[Pub svcs] Inkshares

downtherabbithole said:

Hey everyone (I am so frustrated that I have spelled quandary wrong in the title...),

So, I've been writing this book for 5 years and have gotten agent interest in it, but it's never been quite right. I had an agent for a while and she didn't like my writing at all and gave me very specific notes and I have changed the book so many times to suit her...and in the end we parted ways.

I ended up self-publishing two of my manuscripts that I had with her, which I am confident about because they are within my genre (which is literary YA). I was going to self-publish this one I've been working on, but I feel very paralyzed about it as I'm afraid it just isn't going to be up to snuff. I'm a PhD student, so I can't afford to drop $6000 on an editor and then cross my fingers that I'm going to make the $6000 back...especially because I'm trying to save up for a car, etc.

Inkshares, a company that does crowdfunding and then traditionally publishes books, has been very excited about my book. I'm having to try to raise $13,500 to get it published. This is a new model (it doesn't seem legit, but I've checked it out and it is...they have Daniel Wallace as their first author and several others down the pipeline) to try and get books out that people want to read.

The person I've been talking to liked the book, but wanted me to make some changes to my first chapter (namely changing the entire POV). The first chapter has been worked on with an editor (as hired by my agent), a second fresh-out-of-her MFA editor and has received feedback from several other third parties. It has been worked and reworked to get to this point, but they want to change a lot to make it "stronger" to pitch to funders. If it is accepted, I would be matched with an editor from a publishing house, not this person who is suggesting the edits. I feel as though I have been chasing my tail for 4-5 years when it comes to this manuscript and I'm about ready to throw my hands up as everyone has a different idea of how it COULD be better to be publishable. Yet, I'm still not getting a deal because I KNOW I need some help, yet it's like the help I'm getting isn't the right one.

I am busy with my PhD and don't have the "fanbase" (even though I am a blogger, my followers aren't willing to pony up any cash) in order to get this book published by Inkshares. It sounds promising, but I'm just not willing to do any more changes if there is no guarantee of anything. Plus, the person making the requests admittedly doesn't read a lot of YA and doesn't know much about the genre, which also makes me hesitant. Does that make me difficult to work with?

You can check out the first chapter here: (link removed) and let me know if you think I'm being an idiot!

Click to expand...