Boarders writing a novel, part 10

[First of My Name]

I didn't self-publish my book, but I did design a back-cover blurb. If I post it here, could you guys give opinions? It'll only take a minute.

[TrackerNeil]

I didn't self-publish my book, but I did design a back-cover blurb. If I post it here, could you guys give opinions? It'll only take a minute.

Sure thing.

[The Marquis de Leech]

What is the maximum number of agents one should send their work to at one time. I read somewhere that its rude to do more than a few.

My maximum is ten. You don't want too few because it takes forever, and you don't want too many because you don't want to burn bridges prior to any subsequent overhaul of the work.

[Jaime's Wench]

Having the courage to just submit to ONE agent will be good enough for me at the moment lol!

[Frank Fitzpatrick]

What is the maximum number of agents one should send their work to at one time. I read somewhere that its rude to do more than a few.

I submitted to my preferable five. It was a risky move but hopefully it'll pay off... if not, I'll brush myself off and look for another five to submit to. Be warned though, they will take a while. I've only heard back from one (a rejection) despite sending them off four weeks ago. So when they state it could take up to eight weeks to get a reply, it could actually take up to eight weeks.

[First of My Name]

Sure thing.

Okay, thank you.

I don't know what makes or breaks a back-cover blurb, so here goes nothing. (Btw, the book is called The Sinners Rising)

The world Ensekyrai has been governed by a Senate for several centuries, since the last king was murdered. But when some corrupt senators start fighting a private war with each other, there are those who suffer for it - and those who won't stand for it.

A group of rebels from the city of Enta Crusho - homefront of the cornered senator Horis Kelleo - decide to take matters into their own hands. Among them is Kendra, whose plan it was to purge her city of corruption in what should have been a relatively bloodless uprising. What she doesn't realize is how high the price really is - and that she won't be the only one who has to pay for her actions.

While the revolt holds Enta Crusho in its grip and claims life after life, events are put into motion that will undo a centuries-long striving for peace. It is the beginning of a war that will last years - and that will color all of Ensekyrai red with blood.

Sorry if there are spelling errors, I'm Dutch so I had to translate it first.

[Callan S.]

This is IMO something of interest to all authors and would-be authors. Last week, I discovered that someone was helping to illegally distribute my books, and I was not sure how to respond. The site mods were polite and offered to remove the link, but we decided to leave things be at least for now. It seemed strange and fruitless to chase purveyors of stolen books all over the Internet, and much more productive to try to turn these folks into fans. So we registered at the site and sent everyone who requested or supplied books a polite message thanking them for their interest and asking them to review the work on Amazon, Goodreads, or wherever.

I don't know how it's going to work out. Some people say stealing books makes them more likely to buy a copy later, although I should mention that since we discovered this nobody has used the "donate" button on our site. Maybe this will result in an avalanche of sales later. In any case, it's an issue all authors are going to have to deal with, if they have not already.

(I think it's against board policy to link to the site where the stolen work is being distributed, so I have not done so.)

It depends on whether they, if they were forced to buy the book or go without, would have bought the book. If they would have gone without, then you have lost no sale. Or indeed, you have gained some small amount of advertising.

[TrackerNeil]

It depends on whether they, if they were forced to buy the book or go without, would have bought the book. If they would have gone without, then you have lost no sale. Or indeed, you have gained some small amount of advertising.

There's really no way to know what someone would do in that kind of hypothetical situation, but I'm not much impressed by that argument.

I am impressed by the argument that DRM gives Amazon the ability to yank eBooks away from people who've purchased them, making the sale more like a long-term rental. I'm not sure just how one resolves that, though.

[TrackerNeil]

Okay, thank you.

I don't know what makes or breaks a back-cover blurb, so here goes nothing. (Btw, the book is called The Sinners Rising)

The world Ensekyrai has been governed by a Senate for several centuries, since the last king was murdered. But when some corrupt senators start fighting a private war with each other, there are those who suffer for it - and those who won't stand for it.

A group of rebels from the city of Enta Crusho - homefront of the cornered senator Horis Kelleo - decide to take matters into their own hands. Among them is Kendra, whose plan it was to purge her city of corruption in what should have been a relatively bloodless uprising. What she doesn't realize is how high the price really is - and that she won't be the only one who has to pay for her actions.

While the revolt holds Enta Crusho in its grip and claims life after life, events are put into motion that will undo a centuries-long striving for peace. It is the beginning of a war that will last years - and that will color all of Ensekyrai red with blood.

Sorry if there are spelling errors, I'm Dutch so I had to translate it first.

