Published

[Created2Write]

For those of you who've been published(specifically those who've written novels that have been published), do you have any recommendations? I've been trying to get my novel published, but so far have had no offers other than offers from self-publishing companies, that require thousands of dollars to get it published. Any advice is welcome.

 

[miss-a]

None of my books are pubished, (not really finished, either), one published article, but I've studied the procedure quite a bit. New writers are looked at with a much more critical eye than established writers. Our work is expected to be topnotch and virtually perfect. So it's a good idea to have lots of people read your work, or parts of it, as much as you can. Look for trends in the comments you receive and be open to making changes. Also, if you can get other writers especially published authors to critique your work, this is also helpful. the first step for new writers is to produce an excellent piece of work. We can tend to want to avoid this step and just produce something good. After all, the big names can get away with that, right? But we can't, because we don't have a big name. so, revise, revise , revise. Tighten up over use of modifiers. Read books about writing fiction and dialogue, learn what the publishers expect.

Then, get books on writing a formal proposal for a fiction book. The proposal also has to be top notch.

And last but not least, pray, pray, pray for wisdom and guidance. with men getting published is nearly impossible, but with God all things are possible.

Blessings,
A

 

[Created2Write]

Thanks. I finally did realize that editors aren't there to make a good piece of work great. So far I've edited out about 40 pages of unnecessary things. It still needs perfecting, so I won't be trying to get published for a while yet. Thanks for your response though.

 

[RedLioness]

None of my books are pubished, (not really finished, either), one published article, but I've studied the procedure quite a bit. New writers are looked at with a much more critical eye than established writers. Our work is expected to be topnotch and virtually perfect. So it's a good idea to have lots of people read your work, or parts of it, as much as you can. Look for trends in the comments you receive and be open to making changes. Also, if you can get other writers especially published authors to critique your work, this is also helpful. the first step for new writers is to produce an excellent piece of work. We can tend to want to avoid this step and just produce something good. After all, the big names can get away with that, right? But we can't, because we don't have a big name. so, revise, revise , revise. Tighten up over use of modifiers. Read books about writing fiction and dialogue, learn what the publishers expect.

Then, get books on writing a formal proposal for a fiction book. The proposal also has to be top notch.

And last but not least, pray, pray, pray for wisdom and guidance. with men getting published is nearly impossible, but with God all things are possible.

Blessings,
A

Christina says she has been published. She said it was self publishing but she told me a drawback like it costed a lot of her own money of which i am not too enthused about.

 

[smwright]

I think it's a terrrific idea, getting feedback, "With many counselors make war" and self publishing need not cost an arm & a leg, ory fironly a few fingers & toes - so to speak. Xulos.com is a christian small publishing outfit, and there are others. I don't have them all at hand, just scout the territory. Anything can be an inspiration!

 

[LadyNRA]

Miss-A really did cover the bases. I think the only thing she left out may be that for many folks getting an agent first is better than trying to go directly to a publisher. A friend of mine pretty much did everything suggested but said the Agent step is the crucial one. She's been at it for 2 or 3 years now. Cut back many many pages. Still has no luck because the agents are so fussy about who they want to represent. She has gone so far as to read a bunch of books by every agent she tries to send her works to. She follows all the guidelines. And still no success (and boredom by reading all those awful books the agents say are so great). In the end, all she's ended up with is the realization that her work doesn't fit anyone's 'category' and a lot of rejection letters that don't really tell her WHY she was rejected.

Which kind of brings me to another point. If you are writing something that isn't 'mainstream', you have a tougher battle ahead. ie. In romances, if you don't write your hero as hugely muscled and drop dead gorgeous, and the female as unbelievably sexy, most agents/publishers won't touch your work.

I really think it's by the grace of God these days that a person can get noticed and hope to win the lottery to do the self-publishing route (okay, half joking here but yuo get the point). Good luck.

 

[Carrythecross]

Createspace is a self publishing site that is free. You design the cover and upload your work. It costs nothing and pays 70% royalty instead of the 8% that paper books do. You can also upload a kindle versions. Kindle books outsold paper books last year. When your work is edited and complete, you go to kdp amazon and upload it.

I would download open office first and paste my work in it as the format needs to be 8"X5" and exported as a PDF format. If you have any questions or problems, I'll be glad to help.

I have four action adventure books published on amazon and they are actually selling pretty well for a new author. You also need a website to promote your books which you can design for free, just ask and I'll be glad to help. Check out my website along with the photo gallery.. I can't post links yet so just google the rats nest yola

 

[Carrythecross]

The main character in my book is an honest fisherman. The new colonies of Mexico, far from the watchful eyes of the king are rampant with corruption. Men are routinely accused of piracy just to seize their assets. They are gagged during the trial and hung at the dock, their bodies left to rot as a warning to other pirates. Being falsely accuses of piracy, his father is killed during the arrest, he kills a guard and escapes with his Uncle Andreas, after he goes back into town to kill the man who killed his father. Here's a peek...


