GW's comments (member since Jul 29, 2008)

GW's comments from the Goodreads Sci-Fi/Fantasy Authors group.

AD asks "Do literary agents help or hinder?"
First of all you have to realize how much an author actually makes per book. The usual persentage is say 10% - 40% wholesale, that breaks down to about to about .50 - $2.00 a book (before agent fees).
So you need to sell a lot of books to make money. An agent will get a percentage of your royalities. The publisher usually sends your royality check to your agent, who sends it along to you minus their cut. Lets say you sell ten books in a reporting peroid. You recieve $1.00 a book (I'm being generous). XYZ publishing sends a $10.00 check to BAC agency, who sends you a check for $8.00. This means that your book made 8 buck over the last 3 months. Now you say that your agent got your book signed with a "big" publisher and that without the agent you might not have gotten as good a deal.
If you did the leg work yourself and got your book published with CBS publishing at say $.85 a book and you sell 10 books in a reporting peroid. You get a check directly from your publisher for $8.50. So where is the better deal? You have to ask yourself, is my time better spent shoping my book around or working on my next project. If you feel you can't deal with the selling process then by all means go the agent route. The long and short of it is unless you sell a lot of books no one makes much money. more later
G W Pickle

Kristen
It's easy to get discouraged, but as far as I know there is no time limit, unless you have an editor who has to have your edits, yesterday.
It took 4 years to get my book published the first time(E book format). That company went out of business and I was able to get my book republished in less than a year(in paperback).
That's 5 yrs. Somedays I only had time to write for 15 minutes.
You asked. "What I am supposed to do?"

My suggestion is to first put everything on hold for a week or two,(no writing, or thinking about your book) then go back and reread what you've written. If you've outlined your book, you can check what you got with that outline. If you have no outline, look for possible places that have cause you to stumble along. Find your main theme (plot) and as you find each stumbling point, ask yourself this. Is this necessary and does it help move the story along. If not then delete it. Your job as a writer is to take us from point A to point B or even Z, telling us what happens along the way and do it in an entertaining fashion.
I'd also suggest that you read other books in the genre you're writing in (if you ar not doing that already). Why? It will show you what the publishers are currently buying and how other authors are telling their stories. I'd also (if you haven't already)read current books on writing.

You asked. "Am I failing, in this whole writing buisness?"
My answer is no, fustrated or disillusioned may be, but not failing. The only way to fail is to quit writing.
I hope this helps.
G W Pickle

Keelin
As with any crit I get, I look at how the other person writes. In the groups I belong, you have to do a couple of crits before you can post a crit. I look at what the person says then go back and see if I agree. If I see their point and agree with them I might change it. If I don't I won't. I won't get upset with the person who wrote a crit I disagree with. I know they're just trying to help. Remember the author is the one who decides what goes into the story and what doesn't. As for complete strangers reading my book, what do you think the editor/publisher is who decides if they want to publish your book. IMHO I get more useful information from a negative crit than a positive atta boy ra ra crit. Usually the only thing you get out of a ra ra crit is a good feeling and little else. I usually get some useful,constructive help from the negative. The ones I totally ignore are the ones that say I like or hate it. It does no good. Tell me why you like or hate it.
I also want to suggest that you get used to people making comments, both negative and positive about your work, especially rejection slips. It's something every writer has to deal with.
G W Pickle

Keelin
I've found that I get my best feedback from online crit groups. My experence with friends is that they pull punches & sidestep a lot of things that needed corrected. Most of my friends comments were no more than RA RA sessions. For live groups, I like to have a couple of friends and 4 or 5 strangers who know something about book writing.
G W Pickle

