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Those of you who are researching publishers and agents, Preditors & Editors hasn't been consistently updated since around 2014. The project was taken over by Andrew Burt after the founder passed away. Seems like he's had his hands full with his other work. If you can't find a name on there, make sure to check QueryTracker and other sources. Writer Beware is a good one for businesses who behave badly, too.
POOL IS CLOSED fucked around with this message at 17:21 on Jan 8, 2016 |
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Jan 8, 2016 17:18
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Don't forget the Absolute Write forums, either. They've saved me from submitting to some pretty shady places on more than a few occasions. You can pretty much type in "[any agency] absolute write" into Google, and they'll have a thread. Query Tracker was my favorite on the whole just for organization's sake. You don't necessarily need it, but it makes keeping track of your submissions so much easier. I liked it enough to buy the subscription or whatever for a year since the stats were pretty interesting and useful (average response times, percentage that get responses, submission stats, etc.)
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Jan 8, 2016 18:06
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Absolute Write isn't that reliable as far as I'm concerned. They have trouble detecting publishers that put up a nice front while they're basically sinking and end up closing shop a few months later.
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Jan 8, 2016 18:31
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ravenkult posted:Absolute Write isn't that reliable as far as I'm concerned. They have trouble detecting publishers that put up a nice front while they're basically sinking and end up closing shop a few months later. Perhaps. I don't have much experience with looking up the publisher/small press side of things, so I'm mostly referring to the agency search. I've mostly used Writer's Market for publishers, but I haven't done enough shorts for the market to give any kind of reliable feedback for them.
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Jan 9, 2016 15:07
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So, I have a strange request. I suffer from dysgraphia, a writing disorder. However, I very much wish to write some of the, admittedly lovely, sci-fi stories I have been compiling in my head for a decade. Does anyone know how I would get in touch with a collaborative partner to work on something like this?
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Jan 10, 2016 00:20
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Mycroft Holmes posted:So, I have a strange request. I suffer from dysgraphia, a writing disorder. However, I very much wish to write some of the, admittedly lovely, sci-fi stories I have been compiling in my head for a decade. Does anyone know how I would get in touch with a collaborative partner to work on something like this? How are you posting this?
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Jan 10, 2016 00:29
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Megazver posted:How are you posting this? Dysgraphia lets me type but the act of moving ideas to keyboard is laborious and nothing I ever write seems to flow correctly. Due to my dysgraphia I have had to change majors and give up my dream of being a historian.
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Jan 10, 2016 00:32
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dragon dictate?
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Jan 10, 2016 01:49
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Mycroft Holmes posted:So, I have a strange request. I suffer from dysgraphia, a writing disorder. However, I very much wish to write some of the, admittedly lovely, sci-fi stories I have been compiling in my head for a decade. Does anyone know how I would get in touch with a collaborative partner to work on something like this? What do you expect your collaborative partner to do? If you only need someone to take dictation, then you can probably just find someone on one of the freelance sites or craigslist. You can find copyeditors to fix any grammar problems the same way. Expect to pay. Family members might also be willing to take this on.
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Jan 10, 2016 02:05
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Mycroft Holmes posted:Dysgraphia lets me type but the act of moving ideas to keyboard is laborious and nothing I ever write seems to flow correctly. Due to my dysgraphia I have had to change majors and give up my dream of being a historian. the only person i've met with dysgraphia was a terrible woe-is-me complainer/excuse maker that couldn't get anything done and everybody hated her. so i guess my suggestion is probably to try a bunch of different things until you find something you hate the least, and then suffer through it until you get the poo poo you want to get done, done, and not let it hold you back. Everybody has to overcome stuff, don't end up like excuse girl who had no friends and smelled bad. also it sounds like you want to be an "ideas guy," but no writer is like "gee, i can write real good, but i just don't have any ideas." What you want is called a ghostwriter, and you're going to have to pay for it. nobody wants to "collaborate," most likely. crabrock fucked around with this message at 04:48 on Jan 10, 2016 |
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Jan 10, 2016 04:45
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crabrock posted:no writer is like "gee, i can write real good, but i just don't have any ideas." I can't write real good, and I don't have any ideas. gently caress also the wikipedia page for dysgraphia has a handwriting sample from someone with (possibly self-diagnosed) dysgraphia and even his/her "bad" example is better than my typical handwriting, guess I have dysgraphia guys which excuses all of my past and future bad TD entries.
