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So this is Part Two in a series of posts detailing what I’ve learned about writing and publishing over the past three -ish years on my road to finishing my novel and working with an agent and eventually trying to get published. For Part One, go here, and make sure to read about how I’m totally not an expert and check out all the helpful links that can educate FAR more than I can.
With that out of the way, I’m going to tell you my story, for my novel and what my experience has been. That doesn’t mean it’s everyone’s experience, or that you should expect it to go similarly for you, but it might at least be helpful in reading about how the process has been working for me. This installment is primarily about AGENTS.
I finished the first totally complete draft of my novel in January of 2007. I had been working on it (among other projects) off and on (and while working full time – and picking up my life and moving from Los Angeles to New York) since sometime in late 2004. Many people can do it faster than that. I hope my next one will come faster but that’s how long it took me to get my first novel to “the end”. And to top everything off this draft was short to boot. Clocking in at only 55k words, a length that is “technically” too short for most fiction, even YA (young adult), but there it was. Complete.
So I started the process of having a few people read it. As this was my first time finishing a novel I didn’t have any beta readers. A beta reader can be defined I suppose as someone that doesn’t have a personal investment in you (like your boyfriend, best friend, parents, siblings, etc.) and it’s usually somebody that is also either a writer or an editor, or at a minimum a voracious reader. Though I find you’re better off with the former as their notes tend to be more focused and the critique more intensive. So though I didn’t have beta readers technically, I did have some amazing people in my life that were writers and artists that I hoped would be able to separate their affection for me from their ability to constructively critique the manuscript. This sort of worked and after getting feedback from three or four friends I embarked on revisions.
I finished the revisions in April of 2007 and sat on the new manuscript for nearly four months.
I don’t post a lot on this blog about writing – save a few random comments about what’s going on with my novel and my “rejection status updates” I have deliberately tried to avoid making this a blog about writing. I think I’ve stayed away from this for two main reasons.
#1. I tend to find most blogs about writing a little the same and dull and I doubt I have much unique to add to the discussion.
#2. Many people who know WAY more than me already do it MUCH better.
Super secret reason #3 is that most of the time I’d just rather rant about comics.
All that said, something happened a few weeks ago that made me want to do a post about writing – specifically a post about what I’ve learned over the past three(ish) years about publishing and agents and “how it all works”. As I started writing it turned into a four part post, focusing on different aspects of publishing. This is PART ONE and it’s about SCAMS.
Please keep in mind while reading this that there are still innumerable things I have yet to learn. By most standards I’m still a rookie. If you have a manuscript and are trying to get an agent, or want to be a writer, or want to educate yourself about scams, or just want to learn more about publishing I’d suggest checking out any and all of the following:
Absolute Write, The Rejecter, Duotrope, Writer Beware, Miss Snark, and Pub Rants
Oookay. All of that out of the way. A friend of mine that has a solid childrens book manuscript almost got scammed the other day…which is what prompted the idea for this first post. Now, the person that “scammed” her was actually much more upfront than most in that he acknowledged that there would be money involved in getting her published. This is usually called Vanity or Subsidy publishing. While this gentlemen appeared to be more honest than your average scammer, he still largely presented himself as a “legitimate publisher” that would “love to see her work”, when in fact, if you are paying money you are either self publishing or vanity publishing or getting scammed (the latter two often going hand in hand). My friend, like many honest hardworking writers, jumped at the opportunity and sent him her manuscript. When talking about it with her I heard her mention paying money and I had to slam the breaks on her excitement.
A legitimate publisher never asks you for a penny. NEVER. The publisher pays you. You do not pay the publisher. In fact, as a writer, you pay for nothing (except perhaps postage to send your ms to agents or publishers when you are seeking one if you choose to go the snail mail route). You do not pay agents. You do not pay reading fees. You do not pay editors. You do not pay for a “web page” to help “market” your book. As a writer YOU. DO. NOT. PAY. EVER.
Eleanor Bluestein, the author of Tea and Other Ayama Na Tales, was kind enough to take some time out of her busy interview and PR schedule for her book tour to answer some questions. If you missed my review of Ms. Bluestein’s novel last week you can find it here.
Also, the winner of Wednesday’s contest is Kim V. – proud recipient of a free copy of Tea and Other Ayama Na Tales, courtesy of Ms. Bluestein and TLC Book Tours.
1979 SEMIFINALIST: Welcome Ms. Bluestein – thank you for taking the time to speak with me here on 1979 Semi-Finalist.
ELEANOR: Thank you for having me Kelly.
1979 SEMIFINALIST: While creating fictional countries, languages, and worlds are quite common in science fiction and fantasy short fiction, it tends to be more rare in traditional literary short fiction – what inspired you to create the fictional universe of Ayama Na where all the stories in Tea and Other Ayama Na Tales takes place?
ELEANOR: Some years ago I wrote a novel set in a futuristic world. It was never published, but an imagined universe isn’t unprecedented for me. The South East Asian setting, however, is new. I was inspired to write Tea and Other Ayama Na Tales by my travels to Thailand, Singapore, Viet Nam, and especially Cambodia, a country still recovering from a genocide and, at the same time, coping with rapid modernization. I wanted to try to imagine what that felt like. As the stories evolved, I saw that I was combining elements of settings from various countries, so it seemed natural at some point to create a new country.
1979 SEMIFINALIST: You even went so far in your creation of this country as to create an Ayama Na language and you use it in your stories – how did you come up with the language?