trouble finding anything.

I may very well be looking at homelessness.

Dang near there myself. So I understand. One thing that you must reallize is that writing is a very long term project. I was fortunate in attending a school that brought authentic, published ,authors in for lectures. I attended lectures by Frank Herbert , Kurt Vonnegut Junior and Stephen King. I remember quite well what King said during his lectures. One that He had thrown the rough draft of " Carrie" in the garbage because he had decided that he couldn't stand anymore rejection. Fortunately his wife fished it out and sent it around to publishers without him knowing. ( we can argue the merits of his work but successful he is). Another thing he said is that is true is that writers, at best, only are paid once a quarter and a lot of publishers only pay bi-yearly. He related that his first check was for something like $10. Now the checks run in the hundreds of thousands and more.

I will not comment on Mr. Warren's work. But will say that there is an awful lot of it that seems to center on me, me, me instead of upon my Jesus.

Okay here's the gist of this babbling. I have had two books published by Publish America and a third that is in the pre-publishing phase. There were numerous other ways for me to go but I chose them after a great deal of study. There are some who would say all sorts of different things about them but this has been my experience. They will publish your book! They will do a very good job of formatting and jacket selection. It will cost you nothing. They will send you a $1 advance suitable for framing.( King told us, in his lecture, that his first advance was na-da). Every six months they will send you a check.

Now here's what they do not do. Although they distribute your work through Barns and Noble and Borders and a couple of hundred other outlets they will not promote it like a mainline publisher might. That will be up to you. But from experience I can tell you that it is a whole lot easier to promote a published book that looks good than it is one that hasn't been published. www publishamerica.com
Try it see what happens and let me know of the results. Good luck and God bless.

 

[MerCYsMIraCLe]

Perhaps look into Self Publishing. Check out www.lulu.com. I am considering publishing some children's literature with them. Have heard very good reviews.

 

[Moonfisher]

I don't visit this site too often, so I didn't realize until today that PublishAmerica had been recommended as a venue for self publishing. It a MAJOR rip off, and should be avoided at all costs. The excellent writer's site Absolutewrite contains extensive information re: the problems with this agency. More information can also be found at the link below.



http://www.lisamaliga.com/publishamericagetaway.htm

 

[JoyforJESUS]

I don't visit this site too often, so I didn't realize until today that PublishAmerica had been recommended as a venue for self publishing. It a MAJOR rip off, and should be avoided at all costs. The excellent writer's site Absolutewrite contains extensive information re: the problems with this agency. More information can also be found at the link below.



http://www.lisamaliga.com/publishamericagetaway.htm

amen to that, I have a friend that uses amazon shorts for short story publications.