Books - Advice for Aspiring Authors: Just look at our nice use of alliteration

**TheAngel** · 04-23-2006, 03:36 PM

Alright, I know there was a thread for authors that wanted advice on publishing but it seems to have disappeared into the great black hole that is fan forum so I'm restarting it. Basically if you have published post some great advice on how the rest of us can do so as well. If you have any questions post them on here and we'll try to answer you. If anyone has anything feel free to mention it, but get a friend to link because we don't want you to be accused of pushing your own book since selling is considered spam.
Anyway, hopefully this thread will be nice and lively. Oh, if you want to post a story or book, post in on a hosting site first and then post a link to the site, kind of like I'm about to do:

This is a short story I wrote and sent into Absolute Magnitude, a sci-fi magazine a few weeks ago. I haven't heard a response yet, no surprise there, but if I get a negative answer then I plan on sending it to other magazines. So please let me know what you think about it.
Digital Samurai

**silver lining** · 04-29-2006, 04:29 AM

Thanks for (re)starting this thread! I'd love to be a published author, that would be my dream. I haven't written for awhile though, I'm not feeling very inspired.

TheAngel, I don't have time to read your story now but I will at a later date. Thanks for sharing it and good luck getting it included in the magazine!

sportsfangirl · 05-25-2006, 11:29 AM

Thanks for restarting the thread...well, it's been restarted for a while, but I thought I'd just pop by.

Um, I was wondering if anyone could tell me all of the necessary steps to take in order for me to get my stories published, even a little advice would do...thanks!

I should've stopped by here sooner.

**TheAngel** · 05-14-2007, 04:44 AM

I think I'll take the opportunity to pull this page forward. I hadn't realized it had gone forgotten for so long. But anyway.

sportsfangirl in terms of getting a story published there are several things you could do.
1. Purchase a copy of Writer's Market. It's a huge book that comes out once a year and includes the names, addresses, and submission information of publishers, agents, and magazines that accept article and short story submissions.
2. Make up a great query letter and summary of your book. If you're writing a short story you don't have to include a summary a lot of the time because most magazines will simply ask you to send in your whole story at one time with your query letter.
3. When you write a summary, make sure within the first three lines it has a great hook to get the reader to want to read more. This person reads hundreds of summaries a day, something has to make your stand out. For example:
"Linda thought it was a normal day as she pulled into her own driveway and stopped her car. She hummed a soft little tune while she walked to her front door. The fresh red blood splattered across her doorstep let her know that today was going to be far from normal." ~a little rough but you understand, now the reader wants to know what's up with the blood.
4. Flood the market with short stories and articles. If you're publishing a novel it's always nice to have other published works to put on a submission letter. Even if you're just publishing for a local newspaper or if you've self-published before, let the publisher/agent know.
5. If at first you don't succeed...In a creative writing class I read Stephen King's On Writing, a biographical work on his own experiences publishing. He received a huge number of rejections before finally hitting the right spot.

Remember several things too: Even if you don't get published or your manuscript/short story/article isn't accepted, it doesn't mean you aren't a good writer. Keep trying. Certain markets are hot at certain times. If you write true crime and they aren't selling as well, a publisher might only accept five true crime novels and may have met his quota for the year. Talk to other authors in your area, try to get hints and tips from them.
And good luck.

moonrox · 07-20-2007, 12:10 PM

How long did it take you to write your story, TheAngel?

Like did you have to go through several drafts? Was there ever a time during your draft that you decided that maybe this wasn't as good as you thought it shoudl be or you got discouraged?

What inspired you to write the story?

Sorry if I'm asking too many questions but I was just wondering.

**TheAngel** · 07-20-2007, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moonrox (View Post)

How long did it take you to write your story, TheAngel?

Like did you have to go through several drafts? Was there ever a time during your draft that you decided that maybe this wasn't as good as you thought it shoudl be or you got discouraged?

What inspired you to write the story?

Sorry if I'm asking too many questions but I was just wondering.

Hey, I don't mind at all. Here are my answers, but I warn you that I am a very unconventional writer...you'll see why in a minute.