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Jan 10, 2016 04:59
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I know a shitload of professional writers who write primarily with dragon dictate or the built-in mac os dictation software because they can't type fast like nerds who grew up on the internet (like me). So there's no reason that wouldn't work out for you. If dysgraphia somehow makes you unable to tell a story and put the words together...you probably don't want to be a writer. Or you have to be willing to struggle.
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Jan 10, 2016 05:48
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What genre would you guys categorize a story that takes place in the far future, say like 1000+ years after some natural disaster sent humanity back into the Stone Age? As in the story is about primitive hunter-gatherers that are only vaguely aware that some advanced civilization once existed but they're relearning how to farm, write, make tools, etc, and are essentially cavemen. I guess it's technically post apocalypse but I don't feel that term really evokes the right sentiment.
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Jan 14, 2016 08:11
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How relevant to the story will the 1000 year old civilisation be?
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Jan 14, 2016 08:13
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Chairchucker posted:How relevant to the story will the 1000 year old civilisation be? To the story? Not at all really. To the flavour and setting there are nods here and there, some references to the "Ancients", some odds and ends like plastic bowls showing up (even a planet-wiping asteroid or volcano wouldn't be able to completely destroy millions of tons of plastic goods worldwide), but the story is more about the main characters trying to rescue their people from an opposing warring tribe.
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Jan 14, 2016 08:27
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eh, that fits in with post-apocalyptic to me. a lot of that genre nobody really remembers the old ways, but has some of the old engineering crap still around to play with.
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Jan 14, 2016 08:32
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Gorefluff posted:To the story? Not at all really. To the flavour and setting there are nods here and there, some references to the "Ancients", some odds and ends like plastic bowls showing up (even a planet-wiping asteroid or volcano wouldn't be able to completely destroy millions of tons of plastic goods worldwide), but the story is more about the main characters trying to rescue their people from an opposing warring tribe. Just remove the irrelevant plastic bowls and make it historical fiction.
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Jan 14, 2016 11:38
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Gorefluff posted:What genre would you guys categorize a story that takes place in the far future, say like 1000+ years after some natural disaster sent humanity back into the Stone Age? As in the story is about primitive hunter-gatherers that are only vaguely aware that some advanced civilization once existed but they're relearning how to farm, write, make tools, etc, and are essentially cavemen. I guess it's technically post apocalypse but I don't feel that term really evokes the right sentiment.
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Jan 14, 2016 12:03
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Heyoo~ So I've had my first beta go through chapter one of my YA fantasy draft, but I'm really torn on their advice. We're doing a swap and I've critiqued their work, but it's like they're too in love with their characters to dial the prose back. The beta doesn't like that I don't dwell on needless descriptions and wants everything spoonfed. It seems they really dig the George R.R Martin backstory nonsense too, but it bores me because nothing is happening. While I feel their work is riddled with it (to the point where my eyes glaze over and I've called them out on it), it's just a really strange experience because their other beta encouraged them to keep it. Our genres are both fantasy, but the styles are vastly different. My gut instinct is to only let environment and description slip in when it affects the POV character. What they're wearing, the layout of the building they're in--all of it seems irrelevant if it has no bearing on their immediate feelings or actions. Any advice on things like this? Do you cherry-pick the advice? I'd hate to fill my MS with purple prose, but geez...if that's the market and if it's what people expect, I'll do it. But it just feels so...wrong. :/
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Jan 15, 2016 04:19
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HandsomeMrFooFoo posted:Heyoo~ Get more readers
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Jan 15, 2016 04:43
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HandsomeMrFooFoo posted:Heyoo~ Going against the grain here, but how many novels have you finished? If this is your first one, just do one or two editing passes and call it done, then start writing another immediately. If you're going to do beta readers, ask non-writers to beta read. Writers aren't going to give you more valuable feedback than your actual target audience. You can trawl goodreads for people who read books similar to what you think yours is like. If you get good feedback from them, you're probably on the right track. If not, apply their advice to your next book. Write faster, finish books, improve on each one. Don't do beta reads and 700 re-writes on your first novel.
