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Boarders Writing A Novel: Volume 14 A Memory of Civility


SpaceChampion

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6 hours ago, Jerol said:

Obviously I have been remiss in writing an epic weird west/steampunk fantasy. I'm going to scrap it all and do  either a South Korean webtoon or a Japanese web novel. That's what really sells!

:lol: Don't forget to put it on Kindle Unlimited, you'll have millions of page views in no time. 

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On 2/13/2016 at 0:08 PM, Jerol said:

There's something about the fantasy genre that vexes me. We are told again and again that to get published, word count should be no higher than 120K. I got the first book to about 114K but only after killing a significant amount of my darlings. I was fine with that. Right now I'm writing a different first chapter and then it's back to soliciting agents. But I see again and again debut novels that are well above 120K. How do they do it? Obviously you have to a damn good writer but how does one convince an agent or publisher to even look at the damn thing? 

I've scrimped on plot lines, descriptions of places and characters, dialog, etc to a point where one of my beta readers said, "it just feels that there's so much missing". Aaaaaargh. I can do that, I can flesh things out but it would at least cost me removing on entire plot line. 

There's no set in stone rules when it comes to word count, but it is harder to sell something higher than 120-140k as a new writer. There are always exceptions, but those are usually exceptions. 

When I was looking at my second book being in the 170k range, my agent encouraged me to rethink it and he was right. The draft would up being about 136k. 

Write what you write, but remember it's hard for a publisher to commit time and money to a ten book series of 200k words each to an unproven talent. But again, there are exceptions. 

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On 12/1/2016 at 0:24 PM, C.T. Phipps said:

thanks!

Edit:

A piece of advice I'd like to give to any independent authors is to try to branch out in multiple directions. Audiobooks, ebooks, and physical copies whenever possible. Audiobooks and Ebooks almost never overlap so any sales are just broadening your market. Production of audiobooks with professionals is surprisingly underdone by a lot of otherwise competent publishers.
 

I am thinking of listening to some of the top sellers on Audible, and finding out what makes a great audiobook. My family recently listened to Priscilla Royal's Sorrow Without End, and whilst most of her other books are good. My family had a lot of trouble getting into it (despite being a murder mystery), and my father mentioned there was too much description. Perhaps this is why her book are great to read as Ebooks but this was the factor that made them poor audiobooks.

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2 hours ago, Roose Boltons Pet Leech said:

Congrats! :cheers:

Silly question - was the earthquake aspect influenced by Christchurch?

Thanks.

It's not a silly question, I am a Kiwi after all even if I haven't been home in a couple of years and it was a little - I was living in Dunedin at the time so I felt it and I visited Christchurch more than a year later (around the same time I started IOP) and the CBD was still in ruins. It was my second time in Christchurch so I knew what it had looked like before everything was falling down and fenced off. In a way those fences were the worst part - a lot of them were really bright and cheerful and they were just surrounded by empty lots and condemned buildings. 

Most of my earthquake related research focused on Christchurch and half remembered earthquake drills and was adjusted to suit a magic school hidden off the Desert Road and the other locations that the story moves to.  

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I see these threads are still running strong. I'm still writing myself as well  - with a rather Martinesque speed, I'm afraid ;) so the big epic monsters (the Roman series and Kings and Rebels) are not yet finished. On the contrary, I got a new 10th century hist fic one that has occupied some of my writing time. 

Congrats to everyone who finshed and novel and landed a publication deal while I was away (since 2013 or so). 

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I have not posted in this thread for two years, I think? I think only First of my Name, if he's here still, remembers when I did. So, in these two years(in probable, but maybe not, order), I did(writing-only related):

- I actually wrote some basic notes for my original setting

- Learnt a lot about writing on Scribophile, which is a site I recommend a lot, and I see that there's a thread here similar to the system Scribophile uses although without (karma) points

- Started using FocusWriter as my writing application(I thought about switching to ZenWriter but that one is not free and I can't afford it), which is a really cool if simple app

- Got into Homestuck

(I hope y'all don't have much prejudice against fanfiction)

- Got into Homestuck so much that I've written fanfics for it, and I consider my WIP fanfic as a sort of a test novel(which I wouldn't be writing if it wasn't so much fun) for the original work I plan on writing after it. I am doing it 3rd person, GRRM style with 13 POV's and it's really complicated but I know I can finish it. I have 11 chapters out of 110 planned finished, currently at 1/3rd of another chapter and 36.5k words. Weirdly enough, my beta reader(s) still ask me for more details :D I guess the final word count will be anywhere between 200k and 350k, mainly because I am a "gardener" type writer that adds stuff as I go. Probably in the middle side after rewrites, but you never know.

