Boarders writing a novel

[Starkess]

I've been able to add a second day of 1 hour to my schedule! Trucking right along. Think I'm about a quarter of the way through draft 2, and this section had a lot of new scenes so probably will pick up in pace.

[Derfel Cadarn]

My latest book is now being shopped to publishers. Now to wait and hope.

Also made good progress lately on The Blood Hour. Almost finished the flashforward chapters, set 2000 years after the main story. Features an exciting gunbattle, mage battle and bike/car fight through the streets of Mask (city inspired by Marrakesh).

[The Marquis de Leech]

New short story out:

Perilous Treasures

[Derfel Cadarn]

1 hour ago, The Marquis de Leech said:

New short story out:

Perilous Treasures

Congrats!

[The Grey Wolf Strikes Back]

Done proofreading (for the last time) 6/13 short stories. On the other hand, summer classes are heating up and I've run into a dumb but frustrating problem. Sigh.

[Lord Patrek]

On 6/20/2021 at 10:39 AM, Starkess said:

I've been able to add a second day of 1 hour to my schedule! Trucking right along. Think I'm about a quarter of the way through draft 2, and this section had a lot of new scenes so probably will pick up in pace.

Keep at it!  It's the only way. . .

On 6/20/2021 at 12:30 PM, Derfel Cadarn said:

My latest book is now being shopped to publishers. Now to wait and hope.

Best of luck! It's an exciting process! Hope you'll be more fortunate than I was!

On 6/21/2021 at 1:20 AM, The Marquis de Leech said:

New short story out:

Perilous Treasures

Congrats!

On my end, still waiting to hear back from that agent. My submission has been in the queue since May 12th, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

On the novella front, I'm reaching the conclusion of Blademaster, which now stands at 26,000 words and 96 manuscript pages. Only a few more scenes to go before I complete the first draft.

[Centrist Simon Steele]

I just can't seem to interest a literary agent with my work--though I suppose that my currently finished novel about a vampire is kind of at the top of most horror agents "don't want" lists (no more vampires!). Since I'm just in the frame of mind where I want to continue this story, I had my book professionally edited, and I put it on Amazon last month, and now I'm happily writing the next book in the series. 

But, I guess we're at a strange time where stories about monster hunters and vampires are still everywhere and have huge audiences, but the agents and possibly book publishers are tired of the genre, sadly.

[Lin Meili]

9 hours ago, Centrist Simon Steele said:

I just can't seem to interest a literary agent with my work--though I suppose that my currently finished novel about a vampire is kind of at the top of most horror agents "don't want" lists (no more vampires!). Since I'm just in the frame of mind where I want to continue this story, I had my book professionally edited, and I put it on Amazon last month, and now I'm happily writing the next book in the series. 

But, I guess we're at a strange time where stories about monster hunters and vampires are still everywhere and have huge audiences, but the agents and possibly book publishers are tired of the genre, sadly.

Please do share a link to your book on Amazon. I'd love to see what other self-published writers in this thread are doing on their cover, description, and pricing.

[Derfel Cadarn]

15 hours ago, Centrist Simon Steele said:

I just can't seem to interest a literary agent with my work--though I suppose that my currently finished novel about a vampire is kind of at the top of most horror agents "don't want" lists (no more vampires!). Since I'm just in the frame of mind where I want to continue this story, I had my book professionally edited, and I put it on Amazon last month, and now I'm happily writing the next book in the series. 

But, I guess we're at a strange time where stories about monster hunters and vampires are still everywhere and have huge audiences, but the agents and possibly book publishers are tired of the genre, sadly.

It’s an uphill struggle, but my supernatural crime novel is about a secret police unit policing the vampire/supernatural community, and it got me an agent a few months ago. Whether publishers eill be interested remains to be seen.

The agent told me had it just been police vs vampires he wouldn’t have been interested, but the backstory and characters seem to have hooked him.

[Ordos]

I am just about halfway through writing my alternate history novel. While I would not consider my book a dystopia, I did my best to set up an authoritarian government. Anyway, this will probably be my only experiment with the genre as I'm more comfortable with my regular novels set in the real contemporary world. 

I still don't know how to convert my word file into an ebook and then how to contact an online distributor/publisher. 

I will print my book on paper, but that's only for my bookshelf.

I have written notes for my book, but my Dad suggests using powerpoint to create a plot flow chart. I'm actually doing fine without one.  I don't have writer's block, but I do have some gaps in my story between events that I'm not entirely sure how to link up.

I'm well on my way to beating my own imposed February deadline.

[Lin Meili]

7 hours ago, Ordos said:

I am just about halfway through writing my alternate history novel. While I would not consider my book a dystopia, I did my best to set up an authoritarian government. Anyway, this will probably be my only experiment with the genre as I'm more comfortable with my regular novels set in the real contemporary world. 

I still don't know how to convert my word file into an ebook and then how to contact an online distributor/publisher. 

I will print my book on paper, but that's only for my bookshelf.

I have written notes for my book, but my Dad suggests using powerpoint to create a plot flow chart. I'm actually doing fine without one.  I don't have writer's block, but I do have some gaps in my story between events that I'm not entirely sure how to link up.

I'm well on my way to beating my own imposed February deadline.

May I suggest you write the entire book first then worry about formatting later? You can just any docx or odt file to make into an ebook.

[The Marquis de Leech]

On 7/5/2021 at 6:26 AM, Centrist Simon Steele said:

I just can't seem to interest a literary agent with my work--though I suppose that my currently finished novel about a vampire is kind of at the top of most horror agents "don't want" lists (no more vampires!). Since I'm just in the frame of mind where I want to continue this story, I had my book professionally edited, and I put it on Amazon last month, and now I'm happily writing the next book in the series. 

