Is all this just a waste of time?

LostLibrarian

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Writing alone is not fun for me.
In all honesty: then stop. You'll be happier in the long-term.

To publish a book on the side (especially through the traditional publishing) will be a massive grind of self-improvement and failed stories. It'll break you if you won't find any fun in the creation process itself. There is a true core to that "all writers are depressed alcoholics" meme.

Publishing a book is like playing a festival as a band, like selling a video game through a big publisher, like winning a national competition in sports. That's the level you want to reach. You won't be long in a band if you hate playing the guitar. You won't win the gold medal if you hate your daily training.

And most importantly: don't try to get your confirmation through some random people on the internet. That won't work. Write the story you want to write the way you want to write it. Polish it to the utmost, put in all the work, and afterwards people might see something in it.


Honestly, if you want to continue towards traditional publishing, I would recommend short story writing competitions like "writers of the future" to you. Those projects aren't too long so you can finish them in weeks before you throw them away, you have phases in between where you can research and improve your story telling, and you'll get feedback afterwards.

Either way, good luck with it. But I would recommend you to just take your time for a few days and think, whether writing is the right thing for you to do. Or whether your free time isn't better spend on something you have fun with. Then "having fun" makes it easier to reach the level you need to sell something. And with writing, it's still a really long way of pain to go...
 
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Deleted member 45782

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Inactive but just wanted comment on this:

Baby steps.
Walk before you run.
  1. First you write and practice.
  2. You write offline.
  3. Then you write on an online writing platform for feedback.
  4. Then you get a better idea and can start working on a writing that is not going to be on writing platform since you want to publish it.
  5. Then you hit send your manuscripts to publishers. Then you get crushed again and again with maybe some sliver of hope and light that you actually get published.
You are likely not going to jump from writing on an online writing platform to getting that story published traditionally.

Its idealistic, not realistic.

Some take years to market their book, many story scripts get rejected. Rowling had to try many times before harry potter get any success. And maybe you could be the few exceptional, but that is like a needle in the haystack kid.

Unless you're on the right platform, or your story is SO exceptionally good that its like a JK Rowling/Rick Riordan/Brandon Sanderson amidst a sea of cliche and story tropes and a bunch of other "unique storytelling" stories that people claim are truly something out of this world, its gonna be miss.

When you start out, you should be open up to new ideas and ways to grow. Once you're established, then you can be more nit-picky.
Be more open-minded. You're starting new, don't limit things here and there. You need to grow, not cut snips you don't like it. To sell a story:
  1. Writing Platforms. Get noticed at least more than just some friends viewing it. (you're already doing this step, bravo).
  2. Start with Patreon. Self-publishing. Don't cancel it out. Its at least something.
  3. Then you make another story separately just for traditionally publishing.
If the story you want to go to traditionally publish, is on a writing platform, maybe its a bad idea, but I would take off that story then. And finish it offline and see if you still save it and submit it to a publisher. But this you'll have to contact people who know more about this cause I don't.

Contact person in field. Connections.
Which you are already doing it seems. It sounds like you got someone who gave you a few pointers. Talk to more who know more about the publishing process. Build a connection somewhere, get tips and pointers. Who knows, maybe someone may say where to go to get your story published.

Expect less, to feel happier and more satisfied.
The main reason why I don't feel bad about my stories here is because I don't care for them as much as my other story ideas I want to focus on more. I worried for story will get copied, story I want to especially save for making it real good, etc., etc. - and so I save the good for the right time and opportunity. The ones on here is a practice; if it's good then great! If its not so great? Well yes, its not my best.

To see views like even a 100-soaring to 300 views is awesome enough. I don't ask/expect for much, so I'm much happier.

Reality-focus
I'll be honest here. I write to procrastinate and it is probably just a writing phase that may go away permanently or a very long time.
Writing as escaping I've heard before and many of us do it. But putting everything all on writing?
I think it best to focus on some priorities first.

Not about just getting a date with a girl. Or getting published traditionally anytime soon.

You still have bout a year left in uni. You still got time in college and you got time in your life after that college stage to find that one person. But the time to learn things when mistakes are more okay cause you're a rookie so they don't expect you to know a whole lot? College is more than just scoring a date with someone. Its about trying to find a way to be independent yourself.

Some people have even less of a time than you do bc they grad in 2020. Make most of what you have and what you got. You lament on some things that are trivial to others because they have more concerning things to think about, something that might resonate with you in the coming future too.

