I'm going to start off this post by saying that you, OP, are responsible for what you post, whether you wrote this or not.
To begin, I wonder what the point to a thread like this is. Giving people information on getting published? A thread like this is a good starting place, but past that I really don't see much of a point - especially since the original post is
filled with flaws. A quick Google search is going to give people much information than this post does.
(This is largely copied from a post by Mickinell on the old version of SF3. Only minor additions have been made):
Becoming a real, live published author is probably the not-so-secret dream that a lot of fanfiction devotees nurse. In fact, I've seen it discussed in no less than 20 threads here on SF3 and seen it mentioned over and over again in reviews on SFF. Some of the advice I've seen is good, and some is great. Some is not as accurate as it could be. So, in the interest of collecting all those tidbits and helping you get the information you really need, I'm writing this thread.
So...how do you become a REAL writer? Here are the basic steps, each with tips and tricks (and things to avoid).
...What?
I'm confused about how getting published makes you a 'real' writer. I've always seen anyone as a 'real' writer as long as they write with a modicum of skill. Publishing requires an immense amount of luck, and I don't think that you need to be published to be really writing.
- First, become an observer of your surroundings. I know, you're scratching your heads--but this is important. Good authors are always on the lookout for influences in any form. Keep a notebook of ideas--story ideas, names you like, descriptive phrases, etc. You never know when you might use this notebook. One of the reasons an author is "good" is because he or she is in tune with the readers. If you spend all your time in your own little world, you run the risk of no one else wanting to come play.
- Second, read and write. Copiously. The best way to improve your writing is practice. Reading others' writing helps expose you to conventions of grammar, new vocabulary, different writing styles, etc. Writing on your own helps you get past the inevitable--writer's block. When writing becomes natural, you're ready. However, if you're still forcing yourself to write a 500-word chapter for a fanfic...it's not time to pen that novel just yet.
- Third, share your writing. No offense meant to your mama, your friends and your teachers, but they are not the best audience in the world. They're mostly invested in one thing--keeping you happy--so their reviews are going to tend to be overwhelmingly positive. Let them read it if you want, but the best audience is one that will be honest. You need to know if your plot is weak, or if your characters are underdeveloped.
- Listen to the criticism you receive. It drives me crazy when I see someone respond to a review with "well, I like it the way it is so I'm leaving it" or "I'm too lazy to fix it now, so it'll just have to stay that way." This is not a writer's attitude. Listen to what people tell you and improve. Don't get your feelings hurt--they are genuinely trying to help, so LET THEM!
If people haven't thought about these or mastered them by the time they're thinking about getting published, why would they listen to a post like this? It's basically common sense. If you don't have common sense, there's no way you can get published unless you're like Paolini.
Paolini did
everything wrong to get published. He didn't get a manager, he self-published, and didn't even write a very good quality book. If you plan to do something with his level of quality and research, to all reading this, I would say you have a one in a few billion chance of succeeding. Paolini was a lucky accident, and hopefully one that will never be repeated.
The first step to getting published, I would say, is to properly hone your skills. This requires many things, but first and foremost, it requires common sense. Observe, wait, watch, listen, think, and do. For your writing to truly be good, it's best to write about personal experiences (in fantasy and science fiction, this involves making your experiences abstract). To do this, you need to be living your life as much as you can live, and getting as much 'life experience' in as you can. You can't just do the three things listed above, when the most important thing of all is just to
live.
Now, once you've got that manuscript in hand and you've allowed others to read it and you've polished it to the best of your (and their) ability, you're ready to begin the publication process. There are two basic ways to go about this: the "official" way, and vanity press.
Christopher Paolini was lucky. His parents were in the publishing business. As independent printers, they were, basically, vanity press. There are lots of different forms of vanity press. Universities have their own presses, did you know that? They print the professors' books and the doctoral students' final theses. These are works that may be good quality, but wouldn't be publishable at a mainstream house for whatever reason (usually that they don't reach a broad enough audience, meaning the house can't justify spending the money).
The original writer of this forgot to mention how much luck was involved. To quote myself:
--
Paolini did everything wrong to get published. He didn't get a manager, he self-published, and didn't even write a very good quality book. If you plan to do something with his level of quality and research, to all reading this, I would say you have a one in a few billion chance of succeeding. Paolini was a lucky accident, and hopefully one that will never be repeated.
--
If you want to go the vanity press route, you'll have an easier time, but you need to understand several things. First, the process is most likely going to take your own money, and second, the chances of you finding fame are slim (and that's why most of you want to be published, right?)