Sorry for the delay; it's been one of those days.

To me, back-cover copy should be short, punchy and should briefly (very briefly) outline the central conflict of the book. I think yours accomplishes #3 pretty well, so I advise working on the first two.

Avoid a bunch of fantasy/sci-fi style names of people and places, which readers tend to run over anyway. Keep the whole thing short yet flavorful; you want the reader to get a taste of the story without giving him/her a full helping. Here's my suggested rewrite:

Since the last king was murdered, centuries ago, the [say something brief and neat about it, one or two words max] planet of Ensekyrai has been governed by a [imperial? planetary?] senate. When some corrupt senators start fighting a private war with each other, there are those who suffer for it, and those who won't stand for it.

Among them are a group of rebels who decide to take matters into their own hands. Among them is Kendra, who plans to purge her city of corruption in what thinks will be a bloodless uprising. What she doesn't realize is how high the price really is – and that she won't be the only one who has to pay.

The revolt claims life after life and threatens to undermine a centuries-long peace. It is the beginning of a war that will last years, and that will color all of Ensekyrai red with blood.

Hopefully this is helpful.

[Myrddin]

So, for those of your participating, what are your Nanowrimo user names? Mine is... wait for it... myrddin. :)

I'm going to participate again this year, but for me winning won't be hitting 50k, but finishing my rewrite, be it 15-20k new words. Yes, I know this is against the "rules" but frankly I don't care. :) I want to finish my 4th and final draft more than win Nanowrimo.

In looking at my available FTO, I have a bit of available vacation time and November looks like a slow month project wise. So I'm going to take a bunch of half days off to write.

[Ebenstone]

So, for those of your participating, what are your Nanowrimo user names? Mine is... wait for it... myrddin. :)

I'm going to participate again this year, but for me winning won't be hitting 50k, but finishing my rewrite, be it 15-20k new words. Yes, I know this is against the "rules" but frankly I don't care. :) I want to finish my 4th and final draft more than win Nanowrimo.

In looking at my available FTO, I have a bit of available vacation time and November looks like a slow month project wise. So I'm going to take a bunch of half days off to write.

I'm not doing a traditional NANO either. I'm taking another pass at WINTER and taking my time on it then going back to work on the contemporary book I'm working on right now. That should keep me busy until the end of the year!

[SpaceChampion]

Attempting it this year too, username is spacechampion. I've added you two as buddies. :thumbsup:

I've been wanting to do it for years to write a particular book I have in mind. Signed up several times but my project is kind of wide in scope, I've always had trouble narrowing it down to a plot that i wanted to write about. Usually any plot I came up with my response was "But i don't want to write that!" It's got to be fun, right? So I've been spending years trying to understand my characters, my themes, my settings, and my structure in order to eliminate plots I don't want to do and focus on something I did want and was coherent and interesting enough for people to read.

What I'm attempting is a sort of mosaic novel told across a thousand years, comprised of short stories that can be sold separately, but together can be sold as a series of novels, each novel focusing on a theme. I'm treating it as a writing exercise to develop my skills in many types of stories, many types of characters, but telling a larger story that has some artistic ambition to it.

I'm coming to realise my characters might slowly become the antagonists, at least by the middle of the series (of eight novels). Or at least, they are going to make a lot of bad choices (over centuries), and have to work their way out of the hole they build for themselves. It'll be jumping back and forth chronologically to explore ideas such as the long term consequences of a piece of technology, or the development of various types of utopias and dystopias, politics and culture, mysteries and capers, and some family drama as my characters try to stay true to their cause.

I'm still having a bit of trouble narrowing the plot down. I think I might use nanowrimo to tell a blueprint version of the story in omniscient viewpoint, just to get it down easily and briefly as one long novel (with lots of summarization and exposition), and then rewrite in 3rd person limited (3PL) once I discover the things I need to show the reader without the exposition in order to tell it in this mosaic style I'm going for. For example, the last novel and first novel might each feature short stories telling parts of a plotline involving two different characters, but affecting each other in ways you won't understand until both stories are read, years apart. Hopefully by the end it will seem episodic but greater in the whole.

[Callan S.]

There's really no way to know what someone would do in that kind of hypothetical situation, but I'm not much impressed by that argument.

I am impressed by the argument that DRM gives Amazon the ability to yank eBooks away from people who've purchased them, making the sale more like a long-term rental. I'm not sure just how one resolves that, though.

Like most science, it doesn't have to impress. It just has to be true.