Practice
If you liked writing, make it habit. Not something to overtake your life or completely fill whatever void in reality you're facing a 110%.
But write. Practice. A Rough Outline of a Goal. Baby Steps.

Once you write and keep on writing and improve, there's more chance a publisher will look upon you and see you're a great potential market to tap into. And you keep writing stories so it shows you'll keep making them the buck you will continue putting forth more stories and not just one story. They want to find a good author with potentially lot of stories to tap into. So you have to keep writing somewhere and improve. I'm sure your biggest model, Brandon Sanderson didn't just write a one or two novels but many novels.

Half the time people lament about stuff they don't have. But do they really take the time to go beyond and fix and improve themselves so they can get that stuff they don't have but wish to have?
 
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DJWilde

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Let me share with you a post I put on my FB page as part of my answer:

What does it take to not give up? Let me put it into perspective for you. I decided I wanted to write when I was eleven years old. All my life, I’ve wanted to create. And I certainly have. Some adults marveled at my creativity while co-students bullied me for it. With the bullying affecting my school performance I was also chided for drawing pictures instead of studying (to the point of being called stupid through my childhood years by my stepmother). There were always a few who wanted to see my creativity grow, while others tried to stomp it out.
I left home at 14 to escape abuse from all directions (home and school) and my creativity took a dark turn in my artwork with skeletons and jagged peaks of lonely mountains. I went through a lot then and was passed around by relatives until I lived in the streets and eventually went to Job Corps in Clearfield UT. It was there when I was 17 that I started creating my heroes. I started trying to build a role playing game because I couldn’t afford DnD books.
I continued to develop it past Job Corps days until I moved to Des Moines to go to a technical college. My sworn brother, whom I met at Job Corps became my first partner on the game and we worked on characters and stories together. He was the first tell me my works should be books. Many others said the same as they tried my game. When my brother was murdered in 1990 I made sure the game survived and I kept his characters in it. When another best friend died from medical malpractice, I did the same for his characters. In fact they are all published in my stories.
Through the help of another friend I made several books and got them printed to take to Gencon in 2004. A project I had started in 1987. 17 years in the making. The game had a long line of playtesters and I remember them all. The game survived my military time, two deaths, a horrid divorce, and a hard breakup. It survived my darkest times.
In 2008 I moved to Wisconsin and had another divorce. I had no one to play my game anymore and MS had come to bear in my life. I was disabled. Now with that time on my hands and raising son with autism, I decided to write again. I started working on Chessmen. I published Chessmen in 2013. I’ve been trying to gain following for my brand ever since. I’ve been trying to make my creativity work for me for 8 solid years with very little to show for it but completed works.
I cherish ever dollar as it’s only little triumph while internally fighting the idea that I’m trying to build a bonfire and only ever getting a couple of sparks. Just enough to give me hope so the next setback can strip it away. So many setbacks. So many “maybe next year” ideas. And now Covid.
Getting people interested in my stories feels like running a marathon with broken legs. It comes with lots of people “showing interest” and then never coming back. It comes with buyers who never become readers. It comes with a trickle of income, a dollar here and there. It comes with relatives who won’t read my work to include my own mother. It comes with hundreds of free e books handed out and maybe 3 reviews to show for it. It comes with begging people to share your work and then nothing. It’s an uphill battle on greased glass and no writer, artist or creator is supposed to admit that. Yeah, we’re supposed to shove it all down and keep going. How do some of us do that? I don’t know.
Yes, we’re expected to not show our disappointment in the pitfalls we constantly have to claw our way past. But I can’t not show it anymore. My wife thinks I’m mad at her this morning, but I’m not. It’s just showing today. The wounds are making their appearance. And yet, in a little bit I will post part two of one of my stories as I try yet another route to gain interest. And I’ll post again too. I will still create and perform for my empty coliseum.
That’s what it means to not give up. That’s as real as it gets.