If you write for the purposes of publishing and fame, you might as well stop now and rethink writing. It's a terrible reason for working on your art, and anyone who writes solely for these reasons is naught but a disgrace.
As far as this being your motivations for publishing, beware of getting a huge head about it. You shouldn't be thinking "I GOT PUBLISHED I AM GOING TO GET FAMOUS YAYAYAYAYAY!" Go to your local book store, and look through the fiction books. You're going to find that you haven't heard of many of them; this is how most published authors end up. Keep in mind, 3% of published authors live off of their writing, and only the top 1% make over $100,000 a year.
Remember: Publishing is never a sure thing unless you sign a contract. Just saying you're a good writer and 'I'm bound to get published some day!' doesn't do the trick.
This is basically what happens with a vanity press. Susie has a book she wants to sell. She calls XYZ Publishing Company, located conveniently in her hometown of Podunk (first clue--most major houses are in large metropolitan areas). She takes her manuscript over and it is read immediately by a publisher (another warning sign--at bigger houses you'll deal with lowly assistants & editors). The publisher says, "Sure, Susie, I'll print it. How many copies do you want?" Susie thinks this is great. She decides to print 20,000. But there's a catch. Susie has to pay for the copies herself--which means she's also going to be responsible for marketing. Susie's going to have to convince the local bookstores to sell her books, or she'll have to sell them on the Internet. The publishing company MAY be able to market for her, but either way, Susie's looking at spending some money to make some money. Royalties are going to be minimal, and the exposure of her book is limited. The chance that she'll sell any of the rights (for example, film rights) is slim to none. But she's published!!!
No. She is not published through the traditional press, and therefore, to society, she is not
actually published. 'Published' implies I can buy your books in store.
Also, the way you're representing vanity presses is terrible. You make them sound like scams that pretend they're as good as traditional publishers, but end up just, well, scamming you. Nothing can be farther from the truth.
Yes, some 'publishing' companies (such as
Publish America) are masquerading as a traditional press, but the great majority (such as
Xlibris and
Lulu) are perfectly legitimate businesses that are not going to be pretending to scam you.
There may be a market for Susie, but Susie seems to be forgetting that the average sell rate of an author published through a vanity press is seventy-five copies or less. I've heard rumors that there was a man who self-published a book and could not get it published until it had sold 12,000 copies from his self-publisher, but this is an extremely rare case (and may have been Paolini, anyway, who is, in himself, an extremely rare case).
The sad thing is that there are about a zillion websites out there that say they're looking for books to publish using this same basic scheme. The problem is that they are profiting much more from the operation than you are. If you don't sell your books, that's not their problem--you still owe them for services rendered. Sure, you're published, but with a sour taste in your mouth. What you're really dreaming about is this:
Susie has a book she wants to sell. She gets a copy of Literary Market Place, a publication that lists the agents in the US (
also available online)ays they prefer. She is careful to make sure the agents don't charge any fees up front, because a good agent will NEVER charge a reading fee or any other fee. Good agents make their money after your book is sold, not before. She waits several weeks, and she gets back some rejection letters, but finally she hears those magic words. John Doe from John Doe Agency will represent her. Now the real waiting game begins. It's John Doe's job to contact the major publishing houses with his networking contacts & skills. It is John Doe who calls the editors and talks up Susie's manuscript and makes them want to read it. Some refuse it outright, and some decide to read it and then decline, but finally John calls Susie with the news that Big Time House wants to publish HER book. He and Susie and a representative from Big Time hammer out a contract. It is at this point that Susie's book finally becomes copyrighted, and the other rights are negotiated (usually they are sold to the publishing house--very rarely does an author retain all rights). The publishing house decides how many copies they will print, and they do a run. Susie gets a few complimentary copies, and the rest are shipped out to distributors that the publishing house has contracted with (i.e., THEY market the book). If the book does well, the publisher commissions another run, and Susie sells even more books. Susie makes a royalty off each book sold, and the publishing house and agent each take a cut. Susie's now an author.
Do you see how the methods are different? The "real" way takes a lot more work, but is what you actually want--and you don't have to pay for it yourself.
The traditional way, through a traditional press, don't just take more work: They take infinitely more
luck, much more
talent, and much more
skill.
This seems to be a good time to link all of the could-be published authors here to
Writer Beware, a website that I frequent that posts warnings about literary fraud and other 'schemes, scams, and pitfalls that target writers'. If you're planning on publishing, this is a fantastic website to browse through every now and then.
