Goodreads Sci-Fi/Fantasy Authors discussion
Writing and Publishing
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Would You Write Someone Else's Story?
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Sounds like being a nurse, and having people show you their rashes! You should probably treat each case differently; pretend to listen to one person, tell another he/she should go online, or just give them the stinky eye and say "I'm not that kind of author"! sounds really crappy though
If you mention (at any social gathering) you work in IT, within 5 minutes, someone is telling you about this problem they have with their home PC. My response to that is "I charge £50 per hour, shall I start the clock running now? How would you like your invoice delivered?"That does the trick.
If you mnetion you're a writer, you will get the inevitable influx of people with 'a great idea for a story'. Same reasoning applies.
Hold up a polite hand, and say "That's great. Give me a one sentence log line - what the story's about. If I like it, I'll need a synopsis and full treatment, three-act structure, with all major plot points highlighted. Can I also have your character sheets, back story and timeline."
If they're willing to produce all that, I'll have a good look. So far, I haven't had to bother.
Well, the only raw material I work with is my own.
One fellow has been quite persistent. I finally told him I write to make money and while his story might have local appeal (they go away happier if you give them something) it would have little commercial appeal in the wider market. I feel like such a gatekeeper, and I have a newfound respect for them.
This has happened to me three times.1) A guy I worked with learned I was a writer & I was still relatively new to this & he asked if I would read it, I did, it was about 50 pages long & it was like every dramatic high point of a novel in these 50 pages. I told him it needed expanding & fill in the gaps. I didn't offer to do anything & he didn't ask.
2)I met a guy online & he had a manuscript & I said I'd take a look at it, it wasn't bad & he said if we get a publisher I'd get 50%. I was still a little green, I said OK, & did a lot of work on it with him, & had a publisher interested & walked because he didn't want to do any of the editing the publisher was looking for.
3) A radio show host that interviewed me pitched a story idea to me, this time not being green & still feeling the tinges of being burned before, he wanted to just give me an idea & I would write it & we could split the money 50/50. I told him I couldn't do that & that if he wanted me to I'd take a look at the manuscript if he wrote down his ideas and send them to me. I haven't heard from him since.
So far I've been lucky and just been told how good it is that I am published. (Funny how your concern at getting published shifts to selling books and you lose that feeling of success!)I do feel fed up at this time of year at all the quickly compiled and ghost written autobiographies getting lots of publicity in the media or shelf space in shops when for all of us who've crafted stories for years struggle for any attention. Why can't people buy our books for Christmas rather than read about minor (usually young) celebrities, especially when they often haven't written much themselves!
Sorry, gripe over!
... because they help pay the bills and let me spend more time working on my own stories... so that someday I won't have to be anyones ghost writer... and NO! I don't do biographies or autobiographies.Patients love to pitch story ideas... especially their own, to their doctors, because "you all write books too, eh Doc?" My ears are still smarting from that one.
I tried explaining once that what I mostly write is Fantasy Fiction, but all they heard was the word "Fiction."
"Oh, like those Who-Done-It murder mysteries? Which Tee-Vee show you write fer, Doc?"
After that I stopped speaking about it.
My partner writes for the children's book market (MG & YA), but when people kept asking "which pitcher books are yours..." she starts replying "Hey! How about them Yankees..."
After awhile, when they find out your a writer and ask you what you write... you begin replying "nothing you'd be interested in" and find a way to escape as rapidly as possible.
I don't think I'd answer "nothing you'd be interested in" you never know who you're going to meet and what they're interested in. I've met some very interesting and interested people this way.
Gwendolyn wrote: "... because they help pay the bills and let me spend more time working on my own stories... so that someday I won't have to be anyones ghost writer... and NO! I don't do biographies or autobiograph..."I apologise if I upset anyone with my comments. I just feel niggled that its so hard for new writers to get publicity but anything with a celebrity attachment has no problems!
I suppose I'm old fashioned but I don't understand the need for ghost writers - perhaps I don't understand it fully. I just feel that the credit should go to the appropriate person, that is the ghost writer is the author and if the idea is someone else's that can be acknowledged. And a ghost written autobiography is actually a biography, giving the credit of the hard work to the right person.
But sadly, celebrity sells easily in these image-obsessed days. Talent isn't so easy to market.
Annette wrote: (Funny how your concern at getting published shifts to selling books and you lose that feeling of success!)I do fe..."
Annette,
I'm in touch with that feeling right now!
I'm not sure whether this makes me lucky or not, but mostly when people hear I'm an author, specifically a fantasy author, they just end up laughing or grilling me as to why I would write such a "shallow" genre.The stuff I'm inundated with is "oh, you're a writer? Read my manuscript!" I used to happily do this until I realized that pretty much everyone that asked me to do this had not only written terrible stuff, but was really only seeking validation. When I try to offer any form of critique I am barraged with rage and denials. Now I pretty much refuse to read anything presented to me.
Jaenelle wrote: "I'm not sure whether this makes me lucky or not, but mostly when people hear I'm an author, specifically a fantasy author, they just end up laughing or grilling me as to why I would write such a "s..."The one fellow I passed on some recommendations to was very nice in the way he approached me--very polite even though he was using the contact form from my website. He didn't ask for advice right away, I think he was worried I might take offence. When he sent the synopsis it was obvious he'd put a lot of thought, time and effort into it. Once he dealt with some of the issues, such as impossible to pronounce words, he'd have a manuscript that would have a chance. People like that you don't mind helping, especially when they accept your advice with grace and a grain of salt.
Perhaps they haven't noticed that I write science fiction, not local history and certainly not conspiracy theories (unless they have to do with little green men!)
Maybe I'm being overly sensitive, but as an author I've taken the time to finish my manuscripts, find a self-publishing house, review my work repeatedly, learn how to do marketing, etc... This means I'm not exactly thrilled to be inundated with ideas (usually the same idea over and over again) that haven't been thought through and have little chance of being developed.
As far as I know I haven't put myself out there as a professional ghost writer, and there are people who have. I think I'm going to find a few of them just to be able to provide contacts these people can turn to.
I do enjoy the attention but I have more stories in my head than I can keep up with. I'm not about to sacrifice any of them for someone else's. How do other writers handle this?