View Full Version : Need Help - I'm Lost!! Got Advice to help ME?
:tongue Wow, I had my first novel published by PA (I know I was young and silly), but now I want to be published properly with an agent. Is this right? I've been sending out to agents according to their guidelines but am frustrated. Is online a money making and true type of publishing too? E-publishing I think??
Sorry, I am new to this, very overwhelmed. Thanks guys!
blackbird
10-27-2006, 07:00 AM
If your goal is to be an established and reputable author (you know, the kind whose books you actually see on bookstore shelves) your best bet is to go the traditional route. You're on the right track by submitting to agents. There really are no shortcuts. Things like POD and e-publishing may seem like attractive alternatives, but in the long run (as I'm sure you found out with PA) they really aren't going to give your work the kind of exposure or respect you want.
Blackbird
Thank you!!! Are their any tricks I should know? I'm using preditor/Editor to look at agents (I hear they are fairly updated on "bad" vs "good" agencies etc. Is there somewhere else? Something else? I feel like a fish out of water and I'm beginning to gasp desperately for that air!!
Check the Agent Query site http://www.agentquery.com/ to help identify agents, but be sure to check them all at P&E
You should also read through the Bewares and Backgrounds Checks forum here at AW. Have you done that?
The best way to identify agents to query is by looking at books similar to your own and seeing if the author thanks the agent in the acknowledgements, but you still need to check them out.
Saundra Julian
10-27-2006, 07:52 AM
Odie,
Welcome to AW. Sounds like you're on the right tract. If you want a good critique on your query, I would suggest the "Share Your Work" thread on this board. You can learn a lot from the members who are very generous with their time and always willing to lend a helping hand. I wish you the very best!
Thank you!! How do I find "Share your Work"?? Would definitely like to take a look. Is it looking me straight in the face and I'm going to feel like an idiot? heehee
It was staring me in the face! Thanks! I found it!
SeanDSchaffer
10-27-2006, 10:30 AM
:tongue Wow, I had my first novel published by PA (I know I was young and silly), but now I want to be published properly with an agent. Is this right? I've been sending out to agents according to their guidelines but am frustrated. Is online a money making and true type of publishing too? E-publishing I think??
Sorry, I am new to this, very overwhelmed. Thanks guys!
First and foremost, welcome to the Water Cooler from another former PA author. It is good to meet you.
Second, don't be too overwhelmed. There are lots of good resources (AW included) that can help you out. I would recommend not only Preditors & Editors, but also AgentQuery.com, which can help you find a good agent and generally the kind of queries they accept.
Third, don't be afraid to aim high. That's something Uncle Jim always says. In other words, don't think that just because you're a newbie author, you have to start at the bottom. If your story is good, and your writing well-done, you should be able to get a good house to handle your work. I would definitely recommend an agent to you, simply because they can query companies that don't accept unagented works.
Again, welcome to the Water Cooler. I hope you enjoy the site, and that you find the answers you are looking for.
icerose
10-27-2006, 07:58 PM
Welcome to AW, also from another former PA author.
I do have a question, are you trying to resell the printed book or have you written a new one?
CaroGirl
10-27-2006, 08:04 PM
The best advice is don't rush. Take your time. Your work was worth spending months (maybe years) writing, so do it a favour and spend some time doing quality research to discover how the publishing industry works and where to send your story to maximize its success.
Explore this site as thoroughly as you can. There's a lot of great information and advice on here, from how to write to how to publish and everything in between.
Welcome.
I would love to resell (away from PA) Haunted Love, but have two more manuscripts as well.
icerose
10-31-2006, 07:21 AM
I'm so glad to hear you aren't resting your career on one already published book!
My suggestion is to take a look around, take your time, keep writing, edit, revise, and repeat. Just about everything you could need concerning writing can be found here, if not, ask away. I'm sure someone knows the answer.
Also I strongly suggest posting the first five or so pages in the Share your work forum. It's amazing how much critiques can teach you about your own writing.
Icerose:
Do you have stuff published? Mine was Publish America, so not sure you can count that. heehee Want to be really published. Thanks for advise, did put a few pages out on the share area, so hopefully they are gentle on me!!
