Question about starting a book...

[ShamanTankFTW]

Hello everyone, I just had a quick question to ask about starting a book.

Now, it's not really the writing part that I am asking about. It is how to go about selling or getting a publisher to actually buy my book. The thing is, I have heard a lot of different things on this subject. How do I actually go about doing this? Do I actually write/finish the manuscript and send it to an agency or do I format the idea's of the book in detail and write up a little snippet of part of the book to send it in? Any/all pointers would be helpful. Thanks in advance!

[Throrion]

You typically finish the manuscript, then find a couple of pages or a chapter as examples that are supposed to get the reader hooked, send them in and cross your fingers, iirc

Alternatively you could self-publish through an ebook store and get a far larger cut of the cake assuming you get people interested

[logintime]

Write it, send a teaser of your book (usually an outline, a two or three paragraph promotional blurb for it, etc.) to an agency, and wait and see. Different agencies ask for different things and focus on different book markets, so check thoroughly before you send something to them. There are books at your nearest library on how to get a book published that will detail these steps in greater thoroughness than I can, as well as list a wide swath of agencies, so I suggest you check out one of two of them.

[blaqkmagick]

You need to finish the book. I don't want to sound negative, but publishers can be really picky about what they want. You need to write something pretty great for a publisher to pick up your random manuscript and want to do something with it.

On the topic of self publishing Amazon is the parent company to something called Createspace, where you upload your manuscript and can purchase a proof copy, and once you give it the OK people on amazon can buy it. They don't print the book until someone orders it which is good because then you're not sitting on a bunch of stock like John Cusack at the start of 2012 lol.
Check it out and goodluck!

[ShamanTankFTW]

Sweet, thanks a lot guys for the quick responses and the help. Much apreciated.

[Fuzzzie]

Yeah, take it around to a few as well. Get a good idea of what people are offering.

As a new author you're going to have to finish it to start with. Once you're Stephen King you can sell them on an idea

[Bearshield]

I was of the opinion that you needed (or at least wanted) to find some sort of agent to work with the publisher for you. The agent proofreads your work so you aren't sending garbage to a publisher, (obviously you would need to proofread it yourself first) and then they submit it to a publisher for you. In any event, good luck to you I've been working on a book myself for a little over a year now, just haven't had time to finish it yet.

[vizzle]

You don't have to finish the book when you send your query/proposal.

I have a few very helpful links that I've found in the last several days that you might want to read if you're seriously interested in making writing a career.

http://jamesrussellpublishing.biz/queryletterbk.html <-- Sample of a query letter
http://www.katfeete.net/writing/agents.html <-- Extensive list on literary agents
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2010/0...on-ebooks.html <-- Article on whether you should use a traditional publisher or make it an e-book
http://us.macmillan.com/Content.aspx...30_lblQuestion <-- An example of a big publisher and what they want from you.


So, there's three things you can do:

*Send a query letter to a literary agent and wait for his/her response. This can take months. Everything in publishing takes months.
*Send a proposal directly to a publisher who accepts new authors without agents.
*Make your book an e-book on Amazon and smashwords.

So I'm sure you're wondering if you need a literary agent or not. It's really your call. If you can educate yourself on the industry and if you believe in yourself to get better deals without the help of someone who's been in the business for years if not decades, then great, you can skip the agent part. If you don't think you can do this on your own, then find an agent. Read the links I posted. You have to send a query to a literary agent with the relevant details to see if they're interested. It can take 4-6 months for them to reply, usually.

People are saying these days that e-book authors are starting to break into the mainstream market since more and more people are getting Kindles/Nooks/smart phones, but the truth is only 15% of the market buys e-books. However, e-books give you 70% of what your book sells for, while traditional publisher normally only gives you 10-15%. Read the link I posted about ebooks for more on this.


As for how to get started, look what TOR publishing requires:

Please note that these guidelines are intended for writers who do not have agents.

Your submissions packet should include:

The first three chapters of your book, prepared in standard manuscript format on white paper. (If your chapters are really short or really long, or you don't use chapter breaks, you may send the first 40-60 pages of your book, provided you stay under 10,000 words.) The submitted text must be made up of consecutive pages and should end at the end of a paragraph, not in mid-sentence. Standard manuscript format means margins of at least 1 inch all the way around; indented paragraphs; double-spaced text; and Courier or Times Roman in 10 or 12 pitch. Please use one side of the page only and do not justify the text. Do not bind the manuscript in any way. Make sure the header of the ms. includes either your name or the title of the book and the page number (on every page).
A synopsis of the entire book. The synopsis should include all important plot elements, especially the end of the story, as well as aspects of character development for your main characters. The synopsis should run between three and ten pages in standard manuscript format.
A dated cover letter that includes your name and contact information and the title of the submitted work. Briefly tell us what genre or subgenre the submission falls into and mention any qualifications you have that pertain to the work. Please list any previous publications in paying markets.
A self-addressed, stamped, business-size envelope for our reply letter. Unfortunately, it's no longer possible for us to return submissions due to a change in postal service policy that requires packages weighing more than a pound be mailed at a post office. Since we use a company mailroom rather than a post office, when we try to return submissions, they are sent back to us by the postal service or disappear in transit. We recycle your proposals. (That's not a euphemism for being tossed in a wastebasket--we recycle all white paper.) If you live outside the United States, please go to http://www.usps.com/onlinepostage to see internet postage options. If you do not include an SASE, you will not receive a reply at all.

Please send only one proposal in each submissions packet. If you have written a series, send a proposal for the first book only. If we like what we see, we'll ask for the rest.