And to continue, you have to write for you first. Write because you love to write. It is your art form. Create because you love to create. It may never go further than this, but you will never be one to say that you just gave up. I've wanted to give up lots of times. Also, writing a book is easy compared to marketing one. Those are two very different landscapes. Marketing is hard. Marketing is expensive. And you have to find all sorts of venues to market yourself to. You have to even more creative there than you were with your story in the first place. Still, that hasn't stopped me from publishing 3 novels, 2 short story anthologies, a non fiction memoir, two board games, and 10 coloring books. I sometimes get interest from people I talk to just because of that list. Because wow, that's a list. Maybe I'll make a post of ways you can market your brand. But I will still say, don't give up, not just yet.
 

morhamza

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Reading through this thread doesn't fill me with confidence. I'm 27, dropped out of med school cause I couldn't afford it. I'd always dreamt of writing, so I sent a draft I wrote out. I was cheeky enough to ask for a review even if the story wouldn't get picked. The agent was kind enough to reply.

That was 4 years ago. I never finished another story ever since. Halfway through I would remember "it's just not good. I know you dream of writing, but you're young, find another dream. The plot is all over the place, grammar is terrible and the narration is just... never waste another agent's time with this."

After years I finally started writing again. I'm not too confident in my ability, but I was hoping to build a small audience and go the Patreon route. But reading through this thread has filled me with doubts again. How do I even market a story I can't even write a decent synopsis for?
 
D

Deleted member 45782

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Reading through this thread doesn't fill me with confidence. I'm 27, dropped out of med school cause I couldn't afford it. I'd always dreamt of writing, so I sent a draft I wrote out. I was cheeky enough to ask for a review even if the story wouldn't get picked. The agent was kind enough to reply.

That was 4 years ago. I never finished another story ever since. Halfway through I would remember "it's just not good. I know you dream of writing, but you're young, find another dream. The plot is all over the place, grammar is terrible and the narration is just... never waste another agent's time with this."

After years I finally started writing again. I'm not too confident in my ability, but I was hoping to build a small audience and go the Patreon route. But reading through this thread has filled me with doubts again. How do I even market a story I can't even write a decent synopsis for?
I would say baby steps. Have the published story as a sort of abstract goal. Not too defined, cause a lot things changes on how and when we get to that goal.

Sorry if I disillusioned anyone here, but I just wanted point out the OP comments. They keep mentioning they want their story to get traditionally published. The moment they find it's hard, they're thinking about giving up. When they see other tropes that readers and writers like to indulge on here are more popular than what they write, it also sounds like they want to give up. OP hasn't finished their one original story yet either (not counting the fanfiction). While OP is still a great writer and probably great person and has some valid points that I do agree with, here are a few things I would like to say:

Don't be too highly optimistic to the point of treading into naivety that you think you'll get known right away by a publisher for your first story and it'll be a bestseller/definite hit in the market success. High expectations will make you fall even more down when you realize what you get isn't what you expected.

Don't get disillusioned so quick that you give up after just a little bit of discouragement especially if your writing is truly your passion and you want to see it become a success. Writing takes a lot of effort to make it a success. Fight for it like the heroes and protagonists in your story. Fight for it and put effort behind it if you truly want to see it shine someday.

Its okay to talk about pitfalls in your path to writing. Its okay to feel discouraged at some points in writing. It should definitely be acknowledged, but one should also realize it is not straight away easy success. It feels like OP has only stepped on three rungs of the ladder and then throwing in the towel at every turn when there's like 8 or 10 more rungs on the ladder to go.

@morhamza
- I believe I read your story and its pretty great. Your should continue writing your story out. You have the potential to pull in a lot of readers.
- And you're already a published author I read somewhere on the forum. I think you pretty big step ahead of many of us in a way. ;)
- don't let your inner pessimism get to you. We tend to step on ourselves for a lot of things but to others we are actually doing pretty good.
- While the synopsis doesn't attract some, you can always ask others for suggestions on how to make your synopsis better. Like say on synopsis thread.

TL;DR: Be realistic with your goals. But also keep fighting for it and writing it out cause that is how you'll succeed. Dreams take effort to accomplish. Acknowledge the pitfalls. But don't be discouraged at every single turn; persistence is the key.
 
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WasatchWind

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I appreciate advice people have given me in this thread. I am feeling much better than I was when I wrote this, though I am still not planning on putting much more of my story on here. I will at some point take it off the site. At that point, anyone who is really serious about reading and providing feedback I will give the Google doc.

Thank you for talking when I was in this difficult time. Though I will not be posting my original novels on the site, I may post fanfiction and short stories.
 

DJWilde

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I appreciate advice people have given me in this thread. I am feeling much better than I was when I wrote this, though I am still not planning on putting much more of my story on here. I will at some point take it off the site. At that point, anyone who is really serious about reading and providing feedback I will give the Google doc.

