Originally Posted by pcarney
That was a scam done on purpose to see if PublishAmerica would publish it... There is a thread somewhere about it. Rocket Sheep would know
That was a scam done on purpose to see if PublishAmerica would publish it... There is a thread somewhere about it. Rocket Sheep would know
pcarney-What was the name of that book? (It'll come to me in a minute, then I'll edit it in.) The whole point of that scam was to prove 'vanity' publishers will publish ANYTHING. (What was the one about the elf-vampires? I laughed until I cried over the review.)
On the other hand, I have no trouble believing that if I were to see anything of mine published, a scam would have to be at the root of it. For now I'm what maus called a writer. I put together stories, share them with friends and family (,and sometimes ssfworld). No pay, but it does keep me occupied and out of trouble.
Besides, I wouldn't give up my day job for the world (though I would transfer it to another location for better compensation).
The strategy would be to write something marketable which you enjoy, and if you really put some thought into it, you would write the stuff which will be popular in about nine months.
Holbrook-Back to the shadows I see...nice avitar.
B5
David, I think Laurell Hamilton may have struck first there ...
Atlanta Nights by Travis Tea (GET IT?)
Yep...Kirby made me this one years ago. It suits the way I am feeling at present.
Her publicity campaign and hype-machine also seems to endure...
To be fair I have nothing against Harry Potter, but I do resent the commercial tidal wave that accompanies her work. I don't think of Rowling as a writer, or even a story-teller, but more as the head of a literary empire which shows no sign of relenting (despite the fact that the books, arguably, have been getting worse as the series goes on).
But this is one aspect of the publishing industry we have to deal with. You just have to keep optimistic and cling to the hope that genuine talent will eventually get recognized.
Perhaps it might be comforting if I remind everyone that The Beatles (the biggest band ever, as we all well know) were rejected by almost every record company under the sun before they finally got a deal.
Just keep writing, and keep your chins up!
Damn, I knew it was too good to be true! Maybe I'll have to add another hook to make my own little romantic/zombie/vampire/aliens/time travel niche...
The other way of looking at that Times article is that a book should be published on merit. What VS Naipaul wrote in the 70's may not be any indication of what he is writing now or whether it's any good or not. And if his latest book doesn't do it for the publisher they are right not to publish it, regardless of who it's by. Surely it is better that way than older generations of writers getting all the contracts for just churning out any old rubbish on the strength of their name?
If you apply this argument to music, there are loads of artists who made great albums in the '70's who are now just rehashing the same old crap again and again. Should they be awarded megadeals on the basis of what they did 30 years ago?
Of course one's past achievements should be recognised, but it is also right that you are only as good as your new book in terms of publishability.
All of VS Naipaul's earlier work (of which I have read and liked a good deal) is still in print, and I have no doubt that he had no problem getting the recent, rejected work read by the top editors, which is 90% of the battle.
Not entirely on topic, but one little known fact about Dorveskty (sorry, I cannot spell the Mad Russian's name right) is that he wrote such long stuff on purpose--at the time, they paid by word and he had a LOT of gambling debts to pay off. So, without commercialism, we might not have had his fine ruminations on...well, just about everything.It's stuff like this that reinforce the "misunderstood genius" self-defense against one's growing rejection pile
I don't even know how to go about writing purely for commercial success. I'm guessing that it would require reading a lot of crap, so count me out. It's hard enough writing something that I like, much less trying to figure out what everyone else likes and then writing that.
"Naked Came the Manatee" was twelve (or thirteen?) chapters - each written by a different author. An amusing read and another example of odd things that can get published.
For anyone who wants to write full time or make a living out of this there is only one piece of advice I can offer.
Do it.
Quit school, your job, your life and sit down for ten hours a day six days a week and write. It doesnt matter what you write, or what you do with it. Just write. Its the hardest job in the world and you will sweat blood. In twelve months time you will probably look back at the first 6 months effort and cringe. But you may also be on the way to creating something that you are really proud of and that will fill a need in a publishig house's schedule in the next 5-10 years.
Last edited by Darkin; January 30th, 2006 at 07:08 AM.
Unfortunately, there's that whole food and shelter thing.
Which is why the successful get paid an advance
You can't get an advance until (a) you have written the novel, which we'll say takes a year, (b) found an agent for it, which might easily take another year, (c) the agent shops it around, which, if all goes very well, will take three to six months to get an offer (d), getting the contract takes another three months or so at minimum, and (e) only THEN will you get whatever advance money you're agent negotiated.Which is why the successful get paid an advance
In other words, you will be living in your parents' basment mooching off of them for at least two and a half years, and quite probably longer, or you will starve.
But at least you will be writing full time. Excuses wont get a novel published. So mooch off your parents, mooch off your partner or spouse. Have some shady character slice off a non-essential toe at work and claim workers compensation...get on welfare.
The reason Im saying if you are serious you should do this is because its the advice Jeffrey Archer gave a woman who told him she wanted to write successfully.
He told her to quit her job, and do it. Stay home for 12 months and write. Why? Because its damned hard work. You can do it as a hobby, as a sideline thing but if you really are serious do it full time.
Of course his background is comfortable middle-class English snobbery, so he could afford it and probably cant understand why we call can't.
I couldnt afford to quit my career for a year and write full time but its the idea of that kind of approach that I'm interested in. Treat writing as your career - write full time in the evenings or at weekends or something. Embrace the concept of full time writing for succes and you may achieve it...
Unfortunately, most people can't get past chat-room dialogue. They simply remain illiterate and unwanted. I know plenty of aspiring writers who had paragraphs without periods. It's difficult to know whether or not it is too late for today's youth; including me. Some people don't take the time to write and, as the article stated, spend more time with forms of entertainment that hand-feed them factoids and fiction. I'm so embarassed with todays society that it makes me cringe with stomach pains.
However, it is true that people have become so callous that they will not be willing to accept that a young writer can, indeed, do very well against all odds. When they do, it is very rare, and it is rarer still when a publisher sees it. Sometimes the publishers know exactly what they're doing, but most of the time they cannot bear to let the work of a youth go by without turning up their noses.
I couldn't care either way, for now. But in the meantime I continue to work hard despite what other people might say. If one publisher doesn't like my book, I go on to another one, and from there I would go on to another one and so forth, despite the fact that it would be tedious and annoying.
As for quitting a job to write? My mentor, John Morressy, once said, "Don't quit your day job." A lot of people say that, but what he said to me was that a writers life is an uncertain one. Hard, cruel and forbidding. Only the good and the brave attempt good writing, and by the time you've got the knack you're too old to have an imagination. So, always go into writing with a grain of salt in your pocket, but remember to never let ANYTHING get you down. Whenever you get the chance, just write and write. Let other priorities go first, but sacrifice what needs to be sacrificed and write. It's not something to do in your free time, it IS your free time.
Last edited by Merancapeman; January 30th, 2006 at 03:22 PM.
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