“It is done, we must hurry.” Andreas said. They climbed down the trellis, mounted their horses and ran through the night toward home. Arriving back at the barn Andreas instructed him to go and pack only his clothes, weapons and gold. Felipe did as he was told while Andreas loaded the wagon with supplies. Saws, hammers, axes and all of the other tools that they would need to build a new life. He loaded his blacksmith tools, all of his weapons, clothes and gold.

Felipe came back dragging two large chests and Andreas helped him load them onto the wagon. “Where will we go?” he asked.

“I have been thinking about that.” Andreas said. He opened a trunk on the wagon and removed a bamboo tube. Pulling the cork out of it he took out a map, unrolled it on the table and moved a candle closer.

“There is a good sized island off the coast of Hispanolia. The Spaniards Built a fort there but the slaves mounted a rebellion, killed their masters and ran wild on the island. It was of not enough strategic importance for them to bother keeping with the war as their men are spread thin. There is a small settlement but it is a pirate stronghold. It would take three or more garrisons of men to rout them and their losses would be heavy so the Spaniards leave them be. The other side of the island is uninhabited and there are sheltered harbors that you could hide a ship in with fresh water nearby.” His finger pointed out the island. “Tortuga, this will be our new home.

“Come now, we will take the Marianna, she is our largest boat and the most seaworthy.” They took the carriage down to the water and loaded the supplies onto the Marianna, then Felipe took the carriage back to the barn and left the horse tethered for his mother. Together they weighed the anchor and Andreas took the wheel. Felipe unfurled the sails and tied them off. He walked back and stood beside Andreas.

He turned and looked back at his home. The light shined in his mother’s window and he could see her figure standing there watching them leave. All of his precious childhood memories were here. He looked at the barn where he and Andreas had spent countless hours with their swords, the dock where he and his father talked and laughed while they cleaned the catch and back at the lone figure of his mother standing in the window.

It was all slipping away and an overwhelming feeling of sadness gripped and tore at his heart, He felt his breath catching in his chest and had to turn away. Andreas was older and wiser, his mind was already set and he knew Felipe’s heart. He said nothing and let Felipe work his way through it. Felipe took several deep breaths to calm himself. He turned to Andreas.

“They took everything away from me. My home, land, livelihood, my mother and my father.” He paused thinking about it, Andreas remained silent.

“They wanted a pirate, very well, they shall have their pirate. I will be the worse pirate they have ever known. I swear, for the rest of my life that I will kill any man who holds allegiance to this King. More than that, I will seek them out. I will take the king’s precious treasure, kill his men and sink his ships. He will come to know the name of Felipe Antonio Montoya.”

Andreas looked at him and said “And I Felipe, will be by your side.”

A full moon had half risen over the water, it led a shimmering trail of diamonds to the front of their boat like a path drawing them to their destiny. By dawn they were over the horizon and Marianna was approaching the cobblestone road. A full compliment of soldiers on horses were running toward her and even though they did not know her, she bowed her head hiding her face. The soldiers thundered past, toward the hacienda in search of Felipe.

 

[torijayne]

I have a question for you, Carrythecross:

Do you think self-publishing or online publishing is as "reputable" as traditional publishing? I think it's really great that you can do so on CreateSpace, and it would be great to make more royalties than the traditional route, but do you consider it as "official"? I'm not trying to put down what you've done in publishing your books-- I think it's great that you've been able to find a venue!-- but I am just wondering if it would be viewed as highly as traditional publishing.

I would love to check out your books and your website, by the way, and I will look into CreateSpace.

 

[cgreutman]

What type of story is your manuscript? (yes, there is a reason behind me asking, I've been looking for a crit partner)

As to self-publishing, I self-published a manuscript through xlibris a few years ago. I didn't quite make back my money, but it was worth it for a book I knew I couldn't sell through a traditional publisher. I'm still working on going the traditional route with my new manuscript. A great way to meet agents is at the ACFW conference each year. It's being held in St. Louis this fall. You also get appointments with editors there. I love the conference, I've gone to the last three. This will be the first year I can't make it in awhile.

 

[Carrythecross]

Self publishing made John Locke $126,000.00 in one month, he is now a millionaire. I'd say it is as reputable as any other method, such as begging an agent to represent you and getting hundreds of rejections because it isn't a tawdry vampire novel.

 

[hollyda]

I have several fiction books published. I would definitely recommend becoming acquainted with Absolute Write. It's an endless source of research, inspiration, publisher info, and so on.

Good luck!

 

[miss-a]

Createspace is a self publishing site that is free. You design the cover and upload your work. It costs nothing and pays 70% royalty instead of the 8% that paper books do. You can also upload a kindle versions. Kindle books outsold paper books last year. When your work is edited and complete, you go to kdp amazon and upload it.