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Jan 15, 2016 04:50
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angel opportunity posted:Going against the grain here, but how many novels have you finished? I agree with this sentiment. Actually, I'm starting to think the best advice is to just write three novels as best you can with minimal feedback, toss them out, then two, get some feedback, edit them up, toss them out, then start for real. I dunno.... Anyway, yes, to some extent you have to "cherry pick" which advice you take from your beta-readers, because you are the writer. Brandon Sanderson said he listens to about 1/3 of what his semi-pro writing group tells him. When we had a writing group, I used that as a guide. Or just a reminder that I didn't have to do what everyone told me. Mostly my guide was that good feedback really "clicked" for me. Someone would say something that clarified a problem I had only felt vaguely uneasy about, or gave me a real "a ha!" moment. The point of feedback isn't to make the suggested changes. You can't let a few other random people tell you how to write your book. On the other hand, there's no point in getting feedback if you're just going to ignore it either. The point is to give you an outside perspective to think about. They say you don't have enough description? Okay, go look at your work and think about it from the perspective of someone who hasn't read it. Have you included enough information? Is the prose too sparse? That's up to you. Think about it. If you want to know what is demanded by the published market or whatever, don't look at what your beta-readers say, go read the published books. Dr. Kloctopussy fucked around with this message at 08:50 on Jan 15, 2016 |
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Jan 15, 2016 08:30
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To give more reasoning for this, in your head you are holding out hope that the first novel you really finished is going to take off and make you either a) a bunch of money or b) be super well regarded within a niche audience even if it doesn't make you a lot of money. It's very unlikely that a) or b) is true. I don't know how much money Battuta's novel actually made him (especially when you factor in how much work he put into it), but it's at least quite well regarded and got his name out there very well. You have to consider, however, that he had dozens (?) of shorts published in Clarke's World already, which is effectively the hardest publication to get published in within the genre. It's not like he just kind of beta read and revised his way to a great novel; he has crafted tight stories many times and knows what makes a story work. If you're going to get lucky with your novel in trad. pub, you'll get lucky and it will take off based on the quality of the storytelling first and foremost. No amount of fussing and tweaking is going to fix a bad story, and a good story with some rough edges is still probably going to get picked up. If you're writing your first draft with no outline or planning at all, then you probably do need to do several revisions to get it where it needs to be. If you used a good outline, you shouldn't be dicking around with the book forever once it's done. I'm not actually advocating that "a lovely book with a bunch of errors will still get published," but rather that it's unlikely--no matter how much time you spend with it--that your first book will get good enough even with infinite editing/beta/proofreading time. You have to build up your "story writing" skill by writing a lot of stories. You don't get better at "story writing" by editing the same story for four months, you get better by writing four more stories as fast as you can, and FINISHING them. If you're self-pubbing, get the book 90% of the way to where you want it to be (or basically get it as close as you can before diminishing returns really set in), and then spend all your extra time learning to self-pub properly. If you just upload to Amazon cluelessly, you will hit rank 1 million in the store and make close to $0. I promise you! If you have an actually good story, however--and you believe in it--with less than $500 invested you can make the book earn a profit and get in front of your audience's eyes while also building an audience for your next book (which you hopefully will release fast enough that they still remember you when it comes out).
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Jan 15, 2016 14:13
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HandsomeMrFooFoo posted:Heyoo~
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Jan 15, 2016 23:39
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angel opportunity posted:Going against the grain here, but how many novels have you finished? This would be the first non-"trunk novel" I've written from start to finish. I put it away for over a year, then came back and edited it during the holidays. I've written two other novels since then to make it a trilogy. It was good practice and I enjoyed the process enough to not give up. My beta reader likes it, but besides the world-building issue, there are parts that are confusing (that I take full blame as being a dumb writer), but those are easy fixes. Thanks for the tip on visiting goodreads! Dr. Kloctopussy posted:I agree with this sentiment. Actually, I'm starting to think the best advice is to just write three novels as best you can with minimal feedback, toss them out, then two, get some feedback, edit them up, toss them out, then start for real. I dunno.... I know you mean well and I trust you, Dr., but it's a hard pill to swallow. I have an art background, so I'm used to hating something I loved, throwing out old work, getting critiqued out the rear end. Novels aren't so different, it seems. Thanks for the advice! Dr. Kloctopussy posted:If you want to know what is demanded by the published market or whatever, don't look at what your beta-readers say, go read the published books. They want compelling characters, whimsy, danger, and to forget they're reading because it's just so good, etc.I guess that was a bad question.
