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Post by Blu on Oct 24, 2014 23:01:53 GMT -5
Blu, if your teacher is a published author, I would definitely talk to them and ask them about their process. They can probably help more than most of us can. Writers' associations/alliances/etc. aren't anything like unions. They're not labor-based and have no impact on the industry. They're just clubs of people who get together to talk about writing and help each other with their craft, whether it be technical aspects like manuscript editing or business aspects such as hosting annual conferences with invited speakers and agents. The best way to find them would be to talk to writers you know, like your teacher. Usually they'll either be a part of at least one association themselves, or know of several. Barring that, you could probably do a Google search for "writers' associations" and get some good results, although you may want to narrow that search down to your geographical area, your preferred genres, etc. They can range from very general to very specific. I'll have to look into that. thank you.
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Post by Chao on Oct 25, 2014 2:31:04 GMT -5
This spring I visited a book fair and attended a lot of panels which heavily focussed on indie publishing (or self-publishing as it's usually called here) versus traditional publishing. Traditional publishing still has the nimbus of making you a 'real author' while indie publishing sounds like it's more work if you want it to be successful. But truth is: Most traditionally published authors now have to do the same marketing work as the indie authors. A lot of publishers and agents are now training their long time authors on facebook presence, or having a regular blog or what not, adding to their workload. Also, landing a contract with a publisher doesn't mean success or that you'll get that shiny spot on a table near the entrance of the bookstore of your choice with a pile of your books the customer can browse and then hopefully buy. Usually it just means you are a 'catalogue author' in that you and your work are listed in the publisher's catalogue and the bookstore can order it. You still have to do the marketing yourself.
On that note I found it a sad developement that a person with lots and lots of facebook friends or twitter followers is more likely to land a contract even if the work is not so great than some author with a really great book but only a hundred real friends and acquaintances on their social media platform of choice. Because for the publishers the number of friends/followers equals a percentage of 'likely to buy that person's book'. So money rules that market. To be sure, traditional publishing has its ups in that it gets you professional editing, cover and printing, but yeah... the industry is currently trying to keep up with the changes coming from indie publishing, electronic publishing and social media in general.
Because of this, I'm currently leaning towards indie publishing and I have my eye on an e-book selfpublishing platform which is related to a well-known publishing house over here. Meaning that I can publish my ebook there as an indie author for all ebook readers, and if it sells well I might land a contract with their professional ebook section and/or even move on to their traditional print section. And I hope that by the time I have my book ready they can also offer international ISBN numbers, as they hinted at at the fair, because the book I'm working on is written in English.
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Post by Blu on Oct 25, 2014 10:54:43 GMT -5
This spring I visited a book fair and attended a lot of panels which heavily focussed on indie publishing (or self-publishing as it's usually called here) versus traditional publishing. Traditional publishing still has the nimbus of making you a 'real author' while indie publishing sounds like it's more work if you want it to be successful. But truth is: Most traditionally published authors now have to do the same marketing work as the indie authors. A lot of publishers and agents are now training their long time authors on facebook presence, or having a regular blog or what not, adding to their workload. Also, landing a contract with a publisher doesn't mean success or that you'll get that shiny spot on a table near the entrance of the bookstore of your choice with a pile of your books the customer can browse and then hopefully buy. Usually it just means you are a 'catalogue author' in that you and your work are listed in the publisher's catalogue and the bookstore can order it. You still have to do the marketing yourself. On that note I found it a sad developement that a person with lots and lots of facebook friends or twitter followers is more likely to land a contract even if the work is not so great than some author with a really great book but only a hundred real friends and acquaintances on their social media platform of choice. Because for the publishers the number of friends/followers equals a percentage of 'likely to buy that person's book'. So money rules that market. To be sure, traditional publishing has its ups in that it gets you professional editing, cover and printing, but yeah... the industry is currently trying to keep up with the changes coming from indie publishing, electronic publishing and social media in general. Because of this, I'm currently leaning towards indie publishing and I have my eye on an e-book selfpublishing platform which is related to a well-known publishing house over here. Meaning that I can publish my ebook there as an indie author for all ebook readers, and if it sells well I might land a contract with their professional ebook section and/or even move on to their traditional print section. And I hope that by the time I have my book ready they can also offer international ISBN numbers, as they hinted at at the fair, because the book I'm working on is written in English. Thats awesome that you went to a book fair. Thank you for some input. I think personally I may avoid eBooks (I say that but I will cave) only because I like the feel of a real book in my hand. I don't like nooks, kindles, or the sort. But i'm old school like that. At the end of the day it is whatever gets you published and out there.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2014 10:58:11 GMT -5
Chao Good points! It's a disappointing problem for authors that publishers, even ones who specialize in your genre(s) of choice, aren't interested in what's unique or creative--they're interested in what will sell. That means that works that don't fit the mold to some degree, aren't the kind of thing that's selling lately, or even that have an author who doesn't have a lot of social media contacts, have much less of a chance with agents and publishers than stuff that's reminiscent of the kind of thing that's performed well in the past, is by a person who's popular on social media, and is therefore "safe". There could be nothing intrinsically wrong with your manuscript--it could be among the most creative, engaging, and thought-provoking things written in your genre. But it may be those very traits that cause agents and publishers to be leery about it, simply because they're unsure how it will perform on the market based on past and recent data. I believe this is one of the reasons why the fiction sphere continues to be slow on the uptake with things like well-balanced female characters in fantasy and sci-fi, realistic relationships, and imaginative plots and worldbuilding. There are likely a good number of authors out there who do a great job in these regards (I know quite a few myself), but no one is picking them up. Of course, the dilemma for publishers is that many truly great books break molds, and may not even sell well at first because no one quite knows what to make of them. So publishers have to choose between staying in the safe zone with guaranteed profit, or taking a leap of faith on an author with some quirky idea like a hobbit living in a hole in the ground, or a boy with a strange scar going to a magic school. And even when that leap is taken, publishers may push for changes in a manuscript to make it more marketable, as much as they can squeeze out of the author, just to decrease the probability of failure. At the end of it all, publishing is a business, and taking risks is generally antithetical to profitable business. As a result, many great stories get left by the wayside in the favor of derivative drivel. And that's why I prefer indie publishing--because I believe I have the ability to tell good stories, and I'm not going to let industry trends get in the way of people enjoying them.
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Post by Stephanie (swordlilly) on Oct 28, 2014 20:02:37 GMT -5
Another curious thing about literature, too, is that sometimes what's unpopular during the author's lifetime can end up being popular decades down the road.
Anyway, for me personally, I've decided not to try to make a living off writing, because it's just too volatile. And I want to be motivated by something nobler than money, when I'm writing. It's sad when writing becomes only a means of sustaining life, rather than a means of affirming life.
So I'm working on career first. >.< For now.
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Post by Blu on Oct 28, 2014 22:41:31 GMT -5
Another curious thing about literature, too, is that sometimes what's unpopular during the author's lifetime can end up being popular decades down the road. Anyway, for me personally, I've decided not to try to make a living off writing, because it's just too volatile. And I want to be motivated by something nobler than money, when I'm writing. It's sad when writing becomes only a means of sustaining life, rather than a means of affirming life. So I'm working on career first. >.< For now. I agree with that notion, while i would love to be an author who can make a living off of it, I am pursing other careers. Writing will be the night job I enjoy that I don't want to be the reason i loose money. But either way, i planned to have and keep a day job.
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