Penguin Group USA / Viking / Putnam / Dial

Warriors Trilogy said:

What I do have however is connections, and connections are crucial.

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A good story is crucial, actually. You can have all the connections in the world but if your story doesn't catch and keep the reader's attention, the connections mean nothing.

I have access personal family friends...one of which is a small press publisher, one who is an editor, and one who is an agent/literary college professor.

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So?

Does the small press have a good reputation? Do they publish your genre? Does it have adequate distribution?

What can that editor do for you? Can they acquire your novel? Do they have any influence with commercial presses? If not, who cares?

And that agent? What are their credentials? Do they have connections of their own in fantasy? Have they made any sales in the past few years? There are tons of wannabee agents, with perfectly good intentions, who can't sell your novel because they don't have the experience.

The people on this site will give *realistic* encouragement for those who claim to want a career in writing. (It's a bit different for the hobbyists.) There's no back patting and high-fives to make people feel good about themselves.

The feedback you get here is NOTHING compared to the harshness of agent/editor feedback. It's better to hear the truth now when you can fix it rather than to beat your brains out trying to submit something people told you was wonderful when it's not.

Even professionals, when attached by friendship, can pull punches to spare feelings.

Warriors Trilogy said:

hmm you people are the most cheerful bunch I've ever talked to. Is their any good news to anything or is it all negativity and doom and gloom? I understand the rationality and the reasoning 100% of course and I'm not being naive, or at least I hope I'm not, but is their anything good I can hear? I've only been on this site for a week but I've yet to see one cheerful thing said to me as of yet...

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We're just realistic. It's best to approach the whole getting agent-getting publisher-getting published-selling books business with a glass half-empty attitude. That way, if and when good things happen, it's the gravy on the biscuits.

I've been on this site for a couple of months and I can't even begin to tell you how much I've learned and how much of a reality check it has been for me. I know I'm a decent writer, I've been told that in a couple of personalised rejections, and by my Beta reader who does not mince her words, but I also know that my story might not sell because, perhaps, agents aren't looking for what I'm pushing.

It's not a business for the faint-hearted, easily offended, big-headed or those in search of instant results. My advice is, read lots of threads, especially in the SYW forum, see what works and what doesn't and use this site for what it is, an incredible resource for writers of all shapes and sizes.

Warriors Trilogy said:

hmm you people are the most cheerful bunch I've ever talked to. Is their any good news to anything or is it all negativity and doom and gloom?

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It's called being practical, love.

We see all kinds of newbie authors, with stars in their eyes, who sign with the first publisher or agent who throws them a kiss. Usually, six months later, we see them again, and they aren't so starry-eyed.

Be practical. Learn the business. You will be a happier writer for it.

I understand the rationality and the reasoning 100% of course and I'm not being naive, or at least I hope I'm not, but is their anything good I can hear? I've only been on this site for a week but I've yet to see one cheerful thing said to me as of yet...

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What kind of cheerful talk do you want?

Me, I love writing. I love the thrill of getting the story right, of making the words shine. And I will never forget when my agent called to tell me, "You have a three-book deal." Or the time my editor took me into the publisher's office so I could see the view down Fifth Avenue and Broadway, with the Christmas lights shining through the twilight mist.

But I had to learn the business first. And I'm not done learning. I never will be.

Warriors Trilogy said:

hmm you people are the most cheerful bunch I've ever talked to. Is their any good news to anything or is it all negativity and doom and gloom? I understand the rationality and the reasoning 100% of course and I'm not being naive, or at least I hope I'm not, but is their anything good I can hear? I've only been on this site for a week but I've yet to see one cheerful thing said to me as of yet...

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...to writing reality 101.

Here is your own tag line: "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."

What you have perceived as "negativity" is reality for 99.9% of writers. The feedback you've received is neither good nor bad. It is what it is.

I hope your novel rocks. I hope your connections are well enough connected to help it rock if it doesn't.

Doom and gloom?

This is an art. But, it is also a business. It isn't doom and gloom.

The best advice you've gotten is from James D MacDonald and Gillhoughly.

I'll repeat it just to be thorough because it is *exactly* how to do it.

1) Go to a bookstore. 2) Find books that are like yours. (Preferably ones published within the last year or two.) 3) Find out how that book happened. 4) Submit to the agent or editor or company responsible in exactly, precisely the manner they like for their submissions.

I got an offer on my first novel without an agent, and without any connections at all, from a major publisher with worldwide distribution. I did this by doing my homework, and following guidelines to the letter.

Importantly, I did all this after writing a good book first.

(And, the first thing I did when I had an offer was go find a good agent to handle the contracts and negotiations! Because this is a business, and I need a good businessman in my corner, for I am not one!)

Warriors Trilogy said:

hmm you people are the most cheerful bunch I've ever talked to. Is their any good news to anything or is it all negativity and doom and gloom? I understand the rationality and the reasoning 100% of course and I'm not being naive, or at least I hope I'm not, but is their anything good I can hear? I've only been on this site for a week but I've yet to see one cheerful thing said to me as of yet...

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The road to publication is not cheerful. There will be blood.

tomothecat said:

The road to publication is not cheerful. There will be blood.

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And woe. People always forget the woe.

Cyia said:

And woe. People always forget the woe.

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The woe is worse than the blood.

Warriors Trilogy said:

hmm you people are the most cheerful bunch I've ever talked to. Is their any good news to anything or is it all negativity and doom and gloom?

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I was unpublished and unagented when I first came to this site. I wrote, polished, queried agents, got an agent, sold a book, and am now working on my fourth book for the Penguin imprint, Ace.

I'm not the only one here who has done this, not by any means.

tomothecat said:

The road to publication is not cheerful. There will be blood.

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The blood and woe never stop, actually.

Connections don't matter. Books matter.

Warrior, have you at least read the Wikipedia entries on Flightless Waterfowl's various divisions and imprints?

But it's just Penguin UK, right? (Penguin USA doesn't have this limited-time-offer on their website.)

Penguin Random House

Not sure if this is the right place for this, or if there's another thread (though I did a quick look):

Merger of Penguin and Random House today.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/b...nguin-and-random-house-is-completed.html?_r=0

stormie said:

Not sure if this is the right place for this, or if there's another thread (though I did a quick look):

Merger of Penguin and Random House today.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/b...nguin-and-random-house-is-completed.html?_r=0

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Very interesting. I'm a Penguin author and my editor did share the intro letter with me. guess we will have to wait and see what develops.

On the updating it looks like there have been some layoffs with Random Penguin Random house. Details here: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/...more-layoffs-at-berkley-publishing-group.html