Regardless of which method you choose, here are a few things to remember:
- You shouldn't have to pay before any services are rendered. This includes reading fees, publishing fees, art jacket fees, etc. Reputable agents and publishing houses take your "fees" out of their profits from the sale of your book. Vanity press and disreputable companies and agents have to take it out first because they typically don't profit from the sale of your book.
- Be very wary of Internet web sites that promise to publish your book...if it seems easy, back out quick. It is NOT easy to publish a book (even a good one). Any author will tell you that they struggled through several rejection letters from agents and editors before being published. Why should JK Rowling have to search for months and you find one on the Internet who'll take you in a second without ever reading a word of your writing?
This is called a vanity press masquerading as a traditional press. It is a scam, and it is
highly illegal. People can get sued for that, and often, they due (Writer Beware confirms this).
- If you actually intend to publish something, please don't post it on the Internet. It's too easy for someone else to steal (or for a house to assume you've stolen it).
This is usually
not the reason why publishers do not want you to post your writing online. The reason is that, when you post your work online, you are claiming first publishing rights. The publisher wants those.
The same goes for self-publishing as well, I would like to mention.
- If you actually intend to publish something, don't register for a copyright for it. The publisher will do that for you and in general know that publishers don't like manuscripts with strings attached.
- Keeping both of the two above points in mind, remember that anything you write down--be it on paper or saved on a file on your computer--is automatically copyrighted. You don't need to do anything at all to have a copyright, so if someone else publishes a story you posted online, you still own it and can sue them for stealing it. That said, it is much easier to prove that a work is yours if you actually register with the Copyright Office.
- Develop a thick skin. Real writers get rejected ALL THE TIME. If it hurts your feelings to get anything less than a 10 on SFF, you're not ready for this process.
Those last two hold steady ground (because they're true).
However, I am concerned about how this does not once mention literary agents. In today's world, a person
really needs a literary agent to get published. Oftentimes, a traditional press won't even read what you submit to them if you are not backed by an agent (and usually, then, your agent will be the one doing the submissions).
There are many places you can look for literary agents. One place I suggest is
the Association of Author's Representatives, but I would only recommend this as a starting point. It's never a good idea to just look up a random name on the AAR and try to make him or her your literary agent. As the OP has mentioned,
Literary Marketplace is a very good magazine to pick up if as a starting place as well. (When all else fails, you can always Google '
Literary Agents'.)
Also, you must remember that a literary agent is generally going to have a busy schedule, and they will be representing many writers (for all they know, any of these people may be the next best-seller). If they take a while to respond to your query, don't be rash; it is expected.
Of course, there are scammers out there; people who will say they will represent you as an agent, but in reality are just scamming you for your money.
A few (semi-obvious) pointers:
1.
A literary agent is NEVER going to make you pay costs. Literary agents are almost always free. There are no 'reading fees', 'submission fees', or anything else of the kind. Literary agents, on average, take anywhere from ten to twenty percent of your royalties, and
this is their only fee.
-
A disreputable literary agent can have a website that looks very glamorous and well-run, just as a reputable literary agent can have a website that has next to no pretty graphics on it, or anything of the sort.
Last, but not least, trying to publish your novel as a teenager is not recommended (at least, not by me). Oftentimes, books written by teens are filled with flaws - even the famous ones (Yes, folks, I include "The Outsiders" as a book that is filled with flaws). It's often better to hone your skills in writing until you are at least an adult.
On top of waiting until you're eighteen to begin your publishing adventure, there is an added benefit: It makes things much less complicated for you, your manager, and your future publisher. Once you are legally of age to sign contracts, you don't have to have everything signed by your parent (or guardians, as may be the case), and you are (slightly) less likely to be taken advantage of because of your age.
Recommend links:
Writer BewareThe Association of Author's RepresentativesLiterary MarketplaceGoogle<Please Note: Everything I have said in this post has been gained from information through searching Google over multiple years. If I had the time and memory, I would link these pages I have gained much information on again. However, I find this is not possible, so you must remember that Google is your best friend when looking up how to get published - or just about anything else!>
<Note: This sort of started out as a nerdrage at the original poster's inaccuracies, and snowballed into a how-to post.>
<Note: I still see the original poster as responsible for this copy/pasted topic, as he or she is the one who posted it here. This makes him or her responsible for the content inside of it.>
James
