World, Writing, Wealth discussion
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my plan after my 1st rejection
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Rejected by whom? What is the backstory? Curious minds want to know...
nightmare-magazine.com had a people of color special issue, deadline 15 May; this time i had over a month to write it. got it right under the deadline at 8:45PM PST (the deadline was 12 midnight EST). they had something like 124 submissions 4 days before and on the last day, they got 100 submissions to bring them up to a grand total of 251 submissions. http://submissions.johnjosephadams.co...
(i found out through twitter. it's a great resource for finding out about what's going on in the publishing world.)
That really sucks about the deadline :(Is a people of color issue about writers who are people of color or writers who write about people of color?
Also Hope Clark puts out the Funds For Writers newsletter every Friday which often has lots of news about contests and paid gigs. What is your twitter handle?
Annoying, but nothing unamendable...Sounds like a solid plan, Alex.
How many of those short stories do you have? Maybe you can launch one or few on Amazon (and then the chances are you'd start promoting it) at some stage to start collecting readership and recognition?
You know what? There's hope for writer's like me. I used to think I was the only writer in all the world to get rejections.
Mehreen wrote: "You know what? There's hope for writer's like me. I used to think I was the only writer in all the world to get rejections."There is always hope -:). Many get rejections in scores, be it for technical or essential reasons... That's the way it is, but it's only a subjective opinion of the rejector, who sometimes simply doesn't know how to sell the specific stuff, nothing more....
A rejection from the publisher could be seen as a blessing in disguise. If they are not a good fit for your book or you for their company it could be a very uncomfortable relationship at best and a disaster at worst. You would be locked into a contract with them and miss opportunities to partner with a publisher that is a better fit for you and your vision. If all parties involved recognize this sooner than later it is a win for the author.
If I were you, I would forgo going through a publisher and go independent, it's so easy to publish your own work now and so many people are giving up their jobs to become full time writers.
John wrote: "... it's so easy to publish your own work now and so many people are giving up their jobs to become full time writers."i would hope that no one takes this statement blindly and quits their day job. everyone's situation is different and one should look carefully at one's own individual financial situation.
i do think that the jury is still out as to how viable self-publishing vs. hiring on w/a traditional publisher is. however, one thing is for certain: the heady days of the self-publishing phenomena--its inception could be traced back to 2007 with the advent of the Kindle and Kindle Direct Publishing--are over.
i myself am going the independent route for publishing my first novel. however, depending on the contract, a traditional publisher could be a better choice.
Alex G wrote: "John wrote: "... it's so easy to publish your own work now and so many people are giving up their jobs to become full time writers."i would hope that no one takes this statement blindly and quits..."
I completely disagree, self-publishing has been growing steadily and many indie authors have hit the best seller lists and turned their books into huge block buster movies. 50 Shades of Grey and The Martian are but the latest examples.
However, if you wish to go try the traditional publishing route, its your choice- its a free country.
Nik wrote: "Many get rejections in scores, be it for technical or essential reasons... That's the way it is."& for $0.08 or $0.06/word & establishing my credentials, i will play that game for a while. short stories and flash fiction seems to be the fastest route to getting credentials.
hey, i just saw that there's an International Thriller Writers association
http://thrillerwriters.org/
Nik wrote: "How many of those short stories do you have? Maybe you can launch one or few on Amazon (and then the chances are you'd start promoting it) at some stage to start collecting readership and recognition?"
only these two that i mentioned. :( not enough for a book, methinks. i'm planning on doing it, though. later this year, perhaps.
The success stories will always stand out and serve as shining examples of what is possible. But we should also be pragmatic and realize that the odds of ever seeing this level of success is slim to none. i also suspect those indie writers did not quit their day jobs until they had achieved at least a comfortable amount of sales. That doesn't mean you stop trying but it certainly means you don't put all your financial eggs in one basket. This is why it pays to know why one writes.
Everybody hears success stories, but right here on GR you have thousands of authors, who complain about very low sales. Indie or trad are both legit routes with their own advantages and drawbacks, but unfortunately neither guarantees decent income. If and when it starts - awesome! But whoever needs to be a breadwinner for him/herself and the family is advised great caution quitting anything before seeing 4-5 digit figures credited to his/her account each month-:)
John wrote: "I completely disagree, self-publishing has been growing steadily and many indie authors have hit the best seller lists and turned their books into huge block buster movies. 50 Shades of Grey and The Martian are but the latest examples."Thanks for being the naysayer. it made me think and get some more facts.
if you look at the "Head or (Long) Tail" slide, you will see where your ranking needs to be in order to make a viable income:
http://authorearnings.com/2016-digita...
Tara wrote: "i also suspect those indie writers did not quit their day jobs until they had achieved at least a comfortable amount of sales?"
i suspect the same or had some money socked away.
actually Weir did quit his job gave himself a year, didn't make it, went back to work, and then later started on "The Martian", self-published it on his blog and then finally self-pubbed on amazon in 2011 (the heady days).
"50 shades" was also pubbed in 2011.
Nik wrote: "whoever needs to be a breadwinner for him/herself and the family is advised great caution quitting anything before seeing 4-5 digit figures credited to his/her account each month?
or they weren't the breadwinner.
My book is non-fiction parenting No matter where I am on the scale I will likely never be able to support myself by writing such books lol. I love lifestyle writing, however, and would do it regardless
The idea of thinking the first rejection is significant is staggering to me. An agent gets something in the order of 30,000 queries a year, and accepts, usually, no more than one. Do the statistics (you need the total of agents accepting queries, of course.)
I end up getting traditionally published in the end with small presses, but, not until those rejections tire me out completely.
Ian wrote: "The idea of thinking the first rejection is significant is staggering to me. An agent gets something in the order of 30,000 queries a year, and accepts, usually, no more than one. Do the statistics..."i understand that & i understand the system--more or less. i suppose i was a little over-dramatic, but i don't see many writers talking about their rejections and their experiences w/publishing in detail & w/some #s. neither am i here to complain or toot my horn or get sympathy.
i thought my follow-on point was pretty interesting. using short fiction as a faster way of building a reputation/brand/credibility than writing a novel.
Mehreen wrote: "the tirade of rejections I have to face before that happens is almost unbearable."
with short fiction, the turnaround time is faster, so you don't have to suffer as long--although the number of rejections might not be lower.
Nik wrote: "Everybody hears success stories, but right here on GR you have thousands of authors, who complain about very low sales. Indie or trad are both legit routes with their own advantages and drawbacks, ..."Oh I would never advise anyone to go and drop everything just to become an author just like that. Luck plays a huge role, but at the same time if one writes more books (and in a series), then one's chances of success increases.
I would say keep writing and self publishing until your income from books gets to the point where it surpasses the income from your employment, then you could think about going it full time.
my plan:
1) Get my sci-fi flash fiction, "the smothered earth," ready for submission to dailysciencefiction.com. yes, of course, there are things to fix--i did it in a rush b/c i had just heard about their people of color special issue and the deadline was in 2 days. it was rejected by lightspeed.com b/c i was 2 hours past the deadline.
2) Get my action-horror story ready to submit to another SFWA-qualified publisher--maybe lightspeed--and, yes, there are things to fix. of course, you always see them after you submit. that is probably a horror story in and of itself.