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Any writers?

Undertow

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,126
Location
Des Moines, IA, US
lol Yes! I know this feeling! I wish it wasn't part of my writing process either, but it's definitely helped scrap three books and really built a wedge between two more.

I often watch movies, too, just to get my mind back on track. I already read alot of non-fiction, but it's typically topics of interest rather than anything related to my project (although I think I will try that now!)

Pompidou, I can't recall the quote, but a mentor of mine once told me that as long as you're staying true to what you're writing, and as long as you're honestly coming up with your material, you needn't worry about plagirism (because I, too, have this worry at times). Basically, he went on to say that writers take in tons of information, retain much of what we experience, and we filter this info into stories to put back into the pool. Occassionally, we unintentionally reimagine something, or put a spin to an already existing story we've never read. It's all part of that filtering process.

Consider that there are artists (painters and such) who are part of a "movement" in art, like post-modern etc. who aren't purposely trying to paint one way or another, yet much of their work looks similar to other artists of their time.

One solid example I have is Norwegian/Swedish Black Metal. There was a movement in the late 80's and early 90's in which Norwegian and Swedish musicians were tapping a blend of punk, thrash and heavy metal. These musicians weren't consciously copying one another, but their music is very similar in performance and structure. After the arrest and jail term of Burzum founder Varg Vikernes, Black Metal was thrown out into the international population and thereby opened up to all sorts of emulators and money makers. The same thing happened with American Death Metal, when bands like Cannibal Corpse were first seen as just another post-Slayer metal band, but eventually helped lay the bedrock for the Death Metal scene as it is today. They had no idea they were a pioneering act, but only history would tell. They could have easily been accused of plagarism then, but you can be assured they didn't steal anything.

My point is you must only write what you want to write. If you're true to yourself and you're writing via inspiration (as opposed to emulation), you needn't worry about plagarism.
 

AmateisGal

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,126
Location
Nebraska
How is the writing coming, everyone? After some rather big SNAFU's on my novel plot, I'm getting things figured out and should be humming along here soon.

Do you write better in the summer or the fall/winter months? Since I'm not a summer person, I tend to stay indoors as much as possible during the hottest days, but it still makes me feel lethargic. I think I'm definitely better with the writing during the fall/winter months. Nothing like cozying up to my fireplace with my laptop and a cup of hot cocoa beside me on a crisp fall day.

You?
 

LizzieMaine

Bartender
Messages
33,766
Location
Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
A friend and I are collaborating on an unusual non-fiction project -- a cultural history of the giant panda in the Western world. Pandas were a phenomenon that swept the world in the late thirties, after the first cub was brought to the US in 1936, and it was a phenomenon that led to dramatic changes in the way wild animals were viewed by the average person.

At the moment we're doing heavy research in contemporary sources, and collecting illustrative material, so it's still in its very early phases. I have, however, written an outline which will give us something to work from.

This is quite a jump for me -- everything I've published up to now has dealt with broadcasting history -- but it's an aspect of the Golden Era I've always found interesting, and we're already coming up with facts that as far as we know haven't seen the light of day since the thirties.
 

DBLIII

One of the Regulars
Messages
229
Location
Hill City, SD
Well, not sure it's vintage per se, but I write on my blog site and I'm supposed to do a book with Seth Anderson Bailey (he's a novelist, check out Amazon for his book or books) - he wants to do something on guns and I'm going to do the 1800 through about 1960 or so group. Somebody else can do the "tactical" stuff. I have worked with that but honestly, there's no "soul" (for lack of a better word). The Colt Single Action Army revolvers and the old Smith & Wesson nickel-plated stuff is more to my liking.
Oh, and I don't even carry a gun anymore. I don't need to. I have a three pound rat terrier 'killer attack dog' named Minnie Mouse who rides around in my shirt. She takes care of the big problems. Me? I can still run fast for an old guy!
 

Undertow

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,126
Location
Des Moines, IA, US
I've had a little luck with my break while reading Three Men In a Boat. [*edit - as much as I write, you'd think I would notice three men in a boath?]

