Support for Indie Authors discussion
Archived Author Help
>
First Time Author in need of Publishing Advice
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Ottilie
(new)
Jan 04, 2016 03:24PM
Be wary of small publishers, and do not be afraid to go through your story several times. I go through it a few times, have a friend/family member, then myself again, then it goes through an editor. Small publishers typically do editing, formatting, and covers before they are published. I do self publishing through smashwords and amazon, I can get a wider audience with smashwords. Be friends with other authors, this industry is always change and it is good to bounce ideas off of or get advice :)
reply
|
flag
If anyone asks you to pay to publish. Walk away.I use Createspace.com for $0.00 out of pocket.
I'm with Martin on this one, Createspace is the best way to go. Also if you want several places to have your ebook besides Amazon you can look into Smashwords or Draft2Digital.
Mod
I use Createspace.com for $0.00 out of pocket."
Best advice ever. Independent presses won't ask you for a dime, and they can/will provide you with a basic edit, cover, and help a bit with marketing depending on the publisher. I use an independent publisher, but you are still counted on to do A LOT of the leg work. It's like being an indie, in a group with other indies, that pool the resources to publish books.
Also, be sure to check out the company before you excitedly sign your precious baby away, and read the contract carefully. Make sure you retain all your rights, except to the one written work.
Lauren, consider publishing your novella yourself in e-book format on Amazon for starters. You won't likely find a publisher who's interested in a novella. They're more likely to be looking for full-length novels. You can publish your novella yourself. It's not hard to do. If you want to print paperbacks, go with Createspace. Zero cost to you up front, and you can buy copies of your own paperback as discounted author prices.
You just need to do some research to find out what options are out there -- and there are a ton of options these days.
Good luck to you! It's exciting to publish one's writing.
I am a new author, so I am not an expert. I am self-publishing. In the course of my research in how to go about this, I found the following video conference on youtube to be helpful.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfwY2...
Mod
Sorry to tell you this April, but a lot of small presses take novellas if you look for them. Oh, and the novella is making a comeback. From the Author that has 4 of them published.
Besides, not really constructive to what the original post asked.
Lauren, if you're right now working on your first story, then it might be a bit early to ask questions about publishing. First ask yourself is the story ready to be published? There's only so far you can go on your own, and you really do need some independent (and critical) views on your work to tighten things up for publication. A publisher will expect you to have done all that before you submit. Ottilie mentions friends/family members then an editor, which is a good start, but unless you have friends who work in the industry and who can give objective advice, you might find it useful to get more serious and independent critiques before shelling out $$ for an editor.
I use (and highly recommend) Critique Circle, but there are many other groups out there.
Definitely take heed of what Ian is saying. I wrote 13 novels over 11 years before I published one. I'd thought it was ready once or twice before, but getting others to read it, or even just reading it myself a month or so later, I found that it still needed work.No one can stop you, if you think you are ready and you want to go for it, but I'd hate to see you get discouraged by releasing before you're ready and the potential backlash (bad reviews, etc.) that could come with it.
(Also, Critique Circle is a great place to get feedback.)
Ian wrote: "I use (and highly recommend) Critique Circle, but there are many other groups out there..."looks interesting. you get credits for critiquing other works that you can use to get critiques from other writers.
Wisteria wrote: "Ian wrote: "I use (and highly recommend) Critique Circle, but there are many other groups out there..."looks interesting. you get credits for critiquing other works that you can use to get critiq..."
You are correct. Sites like this are authors helping authors. Indie authors are often cash-strapped and may not be able to pay a professional editor, but this kind of arrangement means the "payment" is in kind rather than $$.
As a side benefit, the act of critiquing other people's work is a great learning experience in itself and helps you tighten up your own writing.
Interested to read that others have had success with Critique Circle because I was on there some years ago, but spent loads of time doing detailed crits for others and earning credits, only to receive very few myself. Decided in the end that it was taking up a lot of precious writing time for no real benefit. Now part of a small email based group where we circulate a couple of chapters every two months and each crit the others' work so all get a fair response.
Pam wrote: "Interested to read that others have had success with Critique Circle because I was on there some years ago, but spent loads of time doing detailed crits for others and earning credits, only to rece..."It can depend on who you critique. The Newbie Queue, where you have to send your first piece, is known for a mixed critique experience. It can be difficult at first to find the right people.
However, the number one benefit I've found with Critique Circle is the insights I get from critiquing others. That is what makes me a better writer. It's nice to get some feedback on my own work too.
But yeah, it won't be for everyone, and it's good that you've got your own thing.
