wading through the rejection puddle

[Valdemar]

Okay, I'm new so don't pee on me. So anyways, anyone know of any good fantasy publishers out there big or small? I've got a completed (145,500 words in legnth) fantasy novel but have been rejected by TOR, DAW, and EGDE SF&F to name a few. It's my first novel, I'm floating in a sea of inexperience and would much appreciate the help/advice. I don't care about advances and all that -i've got a full time job for the bills- but i don't want to resort to self publishing, and hate the thought of accepting a contract with a company then later finding out it's one of those POD (print on Demand) or Vanity press companies (there's a lot of them out there under the guise of 'real' publishing houses; Mundania Publishing, Regeant Press to name two right there). I understand not to pay anything to get your book published, and i ain't fallin' for that, but dang, you know? Anyways - [removed to protect from spammers- the ed] is my email. Why type that? I dunno (shrugs). Maybe i feel like adding 'filler' to this post ;-)

[Pike]

Hi Valdemar. Welcome to the boards. I'm not one of the gurus but can tell you a little about what I've experienced.

You can try http://www.ralan.com for novel publishers, big and small. He's got quite a list of websites and guidelines to help you along. Also, if you dig a little deeper below this forum, there's a place called Share Your Work, where you can post pieces of novels for advice and crits. Read the basics before you post and expect a healthy bite of help. We're all in this ride to succeed. You'll be surprised at the level of help and insights available here.

Good luck!

Pike

[ORION]

Set your first novel aside to edit...start your next one...and focus on querying agents rather than publishers first.
It wasn't until I queried my third novel that I got an agent and now looking at my first book I can see the flaws...
Oh and I tallied up nearly 100 rejections before publication LOL...

[Madison]

http://www.agentquery.com is an awesome place to research agents. But more important than finding agents is getting a query letter ready and making sure your novel is polished. you've definitely come to the right place to figure out how to do that! hang around and you're guaranteed to learn a lot. check out Uncle Jim's thread on writing. (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8754)
and this http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59255 is a good query resource.

remember that writing your novel is only part of getting published... it takes lots of research. but it's lots of fun, too!

good luck :)

[Shady Lane]

*starts to pee*

oops. DON'T pee. sorry.

;)


Listen to the advice of the beautiful genuises above me. And welcome to AW!

[caromora]

For the record, Mundania isn't a vanity publisher. They're small but they're legit (whether you like the POD business model or not).

Set your first novel aside to edit...start your next one...and focus on querying agents rather than publishers first.
It wasn't until I queried my third novel that I got an agent and now looking at my first book I can see the flaws...
Oh and I tallied up nearly 100 rejections before publication LOL...

This is great advice. Put your book aside for a while and come back to it after you've completed another project. You'll be amazed by how different your manuscript will seem!

[Valdemar]

Thanks, everyone. Much appreciated ;-) Now i feel all warm and fuzzy inside (and a little icky too from that unknown guy behind me trying to cop a feel but pretending he's only hugging)

[Judg]

Welcome Valdemar. You'll find this is a pretty tolerant forum. Newbies in particular are allowed to make all kinds of protocol mistakes and just get gentle suggestions as an answer. About the only way to get a really negative reaction is to come in with a chip on your shoulder and an attack dog. Or to come in like you're God's gift to us all and will finally enlighten us with your presence and sage advice. Those people tend to bring out the worst in us... ;o)

[Shweta]

Hey Valdemar, and welcome!

We advise people not to put their email addresses up in the forums, because they're public and internet-searchable. Which means spammers will find your email from here. I've edited it out, but only for that reason - to protect you.

People here can always send you private messages or emails if you've enabled those options.