I also watched In the Name of the Father for the first time, and although unrelated to my story, the theme of abandonment, confinement and a corrupt system has added a little fuel to my fire.

Also, I've finally finished my first batch of research for agents. I have a working list of about 65 leads and I will start sending out query letters as soon as my copyright comes back.

Speaking of which, has anyone used the new eCO service on copyright.gov? I prefer to do things by paper, but I decided to do this online because it said I would get the certificate faster. It's been nearly six months and I've had no response. Anyone have some experience they could share with me? :eek:
 

AmateisGal

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,126
Location
Nebraska
Undertow -

Glad you're making some progress. :)

I can't give you any advice on the whole copyright issue, though.

Good luck with the query letters. Through them, I've learned to have an incredibly tough skin!
 

Undertow

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,126
Location
Des Moines, IA, US
AmateisGal said:
Undertow -

Glad you're making some progress. :)

I can't give you any advice on the whole copyright issue, though.

Good luck with the query letters. Through them, I've learned to have an incredibly tough skin!

Yeah...I'm really, really, REALLY nervous about the whole query letter thing. In fact, my skin crawls just thinking about how terrible the constant rejection will feel. Oh sure, I will still send the letter, but I guess I'd better start drinking now. :(
 

AmateisGal

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,126
Location
Nebraska
Undertow said:
Yeah...I'm really, really, REALLY nervous about the whole query letter thing. In fact, my skin crawls just thinking about how terrible the constant rejection will feel. Oh sure, I will still send the letter, but I guess I'd better start drinking now. :(

It stings at first. But this is the third novel I've sent queries for, and I'm used to getting the rejections (with a few requests for partials and fulls thrown in), and most of the time I let it roll off my shoulders. However, on the days when I am supremely frustrated with this whole publishing business and I get a rejection, it throws me into a terrible funk. I get over it, though. You have to in this business, I guess.
 

Undertow

My Mail is Forwarded Here
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3,126
Location
Des Moines, IA, US
Yeah, I'll be sending my first letter tonight after I get home. The agency I'm going for is my first pick, and probably my best fit. They're asking for a few chapters, full synopsis, plus info about me - or in otherwords, they're already not like 97% of the other agencies (i.e. they're asking for alot up front).

My fingers are crossed. I'll let you guys know how it goes. :eek:
 

AmateisGal

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,126
Location
Nebraska
Within 24 hours, I went from a high to a low.

Sent a query letter plus 10 pages to a brand new agent - within 10 minutes, she requested a partial (the first 50 pages). Sent me a confirmation email and said she would get back to me ASAP.

That night, I went through the manuscript again and edited a bit more even though I've already edited it to within an inch of its life. But I thought, what if she asks for the full manuscript?

She didn't. The rejection was waiting for me in my inbox the next morning.:(

DARN IT.
 

Undertow

My Mail is Forwarded Here
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3,126
Location
Des Moines, IA, US
God, I can't imagine - but I'll probably find out soon enough! :(

I emailed my query letter on Friday night last week (07/30) along with three chapters. Their website said response is usually within 2-3 days, and precisely because they plan to deny most letters.

It's been about 7 days with no response and my fingers are crossed so hard they'll end up deformed! :eek: Talk about nerve racking! Every time I open my email account, I expect to see a nice response saying, "Nice try, move on."

Do you know anything about getting published? This would be my first project, and I'm not familiar with "advances" or checks in the mail, or royalties, etc. Can you actually make decent money selling a novel?
 

AmateisGal

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,126
Location
Nebraska
I've been trying to get published for oh, a good ten years now. I've been actively sending queries for 7 years. The first novel (God rest its soul) had a lot of response (it was a historical romance set in the Regency period and since it is a hot genre, that's probably WHY it got the response, but it wasn't worth publishing); the second novel, an inspirational/Christian novel, didn't make it because another lady had published a book set in the SAME place at the SAME time period (though radically different stories) and the editor I contacted said since that one had such dismal sales, she wouldn't even look at mine.