I'm planning on sending my package within the next week. I haven't finished the book completely, but my first three chapters are done and edited (and yes, by a professional editor) and I just have to complete a synopsis.

So yeah. If you want to be a writer. Start writing. Writing will be the easy part.

Edit: And I just wanna say, from one guy who's trying to break into the giant publishing world to another... don't despair. J.K. Rowling got rejected 7 times for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Everyone gets rejected.

Also, every day that you write, you're going to go through a rollercoaster of self-praise and self-doubt.

10am: Man, my story is the shit.
11am: Man, my story is shit.
12pm: I don't think I have enough characters to make it seem like a real world.
1pm: I think I have too many characters.
2pm: The dialogue isn't real enough!
3pm: This story is so fucking good - I can't believe I didn't start writing sooner.
4pm: WHY AM I WASTING MY LIFE ON THIS SHIT
5pm: I think Guy A and Guy B are too alike and not unique enough.
6pm: Guy A and Guy B are unrealistic characters at opposite ends of the spectrum!
7pm: My romance is too much like Twilight.
8pm: I don't have enough instances to develop the romance!
9pm: The battles are too short.
10pm: The battles are too long and too many.
11pm: I hate this book.
12am: I love this book.

This is me everyday. You just have to push yourself to keep trudging on and on, through all the self-doubt. I've convinced myself: there is no such thing as writer's block. Only laziness, and an unwillingness to think.

[Archangel Tyrael]

You don't have to finish the book when you send your query/proposal.

I have a few very helpful links that I've found in the last several days that you might want to read if you're seriously interested in making writing a career.

http://jamesrussellpublishing.biz/queryletterbk.html <-- Sample of a query letter
http://www.katfeete.net/writing/agents.html <-- Extensive list on literary agents
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2010/0...on-ebooks.html <-- Article on whether you should use a traditional publisher or make it an e-book
http://us.macmillan.com/Content.aspx...30_lblQuestion <-- An example of a big publisher and what they want from you.


So, there's three things you can do:

*Send a query letter to a literary agent and wait for his/her response. This can take months. Everything in publishing takes months.
*Send a proposal directly to a publisher who accepts new authors without agents.
*Make your book an e-book on Amazon and smashwords.

So I'm sure you're wondering if you need a literary agent or not. It's really your call. If you can educate yourself on the industry and if you believe in yourself to get better deals without the help of someone who's been in the business for years if not decades, then great, you can skip the agent part. If you don't think you can do this on your own, then find an agent. Read the links I posted. You have to send a query to a literary agent with the relevant details to see if they're interested. It can take 4-6 months for them to reply, usually.

People are saying these days that e-book authors are starting to break into the mainstream market since more and more people are getting Kindles/Nooks/smart phones, but the truth is only 15% of the market buys e-books. However, e-books give you 70% of what your book sells for, while traditional publisher normally only gives you 10-15%. Read the link I posted about ebooks for more on this.


As for how to get started, look what TOR publishing requires:




I'm planning on sending my package within the next week. I haven't finished the book completely, but my first three chapters are done and edited (and yes, by a professional editor) and I just have to complete a synopsis.

So yeah. If you want to be a writer. Start writing. Writing will be the easy part.

Edit: And I just wanna say, from one guy who's trying to break into the giant publishing world to another... don't despair. J.K. Rowling got rejected 7 times for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Everyone gets rejected.

Also, every day that you write, you're going to go through a rollercoaster of self-praise and self-doubt.

10am: Man, my story is the shit.
11am: Man, my story is shit.
12pm: I don't think I have enough characters to make it seem like a real world.
1pm: I think I have too many characters.
2pm: The dialogue isn't real enough!
3pm: This story is so fucking good - I can't believe I didn't start writing sooner.
4pm: WHY AM I WASTING MY LIFE ON THIS SHIT
5pm: I think Guy A and Guy B are too alike and not unique enough.
6pm: Guy A and Guy B are unrealistic characters at opposite ends of the spectrum!
7pm: My romance is too much like Twilight.
8pm: I don't have enough instances to develop the romance!
9pm: The battles are too short.
10pm: The battles are too long and too many.
11pm: I hate this book.
12am: I love this book.

This is me everyday. You just have to push yourself to keep trudging on and on, through all the self-doubt. I've convinced myself: there is no such thing as writer's block. Only laziness, and an unwillingness to think.

This man right here.

He just gave you the best advice. Read it.

It was helpful for me as well, since i'm writing my own books, thank you very much for this my friend.

[vizzle]

This man right here.

He just gave you the best advice. Read it.

It was helpful for me as well, since i'm writing my own books, thank you very much for this my friend.

Haha it's nice to see such a thoughtful comment I'm glad I helped someone at least. Good luck to you and your books, I hope you get published as well!

[Archangel Tyrael]

Haha it's nice to see such a thoughtful comment I'm glad I helped someone at least. Good luck to you and your books, I hope you get published as well!

Anyone willing to start their own book should read what you posted, I am glad you posted it ;P

Sending you best wishes as well, hopefully everything will work out

[Deleted]

If you aren't already a published author you will almost certainly have to write it first. You'll also have to have several design documents if you want the best chance apparently. Thats according to this guy who seems to know what he's talking about. If you haven't already I would advise you take a look at http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/art/snowflake.php

[Archangel Tyrael]

If you aren't already a published author you will almost certainly have to write it first. You'll also have to have several design documents if you want the best chance apparently. Thats according to this guy who seems to know what he's talking about. If you haven't already I would advise you take a look at http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/art/snowflake.php

This link is certainly very helpful as well, i enjoyed reading through it, anyone that wants to start writing their own shit should read it.