Hello everyone, from Minnesota

JettHarrow

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Hi. I found this website while looking for tips on self-publishing and such. Let me tell you a little about myself.

I began writing young, mostly short stories. I then wrote my first 'novel' length piece at age 15. It was a written sequel to the 'Cube' movies, and after that, I wrote another horror themed sequel to 'Jason X'.
Some time passed before I decided to try my hand at writing again, but I wanted to do something different. Reading back through those old horror stories I had written, I struggled not to cringe at the grammar errors, spelling mistakes, and poor word choice (as well as the God-awful dialog!). I decided I wanted to write an original piece, a thriller-action style novel. I was inspired by movies once again, but this time, the characters, plot, and story all came out of my head onto the Word Processor. I felt many of the thrillers that I read lacked enough pace for my liking. I wanted my novel to bridge the gap between an organized crime thriller and the old vigilante movies of the 1980s, so I went back and re-watched flicks like 'Cobra', and 'Commando', trying to get the formula just right. I wanted my characters to connect, be well developed, and seem very real. I wanted the violence I wrote about to be gritty, while at the same time hinting (or maybe poking fun at) the cliche action movie formula, with doses of black comedy here and there.
The end result was 'Positively Lethal'. My first novel, of around 350 pages. The response I got from both friends and strangers was very positive, but unfortunately, as I'm sure many have experienced, trying to find an agent to take it on was an impossible task. Email after email was sent, but no luck. I did get close. Two agents actually asked me to send them the full thing by mail before it was shot down as 'not being right for the market at this point in time'. Instead of giving up, I self-published through Createspace, and my book is now available on Amazon in paperback, as well as Kindle.

That's my story. Happy to be here.
 

parumpdragon

I sometimes hiccup fire
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Welcome to AW, glad to have you on the threads with us! :hi:
 

Kylabelle

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Hey, Jett, welcome. Persistence is a good thing! Enjoy exploring here.
 

Griffin Hayes

One evil little baby step at a time
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Welcome to AW!
 

KellyAssauer

The Anti-Magdalene
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Hi Jett!

Welcome to AW!

Don't forget to read about AW basics in the Newbie Guide!

Questions about the forum software can be found in the
FAQ's menu in the handy blue bar at the 'top' of this page.

This common acronym list helps identify our mystifying abbreviations.

Before you ask that Newbie question!!


See if Katiemac has the answer here.
and check out: Sara's 10 Basic Writing Tips!

If you're looking for critiques please read the 50 Post rule.

Posting your writing to the Share Your Work (SYW) area is explained here. This link covers the most common problems posts. found in SYW *Worth reading no matter how long you have been here!*

AW is a community built on the foundations of respecting your fellow writer and helping each other, it's the basic building blocks of how and why AW works.

Welcome to our community! =)


-kelly-

Fun AW social links:
The Office Party
Kelly's Soft Asylum
 

L. Y.

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Welcome to the Water Cooler!
 

rwm4768

practical experience, FTW
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Welcome. This novel might not have worked out quite as you'd like, but you should keep trying. Some authors write book after book after book before the one that finally sells well.
 

regdog

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hello.gif



Take some time and read the Newbie Guide and the Stickies found
at the top of Forum pages. They are your best guide to learning about
Absolute Write.


Please read the FAQ about posting photos.


In fact we have lots of brilliant FAQs check them out.


Members who want to start a thread in Share Your Work to have work critiqued need
50 posts. Don’t make a mad dash to reach your 50 posts. Take some time to greet fellow newbies,
critique other members’ works, or join a discussion.


Announcements, Events and Self Promotion is for active members only. All obvious spam will be deleted on sight!
 

John G Nelson

Author of Against Nature
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Welcome! Yours is a familiar tale. I was submitting to agents and publishers at the same time and as it worked out I got a publisher first (so I bagged the search for an agent.)
It took me about two years and enough rejection letters to wallpaper my house..... But I believed in my novel and kept plugging away until my book found a home!

I think many here have similar tales.

John