Tifa
I'm back for a few. To continue, One thing I can't say enough is to start your book off in the middle of something (action preferably). You must capture or hook first the editor then the reader right off or you'll end up with the dredded rejection slip. I believe the editor gives you a page or two and the reader, on the average takes 8 seconds to decide if they'll buy your book. What that means to the writer is they must make the opening capture and hold the readers attention. Here's an example from my first book.
Chapter 1
I sit without talking. Her image waits for me to speak. Tears burn my eyes as they mist over. I wipe them away with my uniform sleeve. My throat constricts, forming a lump that makes speech impossible. I stare at what she once was, young and beautiful, remembering how she died, how much I loved Emma, and how I killed her. My heart aches, wishing she was more than a holographic image. I feel a dull, empty pain begin to gnaw at my soul. Slowly reaching out with a trembling hand, I hit the end button. The receptionist’s image instantly replaces Emma’s. She informs me that the director wishes to speak with me. Standing to leave, I tell the receptionist, “Maybe next time. I’m running late.” This is just what I don’t need. Some shrink wasting my time with a bunch of hogwash about repressed feelings and other garbage.
Opening the door, I find Mrs. French, a stout, semiattractive, older black lady, is standing there, effectively cutting off my only escape route.

In my opening I cause the reader to want to know how or why he killed her. I hooked them into reading more. I didn't tell the reader that our hero is in a high tech cemetery and that the program that produces the holo of Emma is also tied in to a psycological program designed to help the person work through their grief, and if the problem is to severe the person is refered to a live shrink. Had I told this it would have killed the mood and let them off the hook. Later on in the book you learn just what happened to Emma. Detail in small doses.
Once you get past the opening you must pace the action to keep the reader from wanting to stop reading.
I hope this helps.
G W Pickle

Tifa wrote
I just want to ask if..i write my own book(novel) do i need to write every single details to make my story more appealing..?

Tifa
I'd like to pass on a few words of wisdom. First thing is read several books on writing. Read books about writing in general and those specific to the genre you're planning on writing in. I'd also join one or two writing groups (on line or live). Their feed back can be valuable. One book I highly recomend is Marc McCutcheon's "Building Believable Characters." This book can help you with how to describe not only your characters, but lots of other things. I keep this book next to my computer when I write.
This is very important, You need to read other published books in the genre you plan to write your story in. Reading other books can show you how the publishers want the stories written, how other writers are doing it, and what's currently being published.
One rule that my first editor gave me was "Never bore your readers."
To answer your question. No, at first give the reader only what is nessary and give them the rest along the way.
I have to go to work now but I'll post more later. Good luck with your writing.
G W Pickle

Marc
I got a couple of things I'd like to say here.
1.
Get a copy of "Writer's Digest" source book called "Building Believable characters" by Marc McCutcheon. It'll help you with descriptions and also with names. It has 20+ pages of given & surnames from around the world. IMHO this is one of the must have books for a writer to have and use. I keep it by my computer & use it when I write.
2.
This is more important in SF and fantasy than other genres, and that is to make the reader believe that what your writing is real (suspention of belief). Star Trek & Star Wars is a good example of that. IMO, the more odd sounding names you give characters, places, and objects (except in comedy) the harder it is for the reader to accept. Example:
In my book "SENTI", I call a hand gun not just an energy weapon, but a Glok or a Bretta 9mm energy weapon. In one of my WIP, (a SF comedy) I use a naming system for my aliens. First name is part of their race and the last is a name that has some meaning on Earth. (nothing to really show faimly membership). The leader of the alien group is a Genera and his name is Gen Singh, an Accurian pilot named Ac Turnal, or a female Feline crew member named Fel Ony. To us earthlings, the names are funny because of the Earth meanings. to the aliens it isn't funny because it is just a name. For my other books, I use mostly real names. Names from other countries work just fine, in most cases. Example:
Would you know that Theron Arneau is a french male, that Petra Danziger is a German female, or Panagiotis Papagiannopoulosis a Greek male (Panagiota would be the female version of the first name). FYI, these names came from the book I mentioned earlier. Another source for names would be a baby name book or the ever popular phone book, although I'd be careful about using the exact name from a phone book.
Now back to what I started talking about. I feel that the more things you put into your story, that are simular or close to what people already know & accept as real the easier it is for them to accept & like what you've written. If you put things too far out of their comfort zone they'll not like or buy your book.
G W Pickle

Tifa wrote:

well...its my first time to write a novel...and sometimes i had difficulties on how to write it....but if theres some kind of online teaching on how to write a novel :)

