So, I Wrote a Book. Now What?

[Coach]

This may be a not-so-humble brag, but I don't care. I finally finished writing my book.

It's the culmination of a 13 year old me journaling and doodling lucid dreams; creating half-completed comics and concept art; and basically spending most of my free time over the past 3 years writing, ending up with a rough movie script, and now, a novel.

As it stands it's 27 chapters, and 60,331 words.

Now I have no idea what do with the manuscript or my time, but it's been an interesting adventure in my mind. It's a science-fiction novel, and I am happy to discuss the subject with anyone that wants to do so in PM.

But the reason I made a new thread (rather than just posting in the WRMMH thread, although it does really make me happy) is that I was hoping there would be a few people here with some contacts in publishing, or advice on where to go from here. I did do some half-assed preliminary lit-agent scouting and what not when I had it as a film script, but nothing really came of it before I decided to start re-formatting it (which basically resulted in an entire re-write of the content).

Any help on that front would surely be appreciated, so please PM if you have anything you think may help.

Thanks CP!

[PepsiFree]

Send it in to small Canadian publishers that accept open submissions.

Do you have any writing credentials? (Previous publications, journalism, etc)

[polak]

Good work. Can't offer much help but I'm actually looking into creative writing classes since I'm bored and something to balance out all the time I spend on music would be nice. Good to see you pulled it off.

Good luck!

[rain_e]

Google self publishing.

[KTrain]

Has anyone else read your book? Whether you think so or not, you likely need to get a second set of eyes to review and edit the entire thing.

It's something you should do BEFORE shopping it to publishers. They'll want something more polished from a new author.

[VladtheImpaler]

Mrs. Impaler wrote and published a children's book. There may even be a thread on here from about 5 years ago of me flogging it. She went through the whole publishing thing, social media campaign and then hard-selling by doing readings in schools, etc. We even went to NY for the big publishers conference (well we went to NY because NY, but this was a way to expense some of the trip). If you want to pick her brain, you can buy us lunch sometime.

[Slava]

Congratulations! I think that is a huge achievement and while a lot of people start that I think that the percentage that actually finish is probably an extreme minority!

[Coach]

Originally Posted by KTrain

Has anyone else read your book? Whether you think so or not, you likely need to get a second set of eyes to review and edit the entire thing.

It's something you should do BEFORE shopping it to publishers. They'll want something more polished from a new author.

Yeah I had a few friends and family read it when it was a script to edit it and give notes for me. Once I started to apply their notes is when I decided to basically rewrite it as a novel.

But I just fished the final words last night so no one else has seen this version yet, but I will definitely be giving copies to a few people for editting.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Send it in to small Canadian publishers that accept open submissions.

Do you have any writing credentials? (Previous publications, journalism, etc)

No nothing for prior credentials and my schooling is in Economics, so don't have the formal schooling either (although econ does play a role in the story/setting, not that it really matters).

[CaptainCrunch]

From what I understand if you're not an established writer its hard to get a publishers attention.

You're best bet is to find publishers that take open submissions which are usually the smaller ones.

I had a friend that went the self publishing route and used it to build his resume so that publishers would pay attention.

I did talk to him because I'm been working on and off for about 30 years on something and he said the hardest thing is that if you get a publishers attention and start working with a professional editor they will savage you and your book and its not a pleasant or fun experience as they have to take the love of your life and mold it to a corporate standard that would sell.

Great job on doing this though and congrats and good luck.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by MattyC

No nothing for prior credentials and my schooling is in Economics, so don't have the formal schooling either (although econ does play a role in the story/setting, not that it really matters).

That's ok. I'm slammed for most of the day but let me look into a list of publishers that might be a good place to start.

Have you workshopped it?

I would suggest it. As well, would you consider a short story version and/or a selection to start submitting to literary magazines?

And, have you heard of Alexandra Writers Center?

[CliffFletcher]

Congratulations. Some tips on where to go next:

1) You need feedback from an editor (if you have money) or peers (if you don't). You may think the book is finished, but it likely needs substantial rewrites and edits. At this point, you need other eyes on your work to help you discover what works and what doesn't. There are lots of writer peer forums online (for example, SFF Chronicles, which deals with speculative fiction).

