Some Questions

Vuligora said:

1. I once heard someone say that a first time author (me) should not write any long books or series (my current project) as their first work. Something about not being able to get it published or somethin? Is this true and if so why? Personally I think as long as your work is good enough, they'll go for it, but still...any thoughts?

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Hi, Vuligora,

I am unpublished, and probably always will be, so you can take this with a grain of salt. One thing I do know is that it is VERY common for a writer not to publish his/her first book. The first one often turns out to be learning how to write a novel, coming out of it knowing how, and then doing it. This isn't the case for everyone, of course, but I've heard it from many, many people. If someone told you not to start with a series, maybe that person thought you would abandon your first work, and that you should practice on something else first. So you have to decide what you think. Maybe this will work out for you. If not, I don't see it being any worse that your first book was for a series, and not a single book. Either way, I'm sure you will learn something from it. Hope that makes sense.

You'll get a lot of help about the first two questions from people on this board who have more experience in publishing, but I'll see what I can answer, anyway.

1. I once heard someone say that a first time author (me) should not write any long books or series (my current project) as their first work. Something about not being able to get it published or somethin? Is this true and if so why? Personally I think as long as your work is good enough, they'll go for it, but still...any thoughts?

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Long books, which exceed the 90,000-110,000 word count range, are typically harder to sell than books of average length. If you're already published, getting those books of length published is easier, just because the publisher knows that you can write a good book, and write a good book that sells. A novice trying to sell a long book won't be ignored just because the book is long, but it better be a REALLY good book. (As your first book should be, anyway.)

The same idea follows for a series of books, it's easier for published authors, but not unheard of for new authors. (Ever heard of J.K. Rowling?) Key is, however, is to make sure that the first book can stand alone and has a solid, satisfying ending.

2. I also heard that it is bst not to write the entire series before publishing or releasing but to write a book, then release it before starting on the second book in the series. I always thought that the vis-virsa was best. Any thoughts?

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Technically, you can write and submit however you would like. However, submission and publishing takes a long time. If you spend ten years writing the series, and another five trying to submit, you may find it never sells. Better, in some opinions, to write the first book, start submitting it, and while the submission goes around, start the second.

3. I currently came across a part of my book were I know how the story ends and just about all of the major events but have no idea how to transition to an event or what event to put next. Help?

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This question has multiple answers, and it's a little fuzzy right now because I'm certainly not the author of your book. Try backing up to a point in the story where you know the chronologly is right. Start over from there, and maybe something new will fall into place on its own where you couldn't see it before. If that doesn't work, go back farther. Maybe there's something wrong in your beginning and isn't allowing for a natural setup with the rest of your major events.

As for your first two questions, I agree with the others. It needs to be saleable as a stand alone book (Harry Potter is a very good example). And it probably would be best to write and sell your first book before writing the rest for the simple fact that at that point, someone will probably be paying you to write the sequels and at the moment no one is.

As for your events, that's a tough question, especially not knowing the book. But I'm sure there are certain events that need to happen before and after others. Start with that. Or you could always start writing -- often when doing that it all becomes clear.

Good luck either way!

Vuligora said:

I didn't bother to fling all my questions into seperate threads because then that would be alot of threads taking up space, so here goes a few questions.

1. I once heard someone say that a first time author (me) should not write any long books or series (my current project) as their first work. Something about not being able to get it published or somethin? Is this true and if so why? Personally I think as long as your work is good enough, they'll go for it, but still...any thoughts?

2. I also heard that it is bst not to write the entire series before publishing or releasing but to write a book, then release it before starting on the second book in the series. I always thought that the vis-virsa was best. Any thoughts?

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I agree with what the others have said on this. I'm currently working on what I hope will be a series, but I've set it up so that the problem in whatever particular book I'm working on is wrapped up by the end of that book.

Vuligora said:

3. I currently came across a part of my book were I know how the story ends and just about all of the major events but have no idea how to transition to an event or what event to put next. Help?

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You'll only receive general replies because we don't know your story, as others have said. Maybe if you post a snippet we might be able to offer something more concrete.

~Nancy