Medical Update/Life Update
Torgrimmer
Member Posts: 331
in Off-Topic
Howdy family, its me Josh, long time no see everyone, its been good to see everyone on the forums reading everyone posts the last few months, I enjoyed it much. It feels good to be cancer free at last and I thank everyone for their prayers and thoughts through this time of trial my family and I went through and I want to say thank you so much to you all for all that you have done. Especially to Beamdog for the gifts they sent me, thank you guys!
My family wants to say thank you also to the out pouring of prayers and especially my new wife, Danielle, She is amazing. I love her so much. She is a God sent and blessing. Plus i get to paint her toes weekly, hehe snork, makes me happy. lol.
Back on topic
I started to write my fantasy Novel and i am in the process of looking for a publisher so any help would be nice and grateful. The Novel is based off of my character from NWN:EE a female Human LG Bard (Loremaster).
I'll keep you guys posted bc the hospital wants to have me be there spokes person for there brain cancer campaign.
My family wants to say thank you also to the out pouring of prayers and especially my new wife, Danielle, She is amazing. I love her so much. She is a God sent and blessing. Plus i get to paint her toes weekly, hehe snork, makes me happy. lol.
Back on topic
I started to write my fantasy Novel and i am in the process of looking for a publisher so any help would be nice and grateful. The Novel is based off of my character from NWN:EE a female Human LG Bard (Loremaster).
I'll keep you guys posted bc the hospital wants to have me be there spokes person for there brain cancer campaign.
22
Comments
Honestly do not want to advertise for them, some authors have also complained about how they have been treated; but might be worth a look to get your foot in the market?
I'm currently searching for a literary agent as well. Based on what I've read, this is a very long process and can take months, or in some cases years, before it comes to fruition (I'm already several weeks in). Bear in mind that you'll need a finished manuscript before you can expect to find a literary agent who will want to represent it.
I've been finding agents via AgentQuery.com, which lets you search for the right genre of agent--there are lots of agents around, and they tend to specialize in just a handful of genres they find personally interesting. AgentQuery.com's information isn't always fully up-to-date, so you'll want to look up the agent's website to make sure you know how to approach them. Different agents expect different types of queries: some want just the basic query letter, some want a synopsis, some want a writing sample of a certain size, some want an author bio, and so on. Most agents rely on a email, but a fair number still work only via snail mail, some only accept queries via a special online form on their website, and some don't accept unsolicited queries.
Look up how to write query letters and how to write a synopsis for the book. There are some standard practices you'll want to follow to make sure your query is professional, and in order to increase the chance of getting a literary agent, you'll want to personalize your queries so they'll appeal to the agent in question. The queries that get responses (and these are a very small percentage, sometimes just 1%) tend to be customized to the agent and ideally should compare your work to other, similar books in the industry.
A lot of writers do very intensive research into the field, reading lots of other books in the genre and figuring out which agents represented which authors, and then querying agents based on that research, rather than finding agents via a database like AgentQuery.com. Even if you don't go this deep, you should make sure you know where your book fits into the market.
Some "agents" are actually scams. If they charge you a fee for reading your work, or if they don't have a list of books they've gotten published, you should ignore them. Real agents make money by publishing books; not by charging reading fees.
Expect rejection, and expect it a lot. Querying is a finicky process, and as much as agents want to represent books, agents have limited time and most spend only a very small amount of time looking for new authors, so they tend to focus on the books that appeal to them the most. A rejection doesn't mean your work isn't good enough; it just means that the book isn't right for the agent in question. Querying dozens of agents without getting an offer of rejection is perfectly normal, even for the more successful authors.
Traditional publishing by getting a literary agent might be slower, but it's the best way to make money and the best way to make sure lots of people read your stuff. Self-publishing is easier, but since there are no gatekeepers to keep out lower-quality books and there is no real advertising to promote those books, self-published books tend to sit on a shelf or get buried in a mountain of digital books. Most people don't end up reading self-published books, and for those that do, they're choosing from a much larger pool of books.
There's a lot more information about publishing than I myself know, so you'll want to Google these issues and figure out what your next steps are.
As for writing, @semiticgod had a lot of enlightening things to say about agents. If I can offer further advice it's that an agent, while helpful, isn't necessarily essential - not at the beginning, anyway. Emerging writers often publish short fiction on their own in literary journals to build up credibility, and then approach publishers and/or agents directly with their first book idea. As I understand it, agents are usually more interested in writers who have already published, and whose work they can therefore more easily sell. That's not to rule the idea out, just to think about other options.
As for craft: I don't know how long you've been writing, but if you're starting out I'd keep in mind that it takes time to get good. No one just writes a book out of the blue and gets published. Like any art it takes practice and dedication. So if you're literally just starting writing, I'd not be in a rush to send things to agents or publishers. I'd take a studied approach. I'd take classes and workshops to hone your skills. I recommend Janet Burroway's Writing Fiction (if I'd only known about this book when I started writing I'd have saved myself years that were wasted by practicing my own mistakes). Ignore this paragraph if you're already seasoned, of course.
About self-publishing, my personal opinion is that it's not a good route to go. While the traditional publishing model is a bitch, there's a lot to be said for getting honest opinions from editors. You will get rejected a lot - every writer does, even the greats. But the process is ultimately more conducive to good art, as you will get brutally honest - and hopefully insightful - feedback.
Full disclaimer, I'm an almost-published writer who's had a long, long lapse after hitting a bad bump of writer's block and reaching a point where the practice of writing became existentially painful. I hope to return to it someday. Maybe soon. All this is to say I'm just another humble student of the writing game, so of course my opinion should be taken with a shaker of salt. Keep asking questions and doing research. Don't be afraid to approach other writers, whether by emailing them or saying hi at book fairs, taking classes and workshops, etc..
Best of luck - and have fun! Maybe we forumites will one day be bragging about how we knew you before you were famous.