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Jan 16, 2016 03:28
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I think I'm one of the few here who values beta readers/writers groups. You should pay attention when they don't understand what you mean. You can ignore style, reader preference, but when they're just not getting it, pay attention and figure out what you did wrong. A TON of people in this thread tore my 2nd MS to shreds, and it stung, and I dismissed a lot of poo poo as "You just don't get it man." [POLITELY, but, it took several people beating me over the head before I got it. Take a look if you enjoy lovely writing. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3619872 Almost two years later, the book is selling millionths of copies on amazon. But don't take my word for it. (THIS IS NOT AN INFOMERCIAL). These reviews specifically call out the areas I improved on after suffering through painful critiques here and in my writers group. quote:"... a fantastic grasp on the reader's attention throughout this entire novel. His ability to constantly transform each development throughout the book will keep you on the edge of your seat..." If the other beta readers are willing to read your stuff, I'd urge you to slough through their crappy writing just for the benefit of having them tell you which parts of your story were confusing, which things didn't work, and what elements of your writing are annoying. It'll sting but you'll benefit GREATLY from brutal truth. And I STILL hate brutal truth from the writers in here. --- OH HEY -- I thought I posted this in here but I didn't. And, since you're not tired of reading about me me me, here's the book trailer I did for my novel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3kOOloBEAE Are book trailers successful? It's an ongoing debate. I learned of my favorite lovely book from a trailer, which sold me on buying the book. I've also seen a bajillion lovely trailers, and struggled with this one for, (checks calendar) a year. I knew the book would be published, and had plenty of time to put something together. But every attempt sucked until I stopped trying to explain the story, and instead just went for an uneasy vibe. Is it helping? Yes. The video went live on the 8th, and it pretty much brought the book back from the dead zone on amazon. On the 7th, my book was ranked over 500,000th, (which means nobody's buying it, thinking about it, nobody loves me, I should kill myself) up to 34,734 today, (which means some people are buying the book, somebody out there loves me, but I should still consider bathing). There are a LOT of writers in this forum, and I'd bet a ton of people come into this thread, learn to improve, become writers, but maybe they don't come back to share their experiences and specifically thank the loving assholes on here who helped them. I know I'm one of those people. I wouldn't have finished this book and definitely would not have sold a copy to anybody if not for the knuckle-rappers in here and in the self-pub thread. So hey y'all - thanks a gently caress ton. magnificent7 fucked around with this message at 21:27 on Jan 16, 2016 |
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Jan 16, 2016 21:09
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HandsomeMrFooFoo posted:Heyoo~ Are you looking to do any more beta swaps? PM me or leave your email if so.
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Jan 16, 2016 21:53
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magnificent7 posted:I think I'm one of the few here who values beta readers/writers groups. Hahaha, yes magnificent7, I know your history 'round these parts. You got moxy, but I saw the shitstorm as tough love. I had to get out of my crappy "MY ART IS AMAZING, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND" phase, and it's made me humble and self-loathing. I told my husband he should've married a docter, not a drat artist. Coffee helps. And whiskey. As for taking crits on where things fall flat in my project, those are invaluable to me. P.S I did buy your book. Gonna read it probably next weekend and leave a review, if it doesn't suck.  Thoren posted:Are you looking to do any more beta swaps? PM me or leave your email if so. Hell ya, I'll shoot you a PM. Just upgraded my account. EDIT: Another question. If you're writing about heights, is it best to stick with rounded off meters or will you come off as a stubborn Yankee if you use Feet? I mean, as long as you stay consistent it seems fine either way, but iunno. HandsomeMrFooFoo fucked around with this message at 04:42 on Jan 17, 2016 |
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Jan 17, 2016 03:10
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magnificent7 posted:I think I'm one of the few here who values beta readers/writers groups. What the gently caress? Nearly everyone, if not literally everyone in this thread, and definitely everyone who has specifically responded to HandsomeMrFooFoo has said that beta readers and/or writers group have value. In fact, one of the loving RESOUNDING MESSAGES of this thread is that EVERYONE SHOULD GET CRITICISM ALWAYS. It's something we say over and over again. And you're one of the assholes who dismisses criticism as "you don't get it man" every loving time, until you finally drag your head out of your own goddamn rear end. And every loving time, we're all glad that you do. Because we're masochists or something, I don't know. But seriously, gently caress you for saying you're one of the few here who values beta readers when so many people here put effort into reading and critiquing other writers' work. That's loving bullshit.
