Has anyone written a novel?

[MonkeyPie]

I woke up this morning after a dream with a great book plot in my head - it happens often, but this is the first time I have wanted to actually write it. Has anyone here ever written a novel and gone through the publishing process? If it turns out decent I''d like to know my prospects.

I remember that someone here got published but I forget who it was. Advice, please!

 

[elrohwen]

I haven''t, but my mom wrote a book about how to get through the transition years from high school to college with your teenager (she''s a child psychologist). She hasn''t been able to get it published yet, but I don''t think she''s trying that hard because she mostly wrote it to keep her busy during a slow time. She does have a good friend who writes novels and works to get them published though. She said the most helpful thing is to get involved with writer''s groups because people have such good information and tips. I think she also mentioned trying to get an agent so they could shop your book around.

What''s your book going to be about? I love novels

 

[lyra]

I don''t have any advice other than to say keep on writing!!! If there''s a book inside you, it needs to come out. Worry about the details later. I have a good friend who is a writer, and she''s in the process of finishing her masters in literature right now, and from her I know a bit about the agony that is getting published. Don''t give up. Good luck!

 

[Liane]

Date: 7/2/2009 12:18:29 PM
Author:MonkeyPie
I remember that someone here got published but I forget who it was. Advice, please!

The first step, unsurprisingly, is to write and finish the manuscript.

 

[MonkeyPie]

Date: 7/2/2009 12:30:54 PM
Author: Liane

Date: 7/2/2009 12:18:29 PM

Author:MonkeyPie

I remember that someone here got published but I forget who it was. Advice, please!

The first step, unsurprisingly, is to write and finish the manuscript.

LOL oh yes, of course! I''m trying not to get ahead of myself - I have started novels before and lost my thread halfway through, but this particular one seems to be going crazy in my head. It wants out!

And to be honest, I''m not sure what genre it would even fall in. I don''t have all the details worked out yet - just a few pieces that I already have plotted out from dreamland.

 

[Selkie]

MP, SanDiegoLady''s husband has had a book published (police fiction, I think), a couple years ago: https://www.pricescope.com/forum/hangout/touting-my-husband-s-horn-t72091.html. And I do remember someone else who was in the process...maybe it was IndependentGal? But hers was a technical textbook, I believe. Can''t find her thread about it.

 

[Liane]

Roads to publication vary, but mine was pretty standard:

Wrote short stories --> submitted short stories --> published short stories.

Wrote novel --> submitted novel to agents --> got an agent --> agent subbed to publishers --> got two-book deal (fairly common in genre fiction; I think literary fiction tends to be more one book at a time, especially for new writers, but I know very little about how literary fiction works).

I think that it is helpful to start in short fiction just because it teaches you the discipline of finishing projects as you start them, encourages economy of prose (you just don''t have a lot of words to waste on digressions and fillers in short stories), and helps you learn how to handle editorial feedback and rejection. Submitting short fiction will also give you a general sense of whether your prose is publishable. If you''re getting form letters, you might want to work on the basic mechanics of storytelling a bit. If you''re getting personal feedback and paid publications, you''re probably okay. (Not that we can''t all always improve, but at least you know you''re good enough for people to give you money for it.)

I''m not sure what the rules are for posting links in this forum, but if you Google Nathan Bransford, Kristin Nelson, Jessica Faust and Miss Snark, they all have extremely informative and helpful blogs that can show you how to get through the submission process once you''re ready for that stage.

But first things first: finish the manuscript. Then worry about all the rest.

 

[Aloros]

Wrote a book, submitted it to agencies, got very close to obtaining an agent a couple times, but was cited economic reasons for being turned down. By the time you finish writing it, I''m sure the market will be better though!

I made a few revisions and am going to start submitting it again once I get back from my honeymoon

In terms of advice...write the book. Let it sit for at least a few months before going back to revise. You may think you''re ready to revise it as soon as you finish the rough draft, but I''ve found it is absolutely necessary to get some distance from the book so you can see it with an impartial eye!

Join writing groups. Post your writing for feedback. Find people who you can trust to be honest, who have close attention to detail, and who are prolific readers. Recruit them to be your beta readers.

Friends and family members will usually LOVE whatever you write, but it doesn''t mean you should trust their opinions!

And, you cannot trust statistics. Only a very small percentage of books get published, and an even smaller percentage of those are very successful. Write a good book and it will find a publisher. Write a poorly-written book and you won''t get published. Simple as that.

Set a daily, weekly, monthly word goal. Make yourself stick to it. Don''t slack off the next day if you exceed it. BIC - Butt In Chair is the only way to get that book finished. I found that it helped to estimate a final word count so I could estimate by when I would have the rough draft finished. Gave me a timeline to look forward to.

Grow a thick skin. Agents and editors will toss rejection at you more times than you can count on two hands. Not everyone is nice about it.

Learn to spot a scam. There are so many scams out there involving publishing. If anyone asks for $$, that should be an immediate warning sign. Agents take a % cut of your profits. They should never ask for money up front.

You can try to sell directly to a publisher, but you''ll usually get a better deal if you work with an agent.

Look up the Absolute Write forums. They are amazing for warning on scams, getting feedback, finding beta readers, and sharing your successes and your failures. Many professional and some highly successful authors frequent the forums - so they are great for been-there-done-that advice!

Hope that helps!

 

[innerkitten]

My mother does a lot of writing. She has a web site Trina Robbins dot com. She often has to shop around to find publishers.

 

[MonkeyPie]

Thanks for all the help, ladies! I don''t even have a chapter-by-chapter draft done yet, but I was curious to see if anyone here had made it through the process. I like the idea of sitting on the book for a few months once completed before revising - I tend to think it always looks great the first time around, but then later on think it''s crap. So we will see

 

[cindygenit]

Good luck monkeypie!!

My aunt is a novelist. She wrote a short novel that won an award and then a publishing company decided to publish her novel. She''s currently writing her third now, i think! My auntie is an architect who was always keen on writing when she was younger.

I look forward to one day reading your novel