Thank you for talking when I was in this difficult time. Though I will not be posting my original novels on the site, I may post fanfiction and short stories.
I do hope you don't give up on that story. As it is, I see talent in your writing and I hope you continue to expand on it.
Reading through this thread doesn't fill me with confidence. I'm 27, dropped out of med school cause I couldn't afford it. I'd always dreamt of writing, so I sent a draft I wrote out. I was cheeky enough to ask for a review even if the story wouldn't get picked. The agent was kind enough to reply.

That was 4 years ago. I never finished another story ever since. Halfway through I would remember "it's just not good. I know you dream of writing, but you're young, find another dream. The plot is all over the place, grammar is terrible and the narration is just... never waste another agent's time with this."

After years I finally started writing again. I'm not too confident in my ability, but I was hoping to build a small audience and go the Patreon route. But reading through this thread has filled me with doubts again. How do I even market a story I can't even write a decent synopsis for?
Boy have I had nice messages from agents myself. Don't let an agents message get you down. And never listen to anyone who uses the words 'give up' on you. I've had my fair share of those and I won't take advice from them ever again. That agent mentioned that you're young so you can find something else. Well, that also applies to the idea that you have time to practice your craft.

Writing is something you have accept the long haul for. It takes time to learn how to edit and polish your work. You should seek out critique groups that can give you good honest feedback and tips on how to improve. And then just write. The time will come for you to share it and who knows, anything could happen.
 
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Jet

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That thread is dreary and makes one think and wonder for sure.
But it all boils down to the simple matter of writing all by yourself vs writing for others. And the second option is better by a landslide. Like, if I had 100s of ppl reading my stuff (yea, right xD), pretty certain that I'd end up cooping up and writing nearly 24/7. The fact that I'd still receive zero profit of it of no concern then.
And writing in the vacuum is hard as hell. I can only drop in awe in front of the ppl who produce big ass novels, without sharing it with the others. Other than immediate family, I guess. It's not even about feedback. Well, feedback is the most important thing probably, but it might be asking too much. In this era where few ppl read large texts, to begin with. But having readers who actually wait for your work is the only foolproof incentive I can think of. Spending years writing a novel that you keep on polishing by yourself. Surrounded by ppl nagging you to spend time elsewhere. Researching all by yourself. Judging everything by yourself. ...That seems like a literal nightmare, tbh. No clue how they manage to do that. Where do they get the motivation? Superhumans.
 
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WasatchWind

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I do hope you don't give up on that story. As it is, I see talent in your writing and I hope you continue to expand on it.

Boy have I had nice messages from agents myself. Don't let an agents message get you down. And never listen to anyone who uses the words 'give up' on you. I've had my fair share of those and I won't take advice from them ever again. That agent mentioned that you're young so you can find something else. Well, that also applies to the idea that you have time to practice your craft.

Writing is something you have accept the long haul for. It takes time to learn how to edit and polish your work. You should seek out critique groups that can give you good honest feedback and tips on how to improve. And then just write. The time will come for you to share it and who knows, anything could happen.

I just wanted to say - I appreciated your comment... I just found myself wholly unequipped to respond. I feel like I lived what some would perhaps refer to as a "perfect" upbringing, and thus have felt very self conscious trying to talk to people who have not had that. I especially thought your mention of being in Utah not something that I as a Utah native would really have much to say that you haven't before.

I especially have a hard time having these kinds of conversations because it feels like most of my trials in life are self inflicted, whereas I have had relatively few noteworthy outside obstacles in my way. I can't say much more to hearing stories like yours than I hope that you find people who can support you and offer better encouragement than me, some stranger online.

I had a bit of a moment of acceptance with my story. I do want to try my darndest to get it published. But if I can't do that, or can't get it figured out until years from now, I will be okay with that. On the other side, I am trying to have the humility to believe that my story can be good, and isn't inherently crappy - that I don't need an army of people reading it to feel ready to submit it to a publisher.

But yeah, I hope life is going better for you. It will for me - once I find myself on the other side of this statistics class. Either I pass or fail, either way, I just want it done with.
 

