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@steve1979 CONGRATS DUDE! That's awesome! How tought was it/how long did it take, if you don't mind me asking? Did you just send out enquiry letters/samples to loads of folk or did you target specific ones? Did they make you jump through hoops? Sorry for the questions... |
I'm Publishing My First Book • Page 9
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CosmicFuzz 32,632 posts
Seen 6 hours ago
Registered 15 years ago -
steve1979 2,105 posts
Seen 12 hours ago
Registered 14 years agoThanks very much. I don't mind questions at all.
Well I sort of got published the wrong way round. I self-published my first 2 books in 2012, got picked up by a traditional publisher in Feb 2013, who re-launched the first 2 books and published the 3rd.
About Oct last year, it became apparent that if I ever wanted to write stuff and have it published by people who aren't my publisher I needed an agent. I sent e-mails round to a bunch of them and had some interesting chats, but nothing concrete. Lots of, "It's too dark, it's not what I'm looking for", then I sent an email to Paul Lucas who loved the books and asked to work with me on future ones.
The thing is, because I was already published, and had sales figures and the like, I had more clout with agents than I would have had. Saying, "I'm a bestselling author," is better than saying, "I'm unpublished," but I still got turned down a bunch, and it still sucked.
Paul was introduced to me by a friend who knows him. That's how a hell of a lot of people get agents in publishing, you know someone who knows someone.
Edited by steve1979 at 14:49:55 13-05-2014
Edited by steve1979 at 14:53:12 13-05-2014 -
I just received my first feedback from a publisher. Super exciting.
They said...
We were impressed with People Watching. This is an addictive read: we very quickly got hooked on these concise stories and enjoyed the whole manuscript. The initial set-up is a simple idea and one that you use to good effect, mostly with humour, occasionally poignant or sharp, and with a skilful twist in the tale. We confirm that we would be pleased to work with you to publication. Your title would make an original and very clever addition to our fiction list.
As I scrolled through the email I was getting rather pleased with myself. I then reached the end of the email that went on to say...
500 copies:
Your contribution: £8500:
1000 copies:
Your contribution: £9000:
OOFFF. Wind. Sails. Taken.
Bugger. -
Ahahaha, ouch! -
It reminded me of Spurs being 3 nil up at City, only to lose 4-3.
Oh well. The positive thing is that they liked it. -
CosmicFuzz 32,632 posts
Seen 6 hours ago
Registered 15 years agoChrist that's a bit of a gut punch. That's not usual, surely? -
Depends on the publisher. There are many outfits who offer to help you... providing you pay them.
A srs publisher wouldn't. -
I'm not even convinced it's as simple as that - though I could be wrong.
You're right in saying that there are plenty of companies/people out there willing to take your money in return for a print run / clean-up / book cover and small promotion.
However, when I challenged them on this it does appear that as an unknown trying to make it the chances are very few (if any) publishers are going to take a punt on you without some sort of joint funding.
For me though, that's just not an option - so I'm out.
Ps. Buy my fucking book. Please. I guarantee at least one titter per person.
Ahem. -
steve1979 2,105 posts
Seen 12 hours ago
Registered 14 years agoNever go with a publisher who offers to print your book in return for you paying them. -
@steve1979 Indeed. -
steve1979 2,105 posts
Seen 12 hours ago
Registered 14 years agoIf you want a print copy of a book you've written, Createspace or Lulu are your best bet. If you want a publisher, finding an agent is probably your best way of getting one. -
nickthegun 87,711 posts
Seen 8 hours ago
Registered 16 years agobinky wrote:
They were probably just having troubles in denmark.
Oh well. The positive thing is that they liked it.
Edited by nickthegun at 16:50:03 14-05-2014 -
@nickthegun ha ha - this has been in my mind for a while now .gif)
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Armoured_Bear 31,233 posts
Seen 2 days ago
Registered 10 years agobinky wrote:
It's $1.75 on Kindle so the revenue wouldn't even be a grand on 500 copies!
I just received my first feedback from a publisher. Super exciting.
They said...
We were impressed with People Watching. This is an addictive read: we very quickly got hooked on these concise stories and enjoyed the whole manuscript. The initial set-up is a simple idea and one that you use to good effect, mostly with humour, occasionally poignant or sharp, and with a skilful twist in the tale. We confirm that we would be pleased to work with you to publication. Your title would make an original and very clever addition to our fiction list.