- Wrote several short stories, one of which I think *should* have a great chance to get published, though I don't know where would I present that story as it is a pseudo-fairy-tale(meaning, I've written it so it evokes the feeling of a fairy-tale, but it actually isn't) with a female lead character, no romance subplot, deeply rooted in Slavic mythology and a 4th wall breaking narrator. If there's interest here for people to read it, I can upload it somewhere surely, though.

So yeah, this is where I am at.

Congrats to @Selysin for getting his novel published! That's awesome xD

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On ‎3‎-‎3‎-‎2016 at 11:54 PM, Hrokkan of Skagos said:

Sometimes I wish I didn't have so many hobbies I enjoy, that way I can just stick to writing.

I know that feeling too.

Congrats Selysin!

16 hours ago, CorwinusJ said:

I have not posted in this thread for two years, I think? I think only First of my Name, if he's here still, remembers when I did. So, in these two years(in probable, but maybe not, order), I did(writing-only related):

Still here, and I vaguely remember you. (I think so at least, it's been a while). Welcome back.

 

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16 hours ago, CorwinusJ said:

I have not posted in this thread for two years, I think? I think only First of my Name, if he's here still, remembers when I did. So, in these two years(in probable, but maybe not, order), I did(writing-only related):

- I actually wrote some basic notes for my original setting

- Learnt a lot about writing on Scribophile, which is a site I recommend a lot, and I see that there's a thread here similar to the system Scribophile uses although without (karma) points

- Started using FocusWriter as my writing application(I thought about switching to ZenWriter but that one is not free and I can't afford it), which is a really cool if simple app

- Got into Homestuck

(I hope y'all don't have much prejudice against fanfiction)

- Got into Homestuck so much that I've written fanfics for it, and I consider my WIP fanfic as a sort of a test novel(which I wouldn't be writing if it wasn't so much fun) for the original work I plan on writing after it. I am doing it 3rd person, GRRM style with 13 POV's and it's really complicated but I know I can finish it. I have 11 chapters out of 110 planned finished, currently at 1/3rd of another chapter and 36.5k words. Weirdly enough, my beta reader(s) still ask me for more details :D I guess the final word count will be anywhere between 200k and 350k, mainly because I am a "gardener" type writer that adds stuff as I go. Probably in the middle side after rewrites, but you never know.

- Wrote several short stories, one of which I think *should* have a great chance to get published, though I don't know where would I present that story as it is a pseudo-fairy-tale(meaning, I've written it so it evokes the feeling of a fairy-tale, but it actually isn't) with a female lead character, no romance subplot, deeply rooted in Slavic mythology and a 4th wall breaking narrator. If there's interest here for people to read it, I can upload it somewhere surely, though.

So yeah, this is where I am at.

Congrats to @Selysin for getting his novel published! That's awesome xD

Your short story sounds somewhat similar in style and content to Uprooted by Naomi Novik. Have you read that at all, and if yes was it part of your inspiration? (Not that there aren't many other fairy tale-esque novels to inspire you of course.

I think maybe the best place would be to try submitting to some fantasy magazines or something? Don't they usually publish a lot of short fiction? Good luck though!

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14 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Your short story sounds somewhat similar in style and content to Uprooted by Naomi Novik. Have you read that at all, and if yes was it part of your inspiration? (Not that there aren't many other fairy tale-esque novels to inspire you of course.

I think maybe the best place would be to try submitting to some fantasy magazines or something? Don't they usually publish a lot of short fiction? Good luck though!

I honestly never heard of that story(though I will see if I can track it down and read it). The prompt I got was a Christmas/Yule tale about dragons with extra points if Baba Yaga makes an appearence. The only real inspiration was Slavic mythology(and, if you wish to call it an inspiration, the fact that an MC, but especially female MC, has(and mostly does have) to have some type of a romantic relationship in the story, which is why I said "no romance subplot"... I didn't use any other setting/novel as a source of inspiration - what I wrote in that story was me, trying to kind of subvert all those fairy tales I read a decade or more ago whilst trying to still leave the feeling like I am actually writing/you reading a fairy tale(I honestly laugh if anyone actually thinks that the story I wrote actually is a fairy tale.).

Since I come from a place where fantasy magazines are non-existant, which means my knowledge of any and all fantasy magazines is also non-existant, I really don't know where would I even pitch the story to. I guess Tor.com might be a good place to start... and Google isn't that helpful because I can't parse out which magazines are good/still running/etc. If anyone can give me some pointers, that would be cool.

54 minutes ago, First of My Name said:

Still here, and I vaguely remember you. (I think so at least, it's been a while). Welcome back.

Well, it's been 2 years. How's your story going? Have you finished the series or started some other project or?

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