Post your Progress Thread

**Triceratops** · October 5th, 2012, 11:43 PM

Came off a two-day free trial period for The War Gate and made some sales. Just dropped the price to $1.99, hoping it picks up some more.

I now have 39 submissions out to some pretty good houses, many of which pay at least a token advance and higher. So the waiting begins on that. Trying to gain some steam in my content writing for DMS and Textbroker. Many quite a bit of money last month, but it's slowed down a little now.

chris

**tmso** · October 6th, 2012, 03:49 PM

Originally Posted by Triceratops

Many quite a bit of money last month, but it's slowed down a little now.

That's great, Tri! If I may ask, how many books/short stories/what-nots do you have for sale at the moment?

**Triceratops** · October 6th, 2012, 04:44 PM

I made some sales last month, is what I meant to say--you never get huge cash dumps for books unless they're bestsellers.

Thanks for asking, tmso.

I have the novel Planet Janitor Custodian of the Stars and its two prequel short called Planet Janitor Journey Interrupted and Planet Janitor the Moon is not Enough.

The Wolfen Strain, a Crichton-esque werewolf book--thriller

And The War Gate, a paranormal romance/thriller.

One link (below), and then clicking on my name should bring them all up at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Planet-Janitor...0380990&sr=1-2

**MrBF1V3** · October 7th, 2012, 02:17 PM

Submitted a novel to a publisher that warns they would take up to a year to consider.

Received a rejection e-mail within six hours.

...wondering if there's a message in this.

B5

**PeteMC** · October 8th, 2012, 02:40 AM

I think the message is probably "their slush pile was nearly empty". Who was it?

**roozmarry871** · October 8th, 2012, 03:18 AM

good sharing thanks for this really really good sharing.. keep it up..

**MrBF1V3** · October 8th, 2012, 08:32 AM

Originally Posted by PeteMC

I think the message is probably "their slush pile was nearly empty". Who was it?

Marcher Lord Press.

It's like when your kid is the first one eliminated in dodge ball. I'm sure I'll get over it pretty quick, but it never hurts to question, to reassess and to improve.

It is a story I'd really like to see in print though...

B5

**kmtolan** · October 8th, 2012, 08:33 AM

Simply means they are not reading any submissions at all - just turning them around. You never even got looked at, so don't bother wondering what "went wrong".

Kerry

**Wulfen** · October 8th, 2012, 02:35 PM

Originally Posted by Triceratops

The Wolfen Strain, a Crichton-esque werewolf book--thriller

I am indeed strained.

OT: Glad to see the work paying off. I am hard at work writing scenes/chapters for my work-in-progress. Not ready to reveal too much at the moment, but very happy with how it's turning out so far, even though I know I will probably need serious revision once I get it finished.

**Wulfen** · October 10th, 2012, 10:55 AM

Now over 5,000 words into my novel, and for the first time I have a good, general layout of how this story will play out. I'm prepared to branch off if the characters demand it, but it's been nice getting a process down that works for me. After years of reading how-to books, I never thought it would turn out so simple in comparison: I just had to start at the end, find a beginning, and then figure out how the characters got from point A to point Z. It sounds simple now, to me, but I labored for years trying to make it linear, and I just couldn't get it going.

**wdavidson** · October 11th, 2012, 12:49 AM

Originally Posted by Wulfen

It sounds simple now, to me, but I labored for years trying to make it linear, and I just couldn't get it going.

Too true! For me I had a plot clearly in mind but every time I came to write it the story kept wanting to go off in different directions. My problem was not having enough confidence in my knowledge of the characters to "let" them branch off, in the way that you are talking about. Once I had that, everything became more simple.

I say "simple", but of course everything's relative. Because of other commitments it has still taken me two years' slog to get to the point where I have a finished and edited version of the book that I am happy enough with to think about submitting. Still the satisfaction of finally being able to write "The End" at the end, and mean it, is not to be underestimated!

Sillak - have you had much interest in your short story? I have wondered whether something like that would be a good promotional tool if/when I ever have something to promote...

**Wulfen** · October 11th, 2012, 12:38 PM

Close to 8,000 words down now, and very close to the most I've ever written on a dedicated piece. As a notorious 'start but never finish' guy, this is new ground for me; I'm pumped.