As I scrolled through the email I was getting rather pleased with myself. I then reached the end of the email that went on to say...
500 copies:
Your contribution: £8500:
1000 copies:
Your contribution: £9000:
OOFFF. Wind. Sails. Taken.
Bugger. -
steve1979 2,105 posts
Seen 12 hours ago
Registered 14 years agoMy books are now in Waterstones. In fact they're going to be throwing a launch party for book 1 in a few weeks. This is a bit surreal considering Waterstones and Amazon Publishing are like oil and water.
Here's how it happened.
http://stevejmchugh.wordpress.com/2014/08/20/the-road-to-waterstones/
Also, I've been contracted for books 4 and 5, and my agent wants me to send him pitches for 3 more series. It's been a very busy few months. -
Rivuzu 18,424 posts
Seen 2 days ago
Registered 15 years agosteve1979 wrote:
That's really awesome - it's great to see people making a career out of something they love!
My books are now in Waterstones. In fact they're going to be throwing a launch party for book 1 in a few weeks. This is a bit surreal considering Waterstones and Amazon Publishing are like oil and water.
Here's how it happened.
http://stevejmchugh.wordpress.com/2014/08/20/the-road-to-waterstones/
Also, I've been contracted for books 4 and 5, and my agent wants me to send him pitches for 3 more series. It's been a very busy few months.
I had my chance years ago at this, before Kindle was a thing, but got slapped with the same cost that binky did - they were asking for £5000 for 1,000 books printed, and 50% of all profits. Doing the math that means (at £7 a copy, average RRP) I'd need to sell 1500 books to even turn a profit...
In my naivety I'd just wrote off the entire idea of getting published and left it at that, and since I've lost my manuscripts. In my defence, I was doing my A-Levels at the time! -
steve1979 wrote:
\o/ Fantastic!
My books are now in Waterstones. In fact they're going to be throwing a launch party for book 1 in a few weeks. This is a bit surreal considering Waterstones and Amazon Publishing are like oil and water.
Here's how it happened.
http://stevejmchugh.wordpress.com/2014/08/20/the-road-to-waterstones/
Also, I've been contracted for books 4 and 5, and my agent wants me to send him pitches for 3 more series. It's been a very busy few months. -
steve1979 2,105 posts
Seen 12 hours ago
Registered 14 years agoThanks. It's been a fairly crazy few months and I'm hoping I can soon be at the point where I can write fulltime.
Yeah, Rivuzu that's got scam written all over it. If you still have the spark though, i'd say look into it. It's a very different landscape these days. -
Rivuzu 18,424 posts
Seen 2 days ago
Registered 15 years agoIf only I could. Back then I had time in spades. These days, I struggle to carve out 2-3 hours of free time.
Getting old man. Getting real old. -
steve1979 2,105 posts
Seen 12 hours ago
Registered 14 years agoTo be honest, with a full time job, writing books and spending time with my family, actually doing anything else usually takes some planning. -
steve1979 2,105 posts
Seen 12 hours ago
Registered 14 years agoIt's been a while, so I thought I'd see how everyone's writing is going? -
I've had an idea for a book.
Picture a mosquito, 65 million years ago, sucking blood from a dinosaur. The tiny creature, engorged with dino blood, lands on some sap on a tree, and is trapped...
Cut to the present day, and scientists have extracted dino DNA from the mosquito, perfectly preserved in amber.
The usey the DNA to create dinosaurs.
I've not really decided what will happen next, but I reckon it will have a haunted mansion, some college kids and a bonfire because I really like those. -
CosmicFuzz 32,632 posts
Seen 6 hours ago
Registered 15 years ago
I recently finished draft 4 of my novel, which is being read by beta readers now (aka my girlfriend and my mum). Already flagged up some interesting stuff that I'm going to feed back into draft 5. Then some more test readers, another draft probably and finally I'm hoping by March/April to be ready to send it off to agents.
You'll put in a good word for me steve, yeah?
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CosmicFuzz 32,632 posts
Seen 6 hours ago
Registered 15 years agoAlso how the hell are you getting on dude? Waterstones, series pitches, contracts for more books - sounded like it had all kicked off nicely! You able to just write for a living now full-time? -
I wrote a couple of novels, until I realised I was just sucking off Clive Barker on every page and gave up years ago.
Those weren't the plots of the books, there was more variety than that. It was a metaphorical sucking off.
.gif)
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