thoughts?

[scribbliz]

so my first manuscript is basically done. it still needs polishing, and i'm waiting for a few people who have it to read it and let me know what they think. baring any major plot holes that they uncover, basically i just need to eliminate typos and such. i'm really excited about it, and i'm terrified too. I don't really know what to do from here. i did set up a facebook page for my book, and you can find that here: www.facebook.com/#!/FutureOfFlames

I want my book published, but should I self publish? or go a more traditional route? if I try to traditionally publish, I think I should find an agent. not all publishing companies require you have one, but it seems that they would be incredibly helpful, especially for an author just starting out. it's really kind of scary because I don't really know anything. either option seems equally valid for different reasons, and both will require a lot of work. self-publishing I will deal with less rejection, but I will also be considered less "legitamate" by the majority. there are so many other considerations; how much control do I want? how much do I want to do on my own? do I want my book primarily in ebook form or do I want paper copies to show up in bookstores (far more likely with traditional publishing)?

sigh. any and all thoughts, opinions, advice, guidelines, references, ect would be MORE than welcome. info online seems to be fairly contradictory, and everything seems to be someone's opinion. i read one article and lean on way, read another and look the other way. ugh, i just can't decide.

[PaperGrace]

Though I still haven't sat down with our friend to pick his brain about the publishing thing I have gotten my hot little hands on his book. (Indie-Published, sort of inbetween self publishing and traditional.) The story is wonderful. I feel that with a bit of a stronger hand from an editor it could be a fantastic, instant classic young reader's fantasy series. Instead its just good. I'm actually sort of disappointed because I KNOW he could do better if only he had the right feedback. He's crazy smart, but I feel like the people reading for him wanted more to be supportive than critical. A proper editor would have been able to impartially fix the things that pulled me out of the story.

[scribbliz]

that's a very good point paper, and it's why i've specifically asked the people who read my stuff to tell me what they don't like. to me that's more important than the grammar and typos, because i'm finding a bunch of those myself. i told them to tell me what they don't like, and anything that pulls them out of the story, that interupts the flow. hopefully i'll get some good feedback from that.

[readilygrey]

Jul 30, 2013 13:00:27 GMT -5 PaperGrace said:

Though I still haven't sat down with our friend to pick his brain about the publishing thing I have gotten my hot little hands on his book. (Indie-Published, sort of inbetween self publishing and traditional.) The story is wonderful. I feel that with a bit of a stronger hand from an editor it could be a fantastic, instant classic young reader's fantasy series. Instead its just good. I'm actually sort of disappointed because I KNOW he could do better if only he had the right feedback. He's crazy smart, but I feel like the people reading for him wanted more to be supportive than critical. A proper editor would have been able to impartially fix the things that pulled me out of the story.

I've noticed this phenomenon as well. A definite advantage to traditional publishing is that it subjects the manuscript to (the horrors of!) line editing, and while this can be stressful, it does tend to result in a stronger story. Editors specialize in strengthening other people's writing, whereas fellow writers and friends typically cannot give the same type of feedback (our own styles get in the way).

My plan is to either do traditional publishing, or just post my work free online. I'm more interested in having an outlet for all the stories gumming up my brain, rather than trying to make money (not that being paid wouldn't be awesome, I just try not to think about things that might upset me ).

But there are people that do very well with self-publishing. And for the lowest stress option of posting a free online novel, I've done that before, and just having fans that would check for updates, and comment was actually very rewarding.