Writers Café discussion

I REALLY want to get one of my books published, but I haven't finished any of them. I was going to use CreateSpace, but my parents wouldn't let me, because you have to enter your social security number.

My parents were worried about identity theft, and the fact that you have to pay taxes to self-publish a book.

I was wondering, what sites i should use other than GR to publish my books? i kinda want a different variety...

You could try getting an agent or contacting a small press? If you do want to selfpublish there's always Createspace :)

http://www.smashwords.com/
I haven't checked it out too much yet, because I have no book ready.

If you are looking more for a cheap (well free) self-publishing, try Epublishing with Amazon Kindle - they take royalties off sales (70% for under a certain price and then it falls right back down) and there is no cost to you; obviously you'd get a better deal with traditional publishing but that's hard to get into :)

I'd love to be published, apparently I have been told that I can bank on it which is cool. I just love writing. I had a day today, all day at the computer, freely writing, it was great

Lauren (Flame) wrote: "Wow, that's cool! :) I hope I get published soon. I just have to edit my novel."

editing is fun, I'm always doing that with my stuff, i kind of get a million versions of one chapter
none better than the other :-)

I'd love to get a book published too. I even sent a piece of a book I'm writing to Trentpublishing and the said they'd tell me what they thought in a few weeks and that was about two weeks ago. So fingers crossed they like it!

If you have a book you want to get published go to http://www.tatepublishing.com/submit.php I know a person who got a book published by them and he was only fifteen so I'd go to them!

if youre looking to be published a great place is tanglewoodpress.com, they have open manuscript submissions

:) I'm writing a novel now and just printed out what I have of it awhile back. Now I'm reading over it and fixing my mistakes but also writing more at the moment :) I have 65,000 words almost done! :) chapter 13 here is the first part of it Its a fantasy adventure novel more info in the description: http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/3...

The link doesn't work.

ohh i know why I'll try and fix it later :)

it wont work :c

let me try fixing it

ok the link should work now :D

its a fantasy and adventure :) enjoy!

To Self-Published Authors

I have met people who are energized by their own genuine enthusiasms here on Goodreads, as well as in other online communities. I have a deep sense of gratitude and thankfulness for the correspondence that has been established between us, and still continues. But in terms of Goodreads, a community now having reached ten million members if I have read correctly, there is an even larger confusion of purpose.

Being an indie author is not cute. Nor is it clever or respectable. It is not enough to think an idea followed through to a bound book makes one a serious writer. In reality, to be an indie author is to be prepared to wallow in not only the malaise and self-doubt that comes with authorship, but the general belief in your uselessness and irrelevance from the publishing world, which includes readers. Ever hear the phrase “If you can’t do, coach?” It’s unfair but no different. Ever hear “No one wanted to publish your work, so you published it yourself?”

I am an indie author, but I wish to rescind the label. And I know, above all and before anything else, I am looked down on because I put money and effort into producing my debut novel. Perhaps I’ve earned a modicum of respect for the financial and temporal sacrifice, which is in its own right a generosity of spirit from people as frustrated as myself, people who could easily have not offered that. And I knew this ahead of time. I knew it would be a gamble, of perception, reception and reward. But I did it because of my understanding of two things:

1. I believe in the relevance and importance of my novel.
2. With the evolution of the publishing industry, I recognized the level of difficulty in convincing an agent or editor to consider a debut novelist who can not guarantee a return on initial investment, as well as a marketing plan that is to be handled mostly by the author. Most good books...hell...most amazing books, spend their time in slush piles before seeing the light of day. I understand established writers and their contention when it comes to self-published authors perverting the system. (And it should not be a system. But because it’s become a system, a tacky machine of superfluous words, the indie authors’ negative reactions to being shoved off in to the margins as not being “true writers” are NOT valid. So prove yourself!)

But just don’t try to prove yourself by engaging in some factory of Likes, Tags and Reviews being exchanged for those who don’t even read your writing. Recently, I commented on a thread here in Goodreads about kindness, humility and gratitude. Someone responded, adding to the end of his/her comment that he/she wasn’t promoting his/her own work before doing it a few hours later in the same thread. And what has pushed me toward this conversation is that today, when corresponding with a show host for books and authors in Canada, the host told me he’d be interested in my book, but mostly he feels self-publishing is a hustle. A hustle. And he isn’t wrong, especially when I see something like what I saw last night on Goodreads: a “writer” was actually asking for help with plot lines for the book. And people were lining up to share their two cents.

Pathetic.

And so, we are not writers here. We are salespersons. And I see fully, now, what is wrong with self-publishing. I am proud of my book, inside and out, and pleased with the company I’ve paid to produce it with me. Not for me. But I am also completely satisfied with one person a month falling in love with my story, indefinitely, rather than one hundred thousand readers “liking” it temporarily just so I will follow their blog.

Wrong.