One book I'd recomend is "Building Believable Characters" by Marc McCutcheon. It's a Writer's Digest Sourcebook. It not only helps creating characters for your story, but it give all kinds of discriptions of clothing, emotions, jobs, foreign names, types of homes and so much more. I can't say enough good things about this book.
G W Pickle

My publisher is Trytium Press. They accept SF & F.
Their website is:

http://www.trytium.com/

David is a really a nice guy and I'm pleased with the end product. They do use LSI for their printing. It is POD but, it's top quality all the way. They really listened to me about the cover art and gave me almost exactly what I wanted. I just cant say enough good about this publisher. FYI, the contract is very author friendly. I hope this helps.
G W Pickle

Gary
I guess I'm the exception to #5. My first novel(also my first attempt at writing a novel) was sold twice. My first sale was to an overseas E book publisher. They went out of business. I resold my book to a U.S publisher and it is now available as a paperback. Now,I'm busy writing the second book in the series.
G W Pickle

Rick wrote:

That brings up another question to the post:

Are most of you working through agents, or straight with the publishers? Personally, I've been trying to secure an agent because of my ignorance in the industry.

I went straight to the publisher, twice on the same book. The first was an E publisher (they went out of business) & the 2nd is a triditional publisher. I did my reshearch and blindly plunged forward. So far, so good. My biggest problem is marketing, getting the word out.
Gary sorry to hear about the rejection, but that means one less rejection till you get an acceptance. Good luck.
G W Pickle

Rick
If you like 1st person, you might want to check out SENTI, Book One of the Jackwill Chronicles. I'll admit I'm predjust as I wrote the book, but I do have the 1st chapter posted on my Good Reads site.
G W Pickle

James wrote:
I've done a bit of research on the physical effects of close lightning strikes, snowstorms (or "thundersnow"), Russian mythology, Russian epic poetry, body decomp., and lots of weapon, armor, and general mythology research. I don't know if any of it was "weird", well, not to me anyway. :)

Check out some of the GURPS game books. they have several that cover some of the topics you listed. While it is a RPG, it's usually very acurate, when such things actually did exist, such as weapons data. The website is either www.SteveJacksongames.com or www.SJgames.com.
G W Pickle

A.L.
Glad to be of help. I usually suggest that the first event you attend should be a smaller one. My wife's 1st event was a crown coronation and it blew her away. A smaller event is less formal and lets you have more time to visit and get the feel of things. Tell your DH that lots of men wear kilts and most of the wear it in the proper fashion. In my case, the more clothing the better. I weigh in at just over 400lbs. I don't go to the beach because I can just hear someone shout there she blows or beached whale.
Anyway, have a great trip and I know you'll enjoy your first SCA event.
G W Pickle

A.L.
You can also find patterns at the SCA website. I might suggest that you use fussion tape to hold the 2 pieces of the tunic then sew the tunic sides together. I made several tunics and ended selling all but 2. If you go to Cloth World or some other store that sells material you can usually find short (1 - 3 yrds in length) pieces of cloth sold at reduced prices. Another hint about pants. Jogging pants and blue jeans can be worn under the tunic.
G W Pickle

I just remembered a short story I wrote a while back. I'm posting the opening. If you'd like I can send you the entire story, it's about 8 pages long. Just reply here asking me to send it to you. This story is based on an SCA song, by a friend of mine. It's about a battle, but it's also a kind of a love story. A few people have asked me to expand it into a novel.

I stagger across what used to be a wheat field. Now it’s a field of doom. All around me is death and pain. The stench of bloating corpses fills the air. We’ve fought continuously for two days. The fighting has broken down into individual pockets. Both sides are so tired that we can only fight for a few minutes at a time. There has been no time to remove the dead or dying, only fight. The summer heat is as deadly as our enemies, sapping our strength quickly. A lull in the battle has finally come. With no enemy in sight, I drop my sword and shield and fall down gasping for air. Praying for any kind of a breeze. I grasp at the armor straps desperately trying to get free of its hot embrace. Once removed I quickly reach for my water skin and pour some over my head then direct the thin stream of water into my mouth. Protesting, my stomach starts to rumble. With no food left, I reach for a clump of grass to fill my belly. I see movement off to my right. I sit up, reach for my sword, and then see it’s my friend John. He’s holding his side and limping. As he sits beside me, I notice blood oozing between his fingers.
“That doesn’t look good.” I tell John.
“It doesn’t feel too good either. But I’ll get over it. I always have. How about you Logan, any of them buggers cut you?”
“Not yet Johnny boy, not yet, just a few bruises.”
“Does that grass taste any better?” He asks.
Holding out a hand full of the green stuff. “No, want some?”
“I’m not that hungry, yet.” He replies laughing.
I shake my head as I stuff the greens in my mouth and try to wash it down with drink from my water skin. We both lean back and try to rest. My mind drifts back in time when the air was fresh and clean, a time of peace. Back to the first time I saw her.

