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I tried all of the agents in the book over here in England. Nadir. Zilch. The market for spoof horror doesn't exist, they said. Spoof fantasy has been cornered by Pratchett, Douglas Adams, Tom Holt, et al (they said). In desperation, I try various other avenues, nearly got mugged down a couple of them, and had my wallet swiped by one agent who said she wanted to "nurture" me...
But now I have a reputable agent, the bugger still hasn't sold yet. Various reasons given by editors...."it's dark and male", said one; "we just published a similar story and we want to see what happens with that one" said another.
Ah, me.
Oh woe.
Anyone else got similar whinges? -
In all honesty, a year isn't that long to wait. Some books sit until the time is right.... and sometimes, the time is never right. Ask your editor for a written reason stating why they haven't published. (And if they've asked you for money... check them out with the Better Business Bureau)
Is there any way you could get the story back? Publish it yourself with lulu.com or another print on demand, and then have a 'finished' product to show around?
I don't know if the genre is cornered by those authors... they are the most well known of the bunch, but there's always room for one more. Do any of them have hints on how they got published? (lots of authors have a great web site with a lot of info).
Mainly... hang in there! You've gotten farther than a lot of authors just by having an agent. -
Very true. Having someone take a real interest in your story and saying they will work for you/your story is a huge step. Congrats on that and hang in there. To add to Barbaras point, there is ALWAYS room for more authors in any genre.
Except Potter fanfic. -
To all
I was thinking of including chapters from the book on the site. Whatd'you think? -
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That would depend on the contract you have. Some agents won't publish if it's published elsewhere, and SW is considered 'published' in some eyes. To other people, it's considered an 'editing forum' where stories get edited and fine tuned.
If you post, just make sure you're allowed... and then don't tell us, since that would be promoting
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So, I guess that means that I should remove my story before trying to get it published, right?
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On the SW Terms Of Use page, it says:
"First publication rights
Publication houses often deal in terms of "first publication rights". It is our experience that temporary online publication does not constitute "first publication", but we make no guarantee that any publisher you may deal with in the future will agree. By participating in this site, you release us of any responsibility for your first publication rights."
So, it would depend on the agent, or publisher, really. Some look upon it as not published, but others, that deal in eBooks along with paper, might consider it as published. I think the same might be if you self published to have a 'novel' to show them... it's 'published'.
I know there's a site on the net about it.. I remember reading it once. If I can find it, I'll post it.
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Well, if I remove it so that there is no trace of any of my story online, that would make it ok, wouldn't it?
I view this site the same way I view livejournal though. You write something, post it online, and get feedback. Are blogs on livejournal ever considered to be "published"?
Oh, and as for the part about doing an online publisher so I can have a novel to show, I can have my story printed out in book form at Kinko's
but then it'll still be 8.5 X 11 paper... *shrugs* it's something, right?
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Apologies for changing the subject - but whats wrong with Potter fanfic ? (not that I write or support it)
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He means that there are too many people who write Potter fanfics and that the "genre" is crowded and has no more room left.
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Fanfiction is violating copyright. Using someone's characters is violating copyright. Using someone's world is violating copyright.
So, technically, fanfiction is violating copyright, which is why I don't support it in the least. -
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Fanfiction is okay as long as the original author gives you permission. From what I remember from an article Barb wrote, you can usually go to the writer's website and see what requirements they request that you put on your work, if they allow fanfiction.
If you go to the sci-fi/fantasy section of a bookstore, you'll find loads of Star Wars books written by many different people. Those people get paid to write those books, but George Lucas gets royalties too. Oh, and then there's Dragonlance, whose original authors are Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman, but there are now over 100 Dragonlance books written by I-don't-know-how-many authors. -
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Yeah, but I think Dragonlance and Star Wars are more shared worlds than anything. I dunno though, I haven't read them.
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Also I just plain don't like it.
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If you have exhausted all of the common markets, then I say self-publishing is the way to go.
It's kind of scary, but a lot of fresh writers have started realizing profits this way.
The publishers play it safe. They must, if they are to stay in business. As such, they will only publish that which they are certain will sell - and this typically means well-known authors with a great track record. Even then, it often takes 1-3 years to sell.
If you self-publish, then you will need to promote yourself heavily, but if you beliee in your book enough, this will come naturally.
Then, when you sell enough copies, approach a publisher. Heck you might even just keep self-publishing if you're doing really well.
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I just want to publish books for the sake of fame, not money... Anyone knows of any companies in which you relinquish royalties to the publishers? -
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You're trying to get published to get famous? You're not going to be able to get there easily, which is what I'll tell you right now.
Build up a fanbase, Hannah. Get yourself a website as well.
You're not going to get famous easily. It's rare when a new author gets famous like that. *Snaps finger*
Good luck though! : D
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Why not try Lulu.com Publishing?
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Are you a sales rep for Lulu?
Ok I finally went and checked these guys out. I must say there is a lot of crap on there, you know, lots of cliches and badly edited work, even by my standards. I did manage to find some interesting work, perhaps even somethings I would purchase.
Could it perhaps be damaging to publish in such a mixed environment? -
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Personally, I only see online self-publishing as a last resort... and I mean that I'd rather go through ten drafts of a story before getting it published professionally than doing it online.
I think it's the convenience that draws people to POD sites. It's the whole idea of "Hey, I'm a published* author!" but nobody sees the asterisk which directs to the fine print at the bottom that says...
* = through an online company that doesn't care how good or bad your work really is which really makes me seem lazy, eh? -
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There are a lot of famous authors that got started through self-publishing. It's the authors that publish on POD after one write (no editing), that makes it look shoddy at times.
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I can understand that then.
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It is a last resort, but for someone unable to get published who believes their story to be worthy - it is atleast somewhat viable.
Eragon was a self published book, though I don't know who it was published through.
Sometimes a book fails to get published, not because it isn't good, but because the market doesn't believe the book to be viable.
Sometimes the publishers are wrong, like in the case of Eragon.
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I've heard bad things about Eragon after people finished Eldest. Like how everyone knew how the third book was going to go and how it was going to end.
But, yeah, he was published still. From what I heard it was mostly a big hit only because he was seventeen when he wrote it and then his friends got in on advertising it.
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I thought that self publishers don't help market the book. How did eragon get so popular?
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Got a New York agent , still waiting over a year on.....
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Adding your reply:
spikeyness
Nov 13 9:01 PM 2007
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