The Wednesday Writer’s Corner: Can you give me some tips on how to get a novel published?
I have a “contact”
email address attached to this website, and the question above is by far the
most common email I receive. In
fact, most of the emails I receive are from hopeful writers looking for advice
on how to get published.
This is not an
easy question to answer, and in truth, it took me years to sort of figure all
this out. However, keep in mind
that at this point in my life, I’ve been working with the same publisher and the same literary agency
since 2001, and so the process for publishing has been a different for me over the last
eleven years then it would be for someone trying to break in. But . . . I don’t
think things have changed that much. I
do have friends who’ve recently landed their first agent and sold their first
novel project.
The basics are:
Complete a publishable novel. Get
the book finished and polished.
Write a 4-5 page novel synopsis.
Get yourself an agent.
Have the agent shop the novel.
The Wednesday Writer's Corner Takes a Week Off
Hi folks! I'm doing some cooking and prepping for Thanksgiving dinner, so I'm going to take a holiday from the Wednesday Writer's Corner this week.
Tune in again next Wednesday.
Happy Turkey Day!
Going “Indie”: Are traditional writers really lazy?
For those who
pay attention to Internet blog debates, the whole flame war between “indie”
writers and traditionally published is getting heated—and in my opinion,
somewhat ridiculous.
For those of you
just coming into the room here, a number of writers are both practicing and
loudly (and I do mean loudly) proposing that we all ditch our agents, ditch our
publishers, and independently publish our own books—focusing mainly on
electronic sales. The great upside
of this is that places like Amazon (Kindle), Apple (iPad) and B&N (Nook)
keep only 30% of the take, and the writer gets 70% of the take. This is a MUCH larger cut for the
writer than a traditional publisher pays.
A traditional
New York publisher pays between 8% and 15% percent royalties—depending on book
format—and as I covered earlier this week, your agent will also take 15% of what you
earn because most writers working with a New York publisher have agents.
Okay, so 70%
versus 8 to 15% is fabulous . . . well, if anyone knows your book actually exists.
Those Lazy Traditional Writers
The main
accusation from the folks who take the “indie” path is that traditional writers
are lazy. I don’t care much for
name calling in general, but this one really bothers me.
Powell's Authorfest Recap
All went well, and we caught up with some friends in the spare moments. A few photos were snapped along the way, so if curious, drop by the Noble Dead Saga's official Facebook page to check those out.
The photos are courtesy of authors Louise Marley
The Wednesday Writer’s Corner: Finances for the Self-Employed
Okay to start, I
don’t personally know many writers who are like me and JC in the sense that writing
novels constitutes 100% of their income—and in all honesty, I’m not sure I would
recommend it. Most of the professional
writers I know have a spouse/partner with a full time job, or the writer has a
job and manages to finish a book a year around the cracks of time.
But JC and I are
both full time writers.
Depending on
both the publishing industry and sales to the general public, this can be a
tenuous way to live. Self-employed
people are also in charge of their own health insurance and their own
retirement, so think about this carefully as you’re making career plans. But
for today, I’m just going to talk about how the money breaks down for a full
time writer (who is working with a publisher).
The Wednesday’s Writer Corner: The Stages of Getting a Novel Ready for Publication
Back when JC and
I sold DHAMPIR, we were so blissfully ignorant about what was going to happen
next, that we didn’t even realize just how many stages actually “were” going to
happen next. I’ll probably talk
about negotiations and contracts in a future post, but that really is a
different topic, so I’m going to sort of jump over that. The only thing I need to mention is that writer is typically
paid an “advance against royalties”—sort of like a loan against how much your
book will earn. A typical first
advance from a New York publisher is around $6,000. Half of that is paid upon signing the contract and the other
half upon “Delivery and Acceptance,” and I’ll chat about that in a minute. Do note that the signing check won’t
arrive until between six weeks and two months after you sign the contract—or at
least that’s how it works for us.
So, here are the
steps a typical novel takes to reach publication.
S3B1: Between Their Worlds
That is the last info about the book that can be released, as we all wait until January 3rd, 2012, when the book appears on the shelves. Pre-orders are available at all online venues. Links to some of those are available within the book’s information on our site. Magiere, Leesil and Chap are back!
News Options: Facebook Linkage
News linkage options for readers and other visitors have received a small update; look to the sidebar of our site(s). If you already chose your preferred method to receive our updates, you do not need to make any changes. More such convenience tweaks (and expansion of options) are planned for the near future. Stay tuned.
Writing to the Market: “Should I write what I like or what I think will get me published?”
This is a very
tricky question that has caused many writers anguish and stress because the
answer is complicated—if there is an answer.
My general
feeling is that if you try to force yourself to write novels you don’t care
about, readers won’t care about them either. So, here are thoughts on this issue . . .
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)