Keep in mind if such tests were run and say 70% or more, when forced to buy or go without, went and bought it, I would switch over to agreeing with your position. Currently it's a fence sitting post - but it's point is there is indeed a fence to sit on, not necessarily just one conclusion (ie, the conclusion they'd all buy the book if they couldn't steal it)

On the DRM, yes, and various corporate interests are doing that with video games right now (steam is especially penetrating with it's 'sales' - I'm not sure if you can call long term rentals to be up for 'sale'?). They gain more leverage and thus control on the customers that they purport to serve. If ones rumaging around for something to write about, its a good topic (of course its more fun to write about if one redresses it in fantasy terms or ones favorite genre)

[Callan S.]

Okay, thank you.

I don't know what makes or breaks a back-cover blurb, so here goes nothing. (Btw, the book is called The Sinners Rising)

The world Ensekyrai has been governed by a Senate for several centuries, since the last king was murdered. But when some corrupt senators start fighting a private war with each other, there are those who suffer for it - and those who won't stand for it.

A group of rebels from the city of Enta Crusho - homefront of the cornered senator Horis Kelleo - decide to take matters into their own hands. Among them is Kendra, whose plan it was to purge her city of corruption in what should have been a relatively bloodless uprising. What she doesn't realize is how high the price really is - and that she won't be the only one who has to pay for her actions.

While the revolt holds Enta Crusho in its grip and claims life after life, events are put into motion that will undo a centuries-long striving for peace. It is the beginning of a war that will last years - and that will color all of Ensekyrai red with blood.

Sorry if there are spelling errors, I'm Dutch so I had to translate it first.

I found

'Among them is Kendra, whose plan it was to purge her city of corruption in what should have been a relatively bloodless uprising. What she doesn't realize is how high the price really is - and that she won't be the only one who has to pay for her actions.'

to be the most intriguing bit.

So as a blurb it works in regard to me. :)

[Callan S.]

So, for those of your participating, what are your Nanowrimo user names? Mine is... wait for it... myrddin. :)

I'm going to participate again this year, but for me winning won't be hitting 50k, but finishing my rewrite, be it 15-20k new words. Yes, I know this is against the "rules" but frankly I don't care. :) I want to finish my 4th and final draft more than win Nanowrimo.

The rules are there to provoke you. Even if they provoke you into cheating in regard to them, as long as you cheat by writing more, you were atleast provoked!

[TrackerNeil]

Like most science, it doesn't have to impress. It just has to be true.

Keep in mind if such tests were run and say 70% or more, when forced to buy or go without, went and bought it, I would switch over to agreeing with your position. Currently it's a fence sitting post - but it's point is there is indeed a fence to sit on, not necessarily just one conclusion (ie, the conclusion they'd all buy the book if they couldn't steal it)

I'm not sure how we'd test people's willingness to pay for art when they know they can steal if they want. So perhaps there's some scientific way to measure your assertion, and if so I'd like to hear about it. Until then, it sounds like a justification to me.

Artists deserve compensation for their work, period. Anyone who is willing to steal fairly priced, reasonably accessible art is not being a nice person.

[Starkess]

I want to try NaNoWriMo again this year. I've done it in the past, although never even come close to "winning," and I haven't tried the past couple years. But since I just finished a draft of one ms, I want to let that sit for a while and start something new, so the timing works out for me.

Ha, just tried to log in to the site and surprisingly remembered my username and password from years ago! Seriously, it was a while, my age is still listed as 22 in my profile... :uhoh:

[First of My Name]

I found

'Among them is Kendra, whose plan it was to purge her city of corruption in what should have been a relatively bloodless uprising. What she doesn't realize is how high the price really is - and that she won't be the only one who has to pay for her actions.'

to be the most intriguing bit.

So as a blurb it works in regard to me. :)

Thanks.

I recently realized that writing is the only job I would like to do, at the moment. (I'm glad there's something I'd like to do, because after making some tests for school that were to determine what kind of jobs you were interested in, it was decided that I had, "no interest in anything.")

[Frank Fitzpatrick]

Thanks.

I recently realized that writing is the only job I would like to do, at the moment. (I'm glad there's something I'd like to do, because after making some tests for school that were to determine what kind of jobs you were interested in, it was decided that I had, "no interest in anything.")

Lots of people I know don't know what they want to do with their lives and they're in their mid-twenties, so I think you're doing OK...

[Myrddin]

Seriously, it was a while, my age is still listed as 22 in my profile... :uhoh:

Mine was several years out of date too.... Not close to 22, but yeah, 4 or 5 years off.

But my age changed again today, like it does every year on this date, for some reason. :D