I have been wanting to write a novel for the better part of 5 years now, and I have finally gotten up the motivation to put pen to paper. I know getting to the publishing phase is still a long ways off, but I was just curious about the process. Does anyone here have any experience with this? Where do I start once I am satisfied that I have put together a quality novel and am ready to pursue publication?

8/12/2009 6:46:06 PM

get an editor.

8/12/2009 7:22:33 PM

It's pretty hard to get a book published successfully without someone with some pull behind you.

You could send your manuscript/whatever out to as many editors as you can find, and hope one of them likes it enough to bite. Maybe even has a website with some other "samples" of your writing, that they could judge you on (like a portfolio...).

[Edited on August 12, 2009 at 7:31 PM. Reason : ]

8/12/2009 7:30:41 PM

What about getting an agent?

8/12/2009 7:36:36 PM

self publish?

http://www.lulu.com/

8/12/2009 7:38:18 PM

Yeah, but that just seems like a huge upfront investment. And then I still have the daunting task of marketing the shit.

8/12/2009 7:42:03 PM

If you want to write and be published it might be better to start off with shorter works. A novel is a huge investment of time. You could write a few short stories or a novella to test the waters.

What do you want to write about?

[Edited on August 12, 2009 at 10:11 PM. Reason : .]

8/12/2009 10:10:52 PM

In all honesty, this isn't something that you should really think about until you have a finished manuscript in hand and are well on your way to finishing your second one.

Jim Butcher, author of the Dresden Files series, talks about how he managed to get published here:
http://jimbutcher.livejournal.com/

8/12/2009 10:19:05 PM

you should also visit some forums specifically for getting published

http://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+get+a+novel+published+forum&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

8/13/2009 8:56:11 AM

here's another website by author Nicholas Sparks...he talks about finding his agent and getting published among other things

http://www.nicholassparks.com/WritersCorner/Index.html

8/13/2009 9:20:46 AM

sweet, those are all really good articles

and I'm not going into what I am writing about, it's just an idea I have had in my head for a while

8/13/2009 10:55:58 AM

This is so weird because I was just thinking about this a few days ago.

Here is a good forum: http://www.writers.net/forum/
And also check out this: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/forum

8/13/2009 11:12:35 AM

who doesn't think about writing a novel?

8/13/2009 11:29:31 AM

<--

8/13/2009 11:32:30 AM

thinking about it and actually doing it are 2 different things.

that's why it has taken me 5 years to get started.

8/13/2009 11:49:55 AM

I'm an awful story teller. I know that I have no business trying to write a novel. I just don't have a gift for conveying detail.

8/13/2009 12:19:26 PM

You probably should go out of your way to NOT refer to your work as "shit"

8/13/2009 1:36:25 PM

but that's the title of the book

8/13/2009 1:59:55 PM

again, why would you start with a novel?

I would think that you would want to prove yourself a bit before putting in the effort required for a novel.

You know, see if you're any good and if people like what you write.

8/13/2009 2:11:45 PM

perhaps the effort is more for himself than for other people.

8/13/2009 2:19:24 PM

^

8/13/2009 2:22:03 PM

^ In that case he wouldn't need a publisher.

8/13/2009 2:22:19 PM

it's hard to explain why I am writing a novel vs. short stories without explaining the premise of it. and I am not going to explain the premise. so we will just have to agree that i have my own reasons for wanting to write a novel

8/13/2009 2:27:18 PM

^^well i think that making an attempt for your work to be successful or put into a situation where other people might enjoy it and doing something for yourself that you always wanted to do are not always mutually exclusive.

For example, my band writes music we want to write. Sure its fun when people enjoy it, and sure we promote it to help it sell etc. But when it actually comes to what we are writing while we are writing the album, worrying about whether other people will like it or not is hardly ever considered.

In Summary: It is entirely possible for someone to do something creative without much concern over whether other people like it and simply do it the way they themselves want to do it and then when completed make an attempt to see if people actually do enjoy it.