1. It took me about a year to write the first book. It was originally two seperate books, the first one being a novella of about 20,000 words, the second one being around 45,000. Then when I finished the second one, another year in the making, that one happened to be about 72,000 words so I combined the first and second one, turning it into a trilogy instead of what I had originally intended on being a longer series.

2. I actually didn't go through many drafts, which is why I say I'm an unconventional writer. My first book, the one that has now been published, I originally wrote when I was 13. Other than adding a prologue and changing the first chapter it is exactly as it was when I wrote it seven years ago, minus the editing that has been done for spelling and grammar. The biggest thing for me was going back and reading it at twenty and not changing a lot of it. I've obviously matured a lot as a writer and have gained quite a bit of skill, but I wrote this book for young adults with the idea that adults could read it and enjoy the complex story line and multi-dimensional characters as well. I didn't want to dilute my original aim by changing it and writing as I do now, which would have made it a much more adult story and would have changed a lot of things. To be honest it's a great story given the fact that I was just a kid when I wrote it. It was important for me to keep that same tone.

3. I was inspired to write Mystic Desert because of the lack of young adult science fiction with strong main characters when I was young. Besides Star Wars there was very little for me to read, so I started reading my Dad's science fiction. Herbert, Orwell, Card, Jordan, and the like, were what I started reading when I was about 8. Then when I did start reading young science fiction and just a lot of literature for young adults the characters were always whiny, angsty, anti-hero teenagers that wore a lot of black and moaned about the state of things but somehow saved the day in the end. I wanted to create strong, teenage characters that saw a problem and actively took a stand in an effort to solve the problem. That was my main inspiration. With that in mind, I sat down, started writing, and here I am today.

Thanks for the questions. Read on!

TheMovieGrrl · 05-26-2008, 06:06 AM

I just wanted to post here because I've been personally researching and getting into my first novel...ever. And it's kind of a double dose because I know it's going to be a series...which is how I'll plan it out eventually.

I was wondering, does anyone research before they write their work? I know for me, I really get on the details and make sure I know the most I can about the subject I'm going to be writing about in my stories.

Right now, I'm working on a supernatural novel that will be most likely young-adult to adult range...so the 18-25 range approximately.

**TheAngel** · 05-26-2008, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMovieGrrl (View Post)

I just wanted to post here because I've been personally researching and getting into my first novel...ever. And it's kind of a double dose because I know it's going to be a series...which is how I'll plan it out eventually.

I was wondering, does anyone research before they write their work? I know for me, I really get on the details and make sure I know the most I can about the subject I'm going to be writing about in my stories.

Right now, I'm working on a supernatural novel that will be most likely young-adult to adult range...so the 18-25 range approximately.

For me, it depends. A lot of what I write is science fiction and I don't research that but I keep notes for myself so I'll be consistant in my technology. Right now I'm writing a new novel, something that's science fiction but at the same time since it's set on Earth in the near future there's a lot of technology and things I want to get right. One example was a surgery I was describing. I wanted to get the details right so I had to research it. So I'll look up things like that. Google is a writer's best friend.

TheMovieGrrl · 05-26-2008, 10:57 AM

It's really cool to have someone here who is published and has written well in the past

For me I've been researching some animal behaviors to slightly pattern my characters' comunity.

Thank-You for responding BBL

**TheAngel** · 05-27-2008, 07:49 AM

I'm happy to help. I'm by no means a famous author, and may never be, but I've taken a lot of writing courses and am also an English major and write a lot so I try to talk about what I know at least.That's cool about the animal behaviors. I love animals and work with dogs when I'm back at school so I bet that's going to be really interesting. Good luck with it all.

TheMovieGrrl · 05-27-2008, 02:52 PM

Yeah I know what you mean but you know I've hit my limit a bit with fanfic...nothing wrong with it but originally I had created it as a took to develop my writing and just basically use it for practice. Oh okay, I'm in class gotta go, I'll be back here again.

BTW, would it be possible to stickie this thread since it's kind of different than just talking about books and more for the writers' end of things in books?