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Jan 17, 2016 12:12
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Dr. Kloctopussy posted:What the gently caress?
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Jan 17, 2016 15:39
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some things never change, lol
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Jan 17, 2016 19:56
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crabrock posted:some things never change, lol you're ok mag7 but lol
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Jan 17, 2016 23:40
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glad i wasnt the only one cracking up at that post what a character
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Jan 17, 2016 23:43
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mag7 is one of my favorite people itt, but it's always funny when he gets yelled at for saying something dumb, which is a lot
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Jan 17, 2016 23:57
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I got a copy of your book because I was like "maybe Mag7 has finally stopped writing off honest critique as coming from 'haters' and has really improved his craft" I haven't read it yet but this thread is not giving me a lot of hope
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Jan 17, 2016 23:59
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Gorefluff posted:What genre would you guys categorize a story that takes place in the far future, say like 1000+ years after some natural disaster sent humanity back into the Stone Age? As in the story is about primitive hunter-gatherers that are only vaguely aware that some advanced civilization once existed but they're relearning how to farm, write, make tools, etc, and are essentially cavemen. I guess it's technically post apocalypse but I don't feel that term really evokes the right sentiment. This is called Battlefield Earth. I have mixed opinions on it. Seriously though, (try to) read Battlefield Earth. It follows a VERY similar formula and isn't a completely awful read. It does some smart things but suffers from L. Ron Hubbardism in that the first and last parts of the book are legitimately interesting with good intrigue. The middle is a quagmire of bad pacing and drawn-out ego-stroking though. EDIT: Adding Link for vitality. You can usually find it at a half-priced book store, which you will want to do as I can't imagine trying to flip through a 700+ page pocket-paperback fresh off the presses, a few decades of wear is needed for it to be readable. 
SkaAndScreenplays fucked around with this message at 06:56 on Jan 18, 2016 |
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Jan 18, 2016 06:47
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Quote SkaAndScreenplays Dec 11, 2013 Gorefluff posted: What genre would you guys categorize a story that takes place in the far future, say like 1000+ years after some natural disas
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Jan 18, 2016 12:45
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crabrock posted:mag7 is one of my favorite people itt, but it's always funny when he gets yelled at for saying something dumb, which is a lot SurreptitiousMuffin posted:I got a copy of your book because I was like "maybe Mag7 has finally stopped writing off honest critique as coming from 'haters' and has really improved his craft" Sulla-Marius 88 posted:glad i wasnt the only one cracking up at that post sebmojo posted:you're ok mag7 crabrock posted:some things never change, lol I really, really gotta lay off the crack.
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Jan 18, 2016 22:22
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SkaAndScreenplays posted:This is called Battlefield Earth. I have mixed opinions on it. I've actually tried to read Battlefield Earth a couple times and could never get past the first 50 pages. I know the concept of humanity being reset isn't super original. I read a book by Graham Hancock called Fingerprints of the Gods, which is a non-fiction look at lost civilizations. He calls us a "culture with amnesia" and presents evidence of advanced cultures that, for example, built the pyramids and sites like Gobekli Tepe over 10,000 years ago, but then we were suddenly dragged back to hunter gatherer status worldwide by an asteroid impact. This also happened before some 70,000 years ago when a super volcano eruption in Indonesia reduced total human population to a few thousand. Anyway, I found the idea fascinating, and pictured the far far future descendants of us mucking about with loincloths and spears long after everything we ever wrote down was lost. So yeah it's post-apocalyptic for sure technically, although I don't think it really dwells on the typical images and themes that most post-apocalyptic fiction orbits. I'm just getting ready to start querying in the next couple weeks so I wanted to see if anyone had some other opinions.
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Jan 19, 2016 01:24
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Is there a thread for getting feedback on query letters?
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