ForestDweller

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That thread is dreary and makes one think and wonder for sure.
But it all boils down to the simple matter of writing all by yourself vs writing for others. And the second option is better by a landslide. Like, if I had 100s of ppl reading my stuff (yea, right xD), pretty certain that I'd end up cooping up and writing nearly 24/7. The fact that I'd still receive zero profit of it of no concern then.
And writing in the vacuum is hard as hell. I can only drop in awe in front of ppl who produce big ass novels, without sharing it with the others. Other than immediate family, I guess. It's not even about feedback. Well, feedback is the most important thing probably, but it might be asking too much. In this era where few ppl read large texts, to begin with. But having readers who actually wait for your work is the only foolproof incentive I can think of. Spending years writing a novel that you kept on polishing by yourself. Surrounded by ppl nagging you to spend time elsewhere. Researching all by yourself. Judging everything by yourself. ...That seems like a literal nightmare, tbh. No clue how they manage to do that. Where do they get the motivation? Superhumans.

Yeah. Eventually, that desire to write down your ideas will be gone the more you feel no one gives a shit about your work. It's only natural.

Even now I'm plagued with that feeling. My views are declining and my story peaked in views a long time ago. If I can just find something else that can occupy my writing mind, I might just abandon it altogether. I have abandoned other writing projects before, all done in different names. I'll just vanish and start anew with a different name.

Alas, I have yet to find such a venture.
 

DJWilde

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I just wanted to say - I appreciated your comment... I just found myself wholly unequipped to respond. I feel like I lived what some would perhaps refer to as a "perfect" upbringing, and thus have felt very self conscious trying to talk to people who have not had that. I especially thought your mention of being in Utah not something that I as a Utah native would really have much to say that you haven't before.

I especially have a hard time having these kinds of conversations because it feels like most of my trials in life are self inflicted, whereas I have had relatively few noteworthy outside obstacles in my way. I can't say much more to hearing stories like yours than I hope that you find people who can support you and offer better encouragement than me, some stranger online.

I had a bit of a moment of acceptance with my story. I do want to try my darndest to get it published. But if I can't do that, or can't get it figured out until years from now, I will be okay with that. On the other side, I am trying to have the humility to believe that my story can be good, and isn't inherently crappy - that I don't need an army of people reading it to feel ready to submit it to a publisher.

But yeah, I hope life is going better for you. It will for me - once I find myself on the other side of this statistics class. Either I pass or fail, either way, I just want it done with.
I'm much better than I used to be. Growing up was tough and I didn't know a lot about myself through that time until into my 30's when I discovered that I actually have mild autism. Then I developed multiple sclerosis so I have my challenges.

Oh statistics. My wife hated that class. She is in her last year of revamping her marketing degree.
 

InceTagn

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Lovecraft' I researched on the guy because of a home work. Only to discover that he had brought his mark in the horror genre.

But how was his life? Not that glorious, an horror story were taxes and month ends are creatures crawling out of a nightmare, tearing your family apart.

I am not saying that all hope is lost, just that thank to his story, his life story, I think that a writer should spend time with his family, find a job and write part time until he is confidant that he can rely on his words count in order to life.
 

Dajoe1234

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"Don't Try" -Charles Bukowski
He lived a shit life. He only got popular in his 50s even though he had been writing since he was a kid .He worked in a post office and still wrote.

It was by luck that someone decided to publish him and it sold well. Even after it sold it did not mean his life got any less shittier.

I am certain there were many people like enstien who never got popular because they weren't born in the right time after the right experiment.
Cause only one person can be the first to discover special realtivity. The first person who discovered it after the experiment where they measured speed of light won. Everyone else who had the idea after that was fucked. Most child prodigies also don't do shit.

Statistically no one here is Enstien or a genius. Seriously half of obscure genius had a pretty shit life.
Such Pessimism Lol.
 

Ai-chan

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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.
If your story is really good, it doesn't matter that it was posted elsewhere before. Where do you think Twilight, The Kissing Booth, 50 Shades of Grey, Mortal Instruments, Light As A Feather came from? They were all originally online fanfictions, some of them from Wattpad. While there is truth in that traditional publishing houses want first right, that is such a last century sentiment.

Publishing houses has always care about one thing and one thing above others: Can your book sell?

Is your book shit? Maybe you think so, maybe it's even true. But they don't care.
Is your book super awesome? Maybe you think so, maybe others agree. But they don't care.
You can write the shittiest book and not expect any success but you did get it, and you can write a super awesome book that you think should be successful, but it's not successful.