But, I guess we're at a strange time where stories about monster hunters and vampires are still everywhere and have huge audiences, but the agents and possibly book publishers are tired of the genre, sadly.

I discovered that a while back with a short story*. Vampires really struggle to find a home at the moment.

*The twist being that the Vampire was a Catholic Priest, who survives by drinking communion wine.

[Centrist Simon Steele]

On 7/5/2021 at 3:42 AM, Derfel Cadarn said:

It’s an uphill struggle, but my supernatural crime novel is about a secret police unit policing the vampire/supernatural community, and it got me an agent a few months ago. Whether publishers eill be interested remains to be seen.

The agent told me had it just been police vs vampires he wouldn’t have been interested, but the backstory and characters seem to have hooked him.

It's tough for sure--I feel like the story itself isn't anything new or crazy--just an old-school Dracula-esque take on a vampire in rural Pennsylvania. Feedback I've gotten is that it is the characters that make this story work, but I guess I just couldn't communicate that well enough in the query.

On 7/4/2021 at 10:26 PM, Lin Meili said:

Please do share a link to your book on Amazon. I'd love to see what other self-published writers in this thread are doing on their cover, description, and pricing.

Sure, I'm happy to share: Amazon.com: The Watchman eBook: Lee, Simon: Kindle Store

I will say, I hate the cover, but having it professionally done and suffering from two conditions--namely, being perpetually broke, and perpetually nice--I just went with what I got. I'm putting some cash together to recommission the cover down the line. It's a bummer too--the artist had lots of good covers, but I just feel like mine ended up super different from what he normally did.

What can you do?

8 hours ago, The Marquis de Leech said:

I discovered that a while back with a short story*. Vampires really struggle to find a home at the moment.

*The twist being that the Vampire was a Catholic Priest, who survives by drinking communion wine.

I like it! The strange thing to me is that vampires always have a home--people love vampires. But it seems like we're in a patch where those who decide have decided "enough for now." 

[The Grey Wolf Strikes Back]

Turned 27 today so here's an update on my book:

1) For a few reasons I have to push back the release date (Goal is now September)

2) Proofread 8/13 stories (Last round of editing just to be clear)

3) Wrote a fourth Mistland vignette titled "Love & Hate" (173 words, 1/2 page)

4) The final piece of artwork is complete (Can share if y'all are interested)

5) Wrote a back cover blurb (Can share if y'all are interested)

[Lin Meili]

On 7/7/2021 at 11:04 AM, Centrist Simon Steele said:

I will say, I hate the cover, but having it professionally done and suffering from two conditions--namely, being perpetually broke, and perpetually nice--I just went with what I got. I'm putting some cash together to recommission the cover down the line. It's a bummer too--the artist had lots of good covers, but I just feel like mine ended up super different from what he normally did.

What can you do?

I also tried many different covers. It really is difficult!

[Centrist Simon Steele]

10 minutes ago, Lin Meili said:

I also tried many different covers. It really is difficult!

Sometimes a person just clicks with you--I published my first novel back around 2010, and though I've since pulled it (I want to get it professionally edited as well--I found that to be a truly meaningful expense), the cover just with me. It's one I look at now and still love it.

The cover's super important though, and I'm really eager to get a new one.

Do you have covers you're willing to share?

 

[The Grey Wolf Strikes Back]

@Centrist Simon Steele

I know you didn't ask me specifically but here are mine:

Version 1: https://artistsnclients.com/uploads/5jo/jobs/641611_Ebook%20cover%201.png?0
Version 2: https://artistsnclients.com/uploads/5jo/jobs/642273_Ebook%20cover%20back.png?0
 

[Lin Meili]

11 hours ago, The Grey Wolf Strikes Back said:

@Centrist Simon Steele

I know you didn't ask me specifically but here are mine:

Version 1: https://artistsnclients.com/uploads/5jo/jobs/641611_Ebook cover 1.png?0
Version 2: https://artistsnclients.com/uploads/5jo/jobs/642273_Ebook cover back.png?0
 

Lovely!

17 hours ago, Centrist Simon Steele said:

Sometimes a person just clicks with you--I published my first novel back around 2010, and though I've since pulled it (I want to get it professionally edited as well--I found that to be a truly meaningful expense), the cover just with me. It's one I look at now and still love it.

The cover's super important though, and I'm really eager to get a new one.

Do you have covers you're willing to share?

 

Haha, yes! I cater to the light novel/manga readers so my covers reflect that.

Covers as they appear on amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B094DDCGBX

The artwork I commissioned:

I actually added the text myself with Canva.

 

[The Marquis de Leech]

Finally cracked 40,000 words on Old Phuul today. Yay.

[Lord Patrek]

On 7/9/2021 at 10:47 AM, Centrist Simon Steele said:

Sometimes a person just clicks with you--I published my first novel back around 2010, and though I've since pulled it (I want to get it professionally edited as well--I found that to be a truly meaningful expense), the cover just with me. It's one I look at now and still love it.

 

Getting your manuscript professionally edited is indeed quite meaningful. But it can be quite expensive as well. The agent who repped me for my first manuscript recommended that I get it edited by a pro, which I did. But for an 800+ manuscript, that added up to over 1500$. That was circa 2007, so I have no idea how costly it can be these days.

But if you are going to self-publish, that's an enormous investment that you might never recoup. Given that the indie authors on this board sell a couple of hundred copies at best, is it a smart investment?

I know an indie writer who paid 2500$ for a Stephen Martiniere cover. It looks spectacular, but the self-published novel wasn't that good. I doubt he ever came close to breaking even, so it's hard to say how worthwhile the investment turned out to be. A beautiful cover will attract some attention, but ultimately it's all about the book itself.

What do you self-published folks think??