[Edited on August 13, 2009 at 2:33 PM. Reason : ]

8/13/2009 2:33:18 PM

ok, I get it

you want to write a novel

but writing is hard, writing well is harder, write stuff well which people will actually want to read is well, even harder

it just seems ass backwards to me, the goal to write a novel instead of becoming a writer

8/13/2009 3:13:22 PM

my mom has looked into writing a children's book and contacted some publishers. they sent her lots of information and forms to fill out. basically you pay for them to publish it (by # of words, pictures, editing, etc.) unless you're a well-known name. this may be completely different for novels, but that's all i know.

8/13/2009 7:22:39 PM

just get elected president first,

then write the novel....

8/13/2009 7:52:34 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreams_from_My_Father

Quote :

"Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance is a memoir by President of the United States Barack Obama. It was first published in 1995 after Obama was elected the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review, but before his political career began. The book was re-released in 2004 following Obama's keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention (DNC); the 2004 edition includes a new introduction by Obama, then a Senator-elect, as well as his DNC keynote address."

[Edited on August 13, 2009 at 9:12 PM. Reason : .]

8/13/2009 9:12:19 PM

I don't mean to sound like a dick, but judging by your statements, you've probably never actually written anything mildly substantial, in terms of fiction, that has been judged and critiqued by your peers. You might think you have a good idea, but if you don't know how to write, it will most likely come out like shit. Convincing others that your good idea is good is an incredibly difficult task.

Besides, this isn't much different than thinking of a good play, then applying for the Tom O'Brien's job because of it. If you want to get into writing, great. I can't begin to tell you how wonderful it can be as an art/hobby/stress reliever, but please don't be so naive to assume that you can just "write a novel" out of the blue, good idea or not. Start with exercises or short stories. Even simply writing scenes that seem particularly vivid, perhaps from your current idea, can be a great place to start. Just please don't be so pretentious to think that you can just shit out a novel and publishing is anything to even be concerned about at this point.

Above all else, please realize that, as a student of writing, the worst fucking thing in the universe is when someone comes out of the gate thinking their work is hot shit. Let people tell you that you suck, and they will. Listen to them, make it better, and don't grumble some shit about their critique ruining your "artistic vision."

If my assumptions are wrong, just ignore the fuck out of what I said. Good luck.

8/13/2009 10:34:52 PM

now you see how much of a dick I HAVE NOT been being

8/13/2009 10:55:32 PM

i have nothing to add to this thread other than a piece of advice i once heard: when writing a novel, upon completion let it sit for a good 6 months and forget about it. come back, re-read and edit, and repeat until you're satisfied

8/14/2009 4:46:17 AM

Let it be known that I am very open to criticism, and I in no way believe that I am going to just sit down, knock out a novel, and the whole world will love it. I am not so "naive" to think that I, as a first time novelist, will knock out an award winning novel on the first draft.

I do, however, have confidence in my story and my writing ability. As do I have confidence in my ability to surround myself with critics and experienced writers to help me produce a work I can be proud of, whether it is published or not.

And yes, I have written several short stories over the past 10 years for recreation.

8/14/2009 11:17:44 AM

the main point though that should be put through though

is that if you want to do this, you really should

creating somthing, especially a work of art, is one of the best things a person can do

I think that some of us (especially on'es who don't have a clue about what we're talking about... that would be me) just want to point down a path that we think is correct

but actually writing anything, putting pen down on paper, is really awesome

8/14/2009 1:28:17 PM

And again, I appreciate all the advice, both positive and negative. The positive leads me in the right direction, while the negative keeps me grounded.

I guess it all comes down to the fact that I want to do something that a lot of people wouldn't even attempt. Or that a lot of people would like to do, but never get up the determination to do it. Completing a novel I am proud of would be a HUGE accomplishment, and getting it published would just be the icing on the cake.

8/14/2009 8:04:45 PM

oh, and your goal now is to not force your friends to pull a Stewie on you

8/15/2009 3:45:43 PM