A newbie needs some help....

mirandashell · Apr 5, 2010

So... I've written my novel. I like it. The two people who have read it like it. So what now?

I started writing the novel because of Nanowrimo. And now it's done I've got no idea what to do next. I've had a look through the threads on here but I'm still lost. I don't know what an 'ms', a 'full' or a 'query' actually are..... Dumb I know.

Could anyone help me out and tell me what's next or point me to the right place to find out? (This is a very big board!)

Thank you.

Maryn · Apr 5, 2010

Our pleasure.

Ms. is short for manuscript. That's your novel in its unpublished state. (Maybe it can be friends with mine--they have so much in common, being unpublished and all.)

A full is short for full manuscript. An agent or publisher who's intrigued by your query--more on that in a second--may ask for a full, or a partial. I bet you're ahead of me on what partial stands for, huh?

A query is a one-page business letter to an agent or publisher telling a bit about your novel and your writing credentials, if any. There's an art to writing queries; I'm not the only person who finds them harder than the novel. There's a link around here someplace with lots more. I'll go find it and edit it in. Edit: Our board about Query Letters, aptly named Query Letter Hell, has a number of posts stickied which are well worth reading, in essence a pretty detailed how-to. Enjoy!

Maryn, pleased to meet you

Kateness · Apr 5, 2010

Okay, unpublished here as well, but this is what I've gleaned so far.

You need to do your research on how you want to proceed with publishing your work. A good place outside this site for checking for agents is agentquery.com. When you find an agent (or a publishing house) that you think you'd like to submit to, make sure you do a check in the Bewares and Background Check forum

If you're not sure whether or not your work is ready to be submitted, you can always post some of your stuff in the genre-appropriate subforum of Share Your Work (password vista). Or you can ask for a Beta Reader

And as you're almost certainly going to need a query letter at some point, check Query Letter Hell (under the Share Your Work forum) and check out the stickies there for some very useful tips.

But most of all...take a deep breath. It's all going to be fine. Honest.

mirandashell · Apr 5, 2010

Thank you so much for that info, Maryn! And it's nice to meet you too.

I'm starting to think that writing the book was actually the easy bit......

mirandashell · Apr 5, 2010

Thanks Kateness!

I'll have a look at the Beta readers forum.

cate townsend · Apr 5, 2010

Welcome, mirandashell. Maryn has good advice above. One of the best things I did when I was first starting out was join a local writing group with published writers. I also joined a national writer's organization. I could write a novella here on all the things you could do, but I'll leave it to others to chime in with advice. Good luck!

Danthia · Apr 5, 2010

I have two blog posts that can offer lots of advice and links. The first is:

A First Look at a First Draft, with things I look for when I start to do my revision process
You've Written a Novel. Now What? is a post on the submission process. It has links to sites like agentquery and Preditors & Editors and other helpful sites.

There's a lot more there as well, look in the label section under "submitting" or "Query" or "revision" for any other specific areas.

mirandashell · Apr 5, 2010

Thanks Cate and Danthia!

Toothpaste · Apr 5, 2010

And I too have some posts on the subject:

So You Want to Get Published: Getting An Agent
So You Want to Get Published: From Agent to Publisher

wheelwriter · Apr 5, 2010

I'm just chiming in to stress the importance of checking with Preditors & Editors , and also the Bewares and Background Checks threads on this site before querying any agents/publishers. There are quite a few scams out there that prey on people who are new to the business and want to get published. AW is a great resource.

Old Hack · Apr 6, 2010

Welcome to the Cooler. You've already been given some really good advice, and I'd just like to add this bit: if you've just finished your first draft of your first novel, it is going to need revision. Probably lots of it. Don't even think about trying to get it published until you've polished and tightened it as much as you can and then some: you only really get one chance to submit it to each agent and publisher, and you want it to be as good as it can be when it goes out.

Good luck!

blackink · Apr 6, 2010

Old Hack said:
Welcome to the Cooler. You've already been given some really good advice, and I'd just like to add this bit: if you've just finished your first draft of your first novel, it is going to need revision. Probably lots of it. Don't even think about trying to get it published until you've polished and tightened it as much as you can and then some: you only really get one chance to submit it to each agent and publisher, and you want it to be as good as it can be when it goes out.

Good luck!

All true.

You say that two people read it and liked it? That's good, but you need beta readers--those who will read your MS critically and will give you feedback. Those who will read like writers, not like readers.