I would download open office first and paste my work in it as the format needs to be 8"X5" and exported as a PDF format. If you have any questions or problems, I'll be glad to help.

I have four action adventure books published on amazon and they are actually selling pretty well for a new author. You also need a website to promote your books which you can design for free, just ask and I'll be glad to help. Check out my website along with the photo gallery.. I can't post links yet so just google the rats nest yola

This is excellent info. Thanks so much for posting it. I've looked at most of the options for being published. There was a time when I was married to the idea of it having to be a traditional publisher. But these days, I'm becoming more open to alternative publishing. It's making more and more sense. I appreciate your input, and the excerpt you posted is quite intriging, as well!

 

[Michael Snow]

As was pointed out, you can publish an ebook on amazon, barnes and noble, etc for no cost...but don't shortcut perfecting it.

Then the hard work of promoting it/ making it known begins.

 

[MercantileWriter]

I too have self-published, a Christian fantasy titled, "How the West Was Saved," which I have made available as an ebook and as a printed version via CreateSpace. The great thing about CreateSpace is that it's what's called a POD (print on demand) publisher. CreateSpace does not print books in advance. They print them as customers buy them. So there are no upfront fees, provided you don't buy any of the useless extra services that they charge a lot of money for. But the basic process itself is free. As is publishing e-books. The real trick, however, is marketing. That's where the hard work comes in, and that's what determines whether you sell books. And that's true whether you publish through a publishing house or self publish. But if you have a good product and a good marketing plan, you can be successful as a self-published authors these days.

 

[Michael Snow]

1) Traditional Publisher
This is getting harder for any unknown author; about the same chance as winning the lottery! Many publishers will not even take ms submissions or inquiries anymore. You have to have an "agent." = $$

The big advantage is that they have their 'market' and will get the books they publish advertised and into bookstores.

2) Print on Demand (POD)
This self-publishing route is as cheap or expensive as you want it to be. You can publish a book for about 350 dollars.[If your ms is 'camera ready' ie pdf and cover] Then, just like traditonal publishing, you buy what books you want from them, at about the same cost, maybe cheaper.

Of course, ALL marketing is up to you [even if they sell you some marketing package]

BEWARE: All these companies have more expensive packages that sound great, that include listing in their catalogue, display at book sellers conventions, advertising, etc. If you are an unknown this stuff will most likely be money down the drain.

Somebody mentioned Xulon. They are more expensive; shop around; Lulu, LightningSource, Publisher Services and others...google print on demand.

3) Classic Self-Publishing

This is the most 'costly.' You find a printer to print your book. I have read where the average self-published author sells 200-300 books.[?] If your book is camera ready, for that number might cost almost five dollars a book. [about what you will pay per book from POD] If you print 1000 the price [per book] drops in half and the check you write is a lot bigger and you have these boxes of books in your house!

This route you really have to shop around and not just locally. I am in S.Dak. and had Evangel Press in Indiana print my book.

4) E Books
As Carrythecross mentioned this is a great way to go, ESPECIALLY for someone new to get started. If you have good success, a publisher might be more interested

But don't shortcut the ms prep. Got an English Lit, major for a friend? Ask them to edit [This is the first big loss of not having a traditional publisher...the Editor. You can pay extra for it from these other services but its not apt to equal an in-house editor.]

Kindle has an easy guide for ms submission and the steps, like inserting page breaks in your word doc. Then you save as web page, download the Kindle converter, run your ms through it and upload to their bookshelf. I just did it on Kindle and Nook

Also, check out Smashwords and the other one that was mentioned.[Createspace]

 

[Michael Snow]

A quote I just came across:

Several years ago Mark Victor Hansen, author of Chicken Soup for the Soul, told a small group of us author wannabes something that revolutionized my approach to writing. He said, “Everyone I meet wants to write a book. I tell them, ‘Write your book. Do a great job. Now you’re 10% finished. The remaining 90% consists of marketing, promoting, developing ancillary products, etc.’”

 

[Michael Snow]

Remember that this guy IS sellilng something...his product. The 'accessability' that he talks about still does not mean that anyone will see and buy very many books. But good info here:

An Interview with Kevin Weiss About Self-Publishing [Video] | Michael Hyatt

 

[Joshua Cintron]

In my travels through discussion boards and the Internet, which I have not even scrapped the surface. getting published by the big six or smaller publishers requires persistence. I'm not entirely sure what each publishing company looks for, but I presume its in accordance to what's selling.

 

[Carrythecross]

I have several fiction books published. I would definitely recommend becoming acquainted with Absolute Write. It's an endless source of research, inspiration, publisher info, and so on.

Good luck!

Absolute Write is a cesspool of transgendered and openly gay people who are very opinionated and the moderators of that site allow them to openly attack any Christian viewpoint.