As I said, I wrote this using a friend's song as a guide and also from personal experience of wearing armor and fighting in SCA combat.
G W Pickle

A.L.
The SCA people are a great group. Most are happy to share information about the SCA, the arts & crafts, and help someone learn more about pre 17th century history. I'm sure you'll have to sign waivers to practice. I'd also check into the making of tunics. It helps to try to blend in. SCA people appreciate the effort. A tunic is very easy to make. I lain out a T shirt on some material, traced an outling of the shirt (I made the outline a couple of inches bigger than the actual shirt so I could sew the two halves together, I also extended the tail about 18" to make sure I had everything covered.) This tunic works very well.
I might also suggest checking out the song books. The songs can give a good look into the lives of the people of any given time peroid. Some of these can be quite risque. "The Moose Song" comes to mind as an example of the down & dirty. One of the best SCA songs about a kingdom is Ansteorra's "The Rising of the Star."
I'm glad my suggestion is helping.
G W Pickle

You ask
I would also like to know what it *really* feels like to use a sword, or just have to haul one around all the time (and a bow, daggers, etc), so I'm trying to figure a way to experience that too.
I'd suggest checking out the SCA. A non-profit, historical research & education group from the mid 16th centure back. I believe the web addy is www.sca.org. They have groups all over the US. The website can give you a group near you. They can tesach you not only how to sword fight with light & heavy weapons, but how to make them & armor. They also have camping events almost every weekend. You're expected to at least wear a tunic and try to blend in. Yes some of the garb includes wearing a sword & dagger. They also teach quite a bit of other things. The SCA is IMHO the best research source around. Be careful you might even learn a barding skill or two.
G W Pickle

I actually visualize the scene I'm writing then put it down on 'paper' the best I can. I often use actors in my so called dreams. In SENTI, the hero, Jack Waco was Hugh Jackman.
As for living in a fantasy world, No. Now my wife says I live in LA LA Land. I correct her by saying, "No, You live in LA LA Land. I live in Never Never Land." then I sometimes whistle the Toys-R-Us comercial to make my point.
G W Pickle

As for the pace of the story I usually write the story, at least half the chapter, or until I get to a good stopping point. then I go back and EDIT for things like pace and other quick fix problems. I agree with Gary that the first sentence/paragraph/page is the most important part of the book. It sets the pace, tone of the book, and most important it must grab the attention of the reader and make them want to read more, or better yet buy our book. One of the first things I was taught is always start in the middle of something. (this example is from my first book)

"I sit without talking. Her image waits for me to speak. Tears burn my eyes as they mist over. I wipe them away with my uniform sleeve. My throat constricts, forming a lump that makes speech impossible. I stare at what she once was, young and beautiful, remembering how she died, how much I loved Emma, and how I killed her. My heart aches, wishing she was more than a holographic image. I feel a dull, empty pain begin to gnaw at my soul. Slowly reaching out with a trembling hand, I hit the end button. The receptionist’s image instantly replaces Emma’s. She informs me that the director wishes to speak with me. Standing to leave, I tell the receptionist, “Maybe next time. I’m running late.” This is just what I don’t need. Some shrink wasting my time with a bunch of hogwash about repressed feelings and other garbage."

It took me 4 rewrites to get to this point. Also in the first chapter we learn a lot of things about our hero, what he does, and about his past.
Another rule I learned early on was to never bore the reader. If you make it interesting you don't have to worry tomuch about pace.
I hope this helps
G W Pickle