2) If you want to be published by a traditional publisher, you have almost no chance without an agent. So the next step, after you're revised and polished your work to perfection, is to write a query letter / pitch, and send it to an agent. Poke around online and you should be able to find a list of agents accepting manuscripts. Make sure that the agents work in your genre, and don't give anything to an agent who asks for payment first.

It's an extraordinarily competitive market out there. The ratio of queries to agents who ask for a manuscript is about 300:1, the ratio of manuscript submissions to agent signings is about 20:1, and the ratio of agented authors to publishing deals is about 3:1. So if you're serious about getting published you need to do everything you can to inform yourself and present the best possible manuscript in the most marketable way.

Calgary's upcoming When Words Collide convention is an excellent source of information on all this stuff, from revising to query letters to elevators pitches to what agents are looking for. And it's aimed as writer of speculative fiction. I highly recommend attending a few workshops and sessions, especially the one-minute slush pile. This is where opening pages are read out loud to a panel of publishing insiders (agents, publishers, and novelists), who raise their hand at the point in which they would toss out a submission and move onto the next one. About 1 in 10 submissions make it past the 30 second mark.

[Looch City]

Don't forget to use social media to attract attention.

Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, Imgur, 4chan (who is this??), Myspace, tinder, grinder, really just go all out.

[CaptainCrunch]

Just some things that I saw out there

http://www.douglas-mcintyre.com/submissions

http://publishers.ca/index.php/get-published

http://www.writersunion.ca/content/getting-published

http://selfpublishing.ca/

[photon]

What about one of the science fiction mags?

https://www.analogsf.com/information/submissions.shtml

Also self publishing as an ebook is pretty easy, and I've researched print-on-demand for physical books before so that's something that exist (costs more per book of course, but doesn't require the up-front cost of printing some minimum).

Also be wary, I know someone I'm pretty sure got taken by a "publisher" that ostensibly was there to help authors get their book published, but I'm pretty sure their business model is to take advantage of authors and take their money after convincing them they can make lots of money selling their book.

[PepsiFree]

Just in response to a few suggestions:

Please don't self-publish/vanity publish. It's not a good look. As suggested, you're far better off getting that thing out to an agent or a small publisher that knows how to market your stuff and has a handle on distribution.

[Coach]

My concern with self-publishing e-books is the ownership of the material. If I self-publish through Amazon, does Amazon own the creative rights to my material?

Basically, I want to make sure that, if I have to give up the IP rights for the book, I better be getting paid.

I'm not oblivious to the pipe-dream that is being a successful author, but you have to shoot that high if you want any chance of getting there IMO.

Please keep any suggestions coming. Much appreciate the support and advice everyone. This place is the best.

[cDnStealth]

Originally Posted by MattyC

My concern with self-publishing e-books is the ownership of the material. If I self-publish through Amazon, does Amazon own the creative rights to my material?

Basically, I want to make sure that, if I have to give up the IP rights for the book, I better be getting paid.

I'm not oblivious to the pipe-dream that is being a successful author, but you have to shoot that high if you want any chance of getting there IMO.

Please keep any suggestions coming. Much appreciate the support and advice everyone. This place is the best.

First off congrats! I don't know much about this kind of thing but if you're looking to self publish through Amazon you should look into Andy Weir. He self published The Martian on Amazon.

[undercoverbrother]

Congrats, and thanks for making me feel like I have done nothing with my life..

[photon]

Originally Posted by MattyC

My concern with self-publishing e-books is the ownership of the material. If I self-publish through Amazon, does Amazon own the creative rights to my material?

From what I read no, you still own your book. If I recall they do require some exclusivity (was a few years ago too so may have changed), but I think you could also pull it out at any time.

It seems the thing that differentiates between success and not is advertising. A great book could sit in obscurity and really poor schlock can sell lots of copies, it's all about advertising.

Yeah The Martian was self published, sold more copies through Amazon than free copies off his website, that got it noticed by actual publishers for a hard copy and audiobook copy.