SeanDSchaffer
10-31-2006, 02:48 PM
Icerose:
Do you have stuff published? Mine was Publish America, so not sure you can count that. heehee Want to be really published. Thanks for advise, did put a few pages out on the share area, so hopefully they are gentle on me!!
The best way to get people to be gentle in their critiques, is to just say you want them to be gentle.
I know you weren't referring to me in your post, but I believe you're right. A PublishAmerica book is not considered a legitimate credit. This is due to a number of reasons, if I understand correctly. These reasons can include the size of the advance (which in my case was one dollar) and the size of the print run. Since PA uses Print-on-Demand technology, there are no real print runs to speak of, and therefore their books do not qualify for the size print runs needed to be considered a publishing credit.
I wish I could say I have stuff published right now, but I don't. The best thing to remember in this case, though, is that many unpublished writers, such as Icerose and myself, get our information from published authors on this and other boards. A large number of people on this board are published and through experience give wonderful advice to aspiring writers such as ourselves.
A good couple people I can think of, to really take note of their advice, would be James D. Macdonald (referred to here fondly as 'Uncle Jim') and Jamesaritchie. Both of them are published writers, as I understand it, and are extremely knowledgeable in the field.
There are other published writers on this board, but I find that the space required to list them all would be prohibitive, and also the exercise would be foolish on my part, because I don't know who all here is published, and who is not.
I hope this helps.
Momento Mori
10-31-2006, 03:47 PM
Odie:
Mine was Publish America, so not sure you can count that
There's a Forum here for fellow PA survivors here:
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=115
From what I've seen, most of the people who've suffered PA's machinations don't ever refer to their PA book as a writing credit because those in the real publishing industry don't regard PA as carrying any credibility.
There are a number of discussions on that Forum where posters who've had their rights returned to them talk about shopping around their PA published manuscript - many of them (from what I can see) do complete re-writes of those works before submitting them to agents/other publishers.
Odie:
heehee Want to be really published. Thanks for advise, did put a few pages out on the share area, so hopefully they are gentle on me!!
The one thing I'm going to say (and please, please don't take this the wrong way because I'm not doing it to dampen your enthusiasm) is that a large part of writing is about learning to accept rejection and developing a thick skin. I think it's best to start off wanting the gentle crit but then toughen up to wanting the whole opinion. That doesn't mean you want people to go out of their way to be mean, but it does mean that you need to know how to listen/read someone's opinion and either take those comments on board or let it roll over you.
Your manuscript might be pitch perfect and pick up an agent and publisher on the first round of submissions, but if it's not (and it's not for many, many people), don't take it personally and know that you've got to keep plugging away there.
Best of luck to you.
MM
icerose
10-31-2006, 07:02 PM
Icerose:
Do you have stuff published? Mine was Publish America, so not sure you can count that. heehee Want to be really published. Thanks for advise, did put a few pages out on the share area, so hopefully they are gentle on me!!
Just two with PA which absolutely don't count for you and could count against you as it did with my case when I still hadn't gotten the full picture. I failed to get a really good agent because I mentioned them as a credit even though I knew they were a bad publisher.
Beyond novels I've only had a serial story and a few shorts published and some poems. Nothing to get excited over.
Everyone's learning curb is different, it's hard to see where you are at your own because you are generally too close to your own work to see its flaws. The best way to see your own flaws is to ask for harsh, honest critiques that will expose those flaws. The first one will be painful, but if you step back, take a deep breath, read over your work, read the critique and repeat until you see where they are coming from, then you will find the value in those critiques and that is where the pain will end.
Good honest thourough critiques are priceless and can teach you more than a year of just writing. And as you write more and get critiques and edit, you will see your writing grow by leaps and bounds.
But again, each one has their own way of doing things and their own tolerance, but I personally would rather recieve it on this end, then an endless pile of rejections on the other and wonder why.
Each of your comments helped tremendously. And I greatly appreciate the teaching provided. My PA experience, they took Haunted Love immediately, and they wanted (Savage Heart) now Heart of a Warrior-Blood of Evil too, I backed out and they let me when I told them it wasn't worth my time or theirs since nothing ever amounted from it the first time! They cancelled the contract. heehee
Anyway, thank you all!!! You're all gracious helpers!
vBulletin® v3.8.5, Copyright ©2000-2012, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.