So I've had two novels I've queried and went through the rejections/requests for both. Ultimately, I had to abandon both of them.

I refuse to abandon my third because I truly BELIEVE in this story, and I've had some very positive feedback from agents who have requested the full manuscript (though ultimately passed).

You can make a decent living if you publish a book with the big boys (New York publishers), I think, but you won't get rich unless you hit the big time like Stephen King, James Patterson, etc. But so much depends on sales and marketing and self-promotion. If your publishing house backs you on this and puts the weight of their publicity team behind you, you'll sell more books, obviously.

Then again, small presses and independent presses are gaining traction right now, but I really have no idea how much an author could expect to make on this. You probably wouldn't get an advance, but would just earn something from sales alone. I'm not sure. I'm targeting the major publishing houses because that's what I want for my career. Other people target smaller houses or independent publishers or even self-publishing because that's how they'd like their book to be presented to the world. So really, it all depends on what YOU want.

Me? I want to have a full-time career as a novelist, churning out a solid, well-crafted book a year, and staying solid. I don't want a career made out of a fad that's popular for a few years, then dies off and then you have to try and reinvent yourself. That's not me, and those are not the stories I write.
 
I had to take a few months off from query writing, but I just started to send out to the slush piles of a few of the smaller imprints. Maybe something will come of that. What I'm really tired of hearing, though, is '120,000 words is too long.' I just got that from another agent without his even taking a look at the manuscript. Really, that only comes out to about 285 pages in hardcover. You look at these Sword and Sorcery books and they run a 1,000 pages, and they get published. If these agents don't want to read anything based on length, why are they in the business?

I just finished writing a musical-comedy, and that's the first feedback I got, too. 'It's too long.' Yeah, but you didn't even read it. It's fast dialogue, you know, like in His Gal Friday, people talking over each other. Of course, it's going to be a lot of pages, but it still runs 2:30 with intermission. They don't want to hear it. 'No, people don't sit in the theatre that long any more.' Really? They sit for three hours to watch 'Lord of the Rings' don't they? 'Sorry, you got to cut it.'

So, here I am, editing again.
 

AmateisGal

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,126
Location
Nebraska
Stieg Larsson's books, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series, are not 100K. They're over that word count by far, and they continue to stay on the bestseller list. So you're right - they're argument of "people won't read something that long" are being proven wrong time and time again.

I really wonder why some agents are in this business. I don't like to think that they're always looking for the next "Lincoln goes to war with vampires" anomaly and are refusing to look at the authors who will have staying power by simply writing a good story book after book, year after year.
 

Undertow

My Mail is Forwarded Here
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3,126
Location
Des Moines, IA, US
:eusa_doh:
120k words is too long? What kinda agent are they? Many classical masterpieces were twice that! What do you suppose Moby Dick clocked in at? It was something like 800 pages - and I loved it!

shakeshead
That's too bad Jack.

AmateisGal, I'd also like to be a full-time author, but I would settle for publishing a single book that actually made it somewhere; maybe no farther than a few sales, but at least in the stores. Oh, I'd keep writing and trying to get published, but at least I would feel like I'd got my foot in the door once in my life.
 

AmateisGal

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,126
Location
Nebraska
Undertow said:
:eusa_doh:
AmateisGal, I'd also like to be a full-time author, but I would settle for publishing a single book that actually made it somewhere; maybe no farther than a few sales, but at least in the stores. Oh, I'd keep writing and trying to get published, but at least I would feel like I'd got my foot in the door once in my life.

Me, too. If I could get one book published and have it be a success (a goal I've had since childhood), I really think it would feel like I'd achieved the dream - even if I never published a book again.
 

LocktownDog

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,254
Location
Northern Nevada
AmateisGal said:
Me, too. If I could get one book published and have it be a success (a goal I've had since childhood), I really think it would feel like I'd achieved the dream - even if I never published a book again.

You will. I don't doubt it for a second. Have faith in yourself and your skill. :eusa_clap
 

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