The novel might seem complete to you, but it is still your first draft. Leave it for a couple of months. I used to think I didn't need this stage--hah! Luckily I got rejections on my early queries, and therefore had about a year from the moment I thought I finished the novel (and that was 4-5 revisions already) to actually finish it.

I recently signed with an agent, and last week I finally finished one more round of revisions. And by this time I thought the novel was done. Now I will wait for the agent's feedback, and more revisions might be in order.

This said, congratulations on finishing! Finishing a novel is a huge achievement. Well done!

mirandashell · Apr 6, 2010

Thank you!

I was wondering about the whole first draft thing. I know in my head that it's too short. But ..... I just can't think of any more to put in that won't derail the story. It feels finished but maybe I'm just too close it at the moment.

sissybaby · Apr 6, 2010

Hi, mirandashell, nice to meet you.

I can't add anything else to what others have suggested, except there are some good sites out there with more information than you could imagine.

Congratulations on finishing a novel. I finished one once. Now I need to go back and revise it for about the zillionth time. It will still probably be a drawer liner, but it's something to do while I procrastinate on finishing the others. Oops, we aren't supposed to use the "P" word around here. Forgot.

Anyway, I hope to see you around the forums.

Sissy

Al Ross · Apr 6, 2010

The advice I want to give you is: Start writing your second book.

mirandashell · Apr 7, 2010

Why?

Sorry that was a bit abrupt. A couple of people have said that to me and I'm just not sure why.

I do have an idea for a second book already brewing. But it's just difficult to get my head out of the first one.

blackink · Apr 7, 2010

mirandashell said:
Why?

Sorry that was a bit abrupt. A couple of people have said that to me and I'm just not sure why.

I do have an idea for a second book already brewing. But it's just difficult to get my head out of the first one.

Exactly so that you can get your head out of the first one! This will give you perspective and distance. You are not just waiting to gain the distance from your first--you are working on something else. Otherwise there's the danger of getting stuck and perfecting the first one forever.

I'm sure there are other reasons as well.

mirandashell · Apr 7, 2010

Ah! I see. Actually that's not a bad idea. It's just that I don't want to put the first one down and never, ever go back to it. But then that's down to my self-discipline, isn't it?

blackink · Apr 7, 2010

mirandashell said:
Ah! I see. Actually that's not a bad idea. It's just that I don't want to put the first one down and never, ever go back to it. But then that's down to my self-discipline, isn't it?

The idea is not to abandon your first baby, not at all! It is to keep on writing while you wait for the right time to go back to the first.

cate townsend · Apr 8, 2010

Al Ross said:
The advice I want to give you is: Start writing your second book.

Excellent advice.

shaldna · Apr 9, 2010

There's a dictionary of terms somewhere in one of the stickies.

kullervo · Apr 9, 2010

What is your word count, by the way? You mention you think it's too short.

mirandashell · Apr 9, 2010

It's 34K. And from what I've seen it's too long for a short story and not long enough for a novel.

My lord, it needs revising! LOL!

cspradbery · Apr 9, 2010

mirandashell said:
It's 34K. And from what I've seen it's too long for a short story and not long enough for a novel.

My lord, it needs revising! LOL!

Just wanted to stop in and say hi - i'm another Newbie! I have to say i've found this forum invaluable. I got most of my info from these pages when I finished my manuscript and it's been such a great help.

Is 34K a novella length? I'm not sure about these things, but congrats anyway - what an achievement to finish! It feels good, doesn't it?

Good luck on the revisions - I second what the others have said and think starting your second MS is a great idea. The best way to step back from your first baby and come back fresh.

mirandashell · Apr 10, 2010

Hi other newbie!

Yes, it did feel good to finish it. Until I realised that the hard work starts now! LOL!

Never again will I begrudge the price of a book.......

A newbie needs some help....

mirandashell

Maryn

I Tried

Kateness

mirandashell

mirandashell

cate townsend

Danthia

mirandashell

Toothpaste

THE RECKLESS RESCUE is out now!

wheelwriter

Not a runner, running.

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

blackink

mirandashell

sissybaby

Al Ross

mirandashell

blackink

mirandashell

blackink

cate townsend

shaldna

The cake is a lie. But still cake.

kullervo

minion

mirandashell

cspradbery

Best before 1998

mirandashell