You can have an awesome book that everyone wants, and a shitty book that nobody wants. The opposite can also be true. You can have an awesome book that nobody wants and a shitty book that everybody seems to want. Why is this the case?

Profit, of course. Publishers will not sign a book that they cannot sell. If your book is all over the place, they won't know how to market it. In most people's opinion, Twilight is shit, but why did it get signed? Because the author knew her target, she wrote for her target and the publishing houses could well see that. They knew that this story would appeal to 13-20 year old girls with an interest in romance with hot, dreamy guys. Since 13-20 year old girls do buy romance books, that's a huge market.

If you want to write books that will be picked up by a traditional publishing house, ask yourself:
1. Who's my target?
2. Will my target enjoy the book?
3. Does the genre exist on bookstore's shelves?
4. Does it have the squicks that will cause my target audience to say "Nah"?
5. Is my target audience capable of purchasing my books?
6. Will the publisher understand my book?

First right has nothing to do with it. It's whether or not it can sell that matters. Luck plays an even bigger role in being picked than first right.
 

Jet

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Lovecraft' I researched on the guy because of a home work. Only to discover that he had brought his mark in the horror genre.

But how was his life? Not that glorious, an horror story were taxes and month ends are creatures crawling out of a nightmare, tearing your family apart.

I am not saying that all hope is lost, just that thank to his story, his life story, I think that a writer should spend time with his family, find a job and write part time until he is confidant that he can rely on his words count in order to life.
Wow, a msg so hard to decode... Edgar Poe was starving as well. Many famous ppl lived horrible lives. But what does that matter? They left a trace. Even if a transient one. Something many billions of others fail to achieve. Everyone decides for themselves what's important and strive for that.



This topic and the pirating one, and the SH forum in general discourage from uploading to SH. Something that has been on mind for some time too. I uploaded the first 17pages of my story, yet I'm sitting at 122 atm. Regardless of how mmo-gaming has distracted me for the last couple of months xD. So, I actually want to share my story. Like anyone else, really. It motivated me to speed up when I shared the first chapter originally after all. But I came here after that only to discover that the ongoing uploading would likely diminish my already minuscule chances of getting published even further. And someone might re-upload my stuff somewhere else. Quite possibly changing it to a big extent. So I wouldn't even know when someone reads.

Writing without sharing is so hard. I don't really want to be one of the so-called lunatics WasatchWind mentioned. Yet what am I expected to do in a situation like that? Even without sharing, I could probably finish the novel in around 3years. Thing is, it would be an insipid, gruelling venture. As opposed to having a chance to be read by someone. Btw, it doesn't help that I'm writing a classic vampire story. Something that doesn't seem to garner attention here. But I did find a couple of readers who wanted updates and that counted. Also, my beta reader claimed that ch2 is better than 1. Yet I never shared after coming onto this forum. So, yeah, to upload or not, the lurid question or a conundrum rather remains.
 

jabathehut

Resident Troll
Joined
May 10, 2020
Messages
235
Points
58
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.
Was that "professional editor" The novel ninja?

Don't listen to him. He is a stupid fucking twat. Ever notice that none of his own writing is published on the site or even linked to his name? Its because he wont back up his words with his writing. He is incompetent and doesnt know what the fuck he is talking about.

He reminds me of a bad league player blaming their failures on their team or the meta. he is just shit.

If your writing doesnt get traction, improve your writing. Improve your marketing. Do not run away from failure. Embrace it. Failure is a teacher. To be good at anything you have to be bad at it first. If you want steps you can take to work towards improving, dm me. I can suggest books on writing, give you occasional chapter feedback and help you publish and market.

The successful authors arent on the forums talking about writing. The advice you will get from good authors will be a mile different from the people who are posting on forums as "professional editors" instead of writing.
 

Blind_Watcher

Active member
Joined
May 30, 2021
Messages
4
Points
43
You could also use what you learn by publishing online on SH and RR to then write something exclusively for a publishing house. Then if they don't want it, either monetize it through Patreon on RR/SH, or self publish on Amazon. If writing is all about making money, then you have to be serious about how you are going to go about it. Just winging it radically decreases your odds of succeeding.

On the subject of your stories not being suitable for RR and SH audiences, have you considered changing your subject matter to fit your audience? If not, why not? Barring god-tier talent and luck, you have to make compromises at some point if you want to make a living off creative writing.
 
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