**sweet_zelda** · 06-01-2008, 08:19 AM

Hey guys, I've never really been to this board before...

I write a lot myself, well, not recently, but currently I've hit something like rock bottom. I have this story in my head and I know exactly where it should go and all, but I can't seem to get the words on the page. I've written some small excerpts, just babbling on a piece of paper, but nothing really substantial.

Can you recommend anything that you do during those blocks (if you have them)? Also, what's this book you wrote? And, thirdly, I saw this kind of "help kit for writers" in Canada a year ago, but I can't seem to find anything like it now (I'm back in Germany, but I write in English). Can someone recommend something?

Anyway, thanks for your help...

**TheAngel** · 06-02-2008, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweet_zelda (View Post)

Hey guys, I've never really been to this board before...

I write a lot myself, well, not recently, but currently I've hit something like rock bottom. I have this story in my head and I know exactly where it should go and all, but I can't seem to get the words on the page. I've written some small excerpts, just babbling on a piece of paper, but nothing really substantial.

Can you recommend anything that you do during those blocks (if you have them)? Also, what's this book you wrote? And, thirdly, I saw this kind of "help kit for writers" in Canada a year ago, but I can't seem to find anything like it now (I'm back in Germany, but I write in English). Can someone recommend something?

Anyway, thanks for your help...

I'll do my best. I block, quite a bit. I've had a plan in my head for a couple years now and can't get it down still. But for other things, I'll write it out like a short story, do some outlines, get comfortable with the plot ideas and the characters then pull everything together and sort the good from the bad. Sometimes that helps. It also helps me on occasion to read books that are similar, say in the same genre or a similar style (like 1st person narrative or the like). Sometimes I'll glean ideas from those authors but you have to be careful because you might end up copying that author or authors and that's not a good thing. In general, it just takes time, eventually it will come, work on other projects and eventually you'll find what you want. If you force it you'll never be happy with it.

My book is science fiction. I wrote it when I was 12 but just recently had it published. My website is here if you want to check it out. There's info about me and about the book as well.

And, thirdly, I've never seen a help kit for writers, but I know that there are creative writing books out there that can help you write, and in terms of publishing there are the Writer's Market books. I don't know what is available in Germany but I assume something similar. For creative writing books, check out Stephen King's On Writing. I used that in High School and thought it was a very good book.

I'll be in Germany in about a month and a half when I get done with school in London. Can't wait to get there.

Anyway, I hope a little of this helped at least. If you have anymore questions, don't hesitate to ask.

**sweet_zelda** · 06-04-2008, 12:28 PM

Hi

Thank you very much, I will try out your tips. I've already gotten some books to read and I'll see about the "writing it out like a short story" thing

I used to only write short stories, mostly my own funny experiences or little stories I made up as birthday presents. I guess, it's just been a long time since I've put some lines down that I actually like.

Oh cool, you'll be in Germany! Have fun here

JohannafromIHJ · 06-09-2008, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheAngel (View Post)

This is a short story I wrote and sent into Absolute Magnitude, a sci-fi magazine a few weeks ago. I haven't heard a response yet, no surprise there, but if I get a negative answer then I plan on sending it to other magazines. So please let me know what you think about it.
Digital Samurai

I like the idea, it's really neat, but you might want to tighten the grammar a bit. For example:

Tora smiled sadly and moved my hand, rising on her tiptoes and kicking me lightly on the cheek, leaving the burning imprint of her lips against my skin.

But am I having a stroke or didn't Absolute Magnitude close down two years ago?

Also, I'm going to go ahead and be the big party-pooper who reminds everyone that if you post a full story openly on the internet (that is, not password protected or whatever), it is thereafter considered "published", as in, you can no longer sell "first rights", which is what most magazines buy. To avoid this, post only excerpts or post your stories in password protected critique forums (absolutewrite.com has an excellent "Share your work" section).

To aid you in your search for magazines:

Duotrope's Digest (A Resource for Fiction Writers & Poets)
Quintamid
Spicy Green Iguana - The Speculative Fiction Magazine Resource Site

Good luck!