Networking with other authors

[Ralph Gallagher]

I'm currently shopping around a piece with a couple different publishers. The piece I have is a relatively small niche (m/m romance) and this site has been vital in my publication journey.

During the writing stage, I've met many people on here - both readers and authors in the genre - that have encouraged me. Not only that, but they've given me advice. I've seen common things that most people don't like in the things they read and try to avoid and fix those things.

During the submission stage, the other authors on this site were crucial. They helped me choose publishers that are good to work with and put out high quality material. They recommended publishers that accept the length of work I'm submitting and offered tips to get published with them.

I've recently been offered two contracts from different publishers. A few authors in the group have helped me understand them and let me know if anything raised a red flag to them. One author in particular has been publishing for a while and actually opened her own small e-publishing house so she was able to offer advice from an author and a publisher's point of view. I've learned to understand what the royalty rates mean, how to figure out what rights they want and how much I should give them, and how to negotiate any terms

Without Goodreads and the authors I've met here, I doubt I would be at this stage of my writing career at only 19. Both the authors and writers on the site have been a great help in getting me to where I am. I owe them a lot of thanks and thanks to the Goodreads team for putting together this site.

[Patrick]

Thanks for posting this, Ralph. I think this a greatly undervalued aspect of the site at the moment, and some of that is probably my fault, as I've always thought of it as being primarily about connecting readers and authors. But connecting authors with one another can be valuable, as well.

[Louann]

Hi all! I'm trying a new marketing venue. Let me know what you think:

I would like to invite you to visit my blog at www.louanncarrollbooks.weebly.com.

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[E.]

Louann wrote: "Hi all! I'm trying a new marketing venue. Let me know what you think:

I would like to invite you to visit my blog at www.louanncarrollbooks.weebly.com.

Erin Renne, world renowned psychic ha..."

Patrick wrote: "Thanks for posting this, Ralph. I think this a greatly undervalued aspect of the site at the moment, and some of that is probably my fault, as I've always thought of it as being primarily about co..."

I am thinking of doing the same thing. I believe a BLOG will increase my exposure and bring in some valuable comments. I will check yours out. Thanks. BTW I am new to this site.