WasatchWind
Writer, musician, creator of worlds
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2021
- Messages
- 397
- Points
- 103
My plan all this time has been - write drafts for books I want to write on sites like this. Then I finish the first draft, do a couple revisions, then take the story off of the site. Then I try to get an editor to pick it up, and after trying a bunch of manuscripts with a bunch of publishers, hopefully get one to pick up my stories.
But I've just been informed by a professional editor that was on the Royal Road forums that if I finish even that first draft on one of these sites, it will likely mean that it can never be published. Even the first draft, in it's jagged messy form, that may look very different from the final product, is too similar, and therefore, voids first publishing rights. This means that any publisher has no interest in it, because they did not get the right to sell my story first, and as such they will have not interest in it.
I feel distraught. Many times I've wanted to just toss aside my writing. People IRL don't really care about my writing, and I haven't had much luck with keeping it contained in google docs (is even sharing it with those few strangers online voiding the rights as well?) but few people showed interest.
But when I posted on sites like these, I got actual feedback, people who actually were interested in my writing. I decided not to give up, and have been in a recent surge of creative fire.
Then reality had to smother it. I don't see much of a way forward. I don't want to ruin things for my readers, and I doubt most of them will be willing to jump on a more private method of reading. I don't think I'd have much will to write stuff that I believe to be utter crap without reader validation.
But according to this professional editor, publishers are stuck in the past where they think authors are still writing on typewriters, and thus find things like what I'm doing unacceptable.
I never wanted to be a fulltime professional author, but I saw it as something that was going to keep me going in life. I wanted to, in addition to a normal job, work towards that amazing goal of publishing a novel, even if it's just one. But now... I just kind of want to give up.
Some people might say that if I enjoy it, that's all that matters. But I enjoy it because I get to share it with people. If all I have is the dead end promise of maybe a handful of readers on these sites, that feels like a failure to me, even if they are passionate about my work. Keeping it private just makes me feel like some weird lunatic guy writing stories about mermaids and whatever fantasy nonsense pops into his head.
I just don't know what to do. Traditional publishing is sounding more difficult than I thought it was, and trying to shut me out, and self publishing feels like it will cause a traditional high fantasy novel like mine to be lost in the shuffle.
The professional editor suggested that I consult someone in the industry. I'm just a lost scared 23 year old child hiding in a man's body. I don't have any idea how to network with gigantic publishing industries. I barely know how to ask a girl out on a date.
I just feel worn out and tired. I lost interest in drawing after elementary school. I lost interest in game development in college. And now when I thought I'd finally found a creative spark again, it's slipping away too.
But I've just been informed by a professional editor that was on the Royal Road forums that if I finish even that first draft on one of these sites, it will likely mean that it can never be published. Even the first draft, in it's jagged messy form, that may look very different from the final product, is too similar, and therefore, voids first publishing rights. This means that any publisher has no interest in it, because they did not get the right to sell my story first, and as such they will have not interest in it.
I feel distraught. Many times I've wanted to just toss aside my writing. People IRL don't really care about my writing, and I haven't had much luck with keeping it contained in google docs (is even sharing it with those few strangers online voiding the rights as well?) but few people showed interest.
But when I posted on sites like these, I got actual feedback, people who actually were interested in my writing. I decided not to give up, and have been in a recent surge of creative fire.
Then reality had to smother it. I don't see much of a way forward. I don't want to ruin things for my readers, and I doubt most of them will be willing to jump on a more private method of reading. I don't think I'd have much will to write stuff that I believe to be utter crap without reader validation.
But according to this professional editor, publishers are stuck in the past where they think authors are still writing on typewriters, and thus find things like what I'm doing unacceptable.
I never wanted to be a fulltime professional author, but I saw it as something that was going to keep me going in life. I wanted to, in addition to a normal job, work towards that amazing goal of publishing a novel, even if it's just one. But now... I just kind of want to give up.
Some people might say that if I enjoy it, that's all that matters. But I enjoy it because I get to share it with people. If all I have is the dead end promise of maybe a handful of readers on these sites, that feels like a failure to me, even if they are passionate about my work. Keeping it private just makes me feel like some weird lunatic guy writing stories about mermaids and whatever fantasy nonsense pops into his head.
I just don't know what to do. Traditional publishing is sounding more difficult than I thought it was, and trying to shut me out, and self publishing feels like it will cause a traditional high fantasy novel like mine to be lost in the shuffle.
The professional editor suggested that I consult someone in the industry. I'm just a lost scared 23 year old child hiding in a man's body. I don't have any idea how to network with gigantic publishing industries. I barely know how to ask a girl out on a date.
I just feel worn out and tired. I lost interest in drawing after elementary school. I lost interest in game development in college. And now when I thought I'd finally found a creative spark again, it's slipping away too.