At the crossroads...
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OK, this is a little more off-topic than most, but I don't do much social media outside of CP, so I wouldn't know where else to post it. I finished a book a while back -- my first! (authoring, that is, not reading; I've finished a few of those, too, though.) I'm pretty sure it's pretty good. I like it anyway, and a few of my kids and their friends do, too. At least that's what they tell me. Maybe they're just polite. (Kids these days!) It's an adventure book of sorts. (About 3 young kids who live/hangout at the White House. No politics of course. Just zany antics and goofball adventures. Protecting the world from the devious plots of a couple international spies. That sort of thing.) If any of you want to read it online, I'll send you a link. Anyways, now I'm on to the sequel. I like writing. It's hard, but rewarding, so I enjoy the process and the product. What I DON'T enjoy is trying to get published. I've sent off a formal proposal to a half-dozen publishers and literary agents, but after 6 months I haven't heard back a peep. (OK, well maybe a couple "peeps", but definitely no "pops".) So now I'm trying to decide whether I'm on the right track or not. Is it crazy to be writing the 2nd book when I haven't even sold the 1st? Sure it's fun, but is it worth the investment? The first book was the hardest thing I've ever completed. Took 7+ years of weekends, on & off. This second one should be a bit easier, but it still takes a lot of time. (Time I could be spending with my kids, instead of writing about somebody else's!) My dream would be to find a publisher (one of those niche outfits; not a meat grinder) who would give it a look and say, "I think you're on to something here." I've looked into self-publishing too, of course. But that's just not my gig. Maybe my ego is getting in the way, but I think the book has enough quality to earn a stamp on the spine. So now, I'm just curious: what would you do? Keep writing just for the fun of it, even if it never sits on anyone's shelf but the grandkids'? Or quit and just take the family on a hike?
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OK, this is a little more off-topic than most, but I don't do much social media outside of CP, so I wouldn't know where else to post it. I finished a book a while back -- my first! (authoring, that is, not reading; I've finished a few of those, too, though.) I'm pretty sure it's pretty good. I like it anyway, and a few of my kids and their friends do, too. At least that's what they tell me. Maybe they're just polite. (Kids these days!) It's an adventure book of sorts. (About 3 young kids who live/hangout at the White House. No politics of course. Just zany antics and goofball adventures. Protecting the world from the devious plots of a couple international spies. That sort of thing.) If any of you want to read it online, I'll send you a link. Anyways, now I'm on to the sequel. I like writing. It's hard, but rewarding, so I enjoy the process and the product. What I DON'T enjoy is trying to get published. I've sent off a formal proposal to a half-dozen publishers and literary agents, but after 6 months I haven't heard back a peep. (OK, well maybe a couple "peeps", but definitely no "pops".) So now I'm trying to decide whether I'm on the right track or not. Is it crazy to be writing the 2nd book when I haven't even sold the 1st? Sure it's fun, but is it worth the investment? The first book was the hardest thing I've ever completed. Took 7+ years of weekends, on & off. This second one should be a bit easier, but it still takes a lot of time. (Time I could be spending with my kids, instead of writing about somebody else's!) My dream would be to find a publisher (one of those niche outfits; not a meat grinder) who would give it a look and say, "I think you're on to something here." I've looked into self-publishing too, of course. But that's just not my gig. Maybe my ego is getting in the way, but I think the book has enough quality to earn a stamp on the spine. So now, I'm just curious: what would you do? Keep writing just for the fun of it, even if it never sits on anyone's shelf but the grandkids'? Or quit and just take the family on a hike?
It sounds like it's providing you with some joy(tm), so I'd say keep at it. As far as publishing, yeah. I hear it's hard. Keep at it, maybe find an agent willing to shop it around. After all:
Quote:
When writing his first award-winning novel, Carrie he gave up and threw it in the garbage, fortunately, his wife read it and encouraged him to finish it. Once finished Carrie was submitted and rejected 30 times by various publishers until it was finally accepted by Doubleday.
TTFN - Kent
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OK, this is a little more off-topic than most, but I don't do much social media outside of CP, so I wouldn't know where else to post it. I finished a book a while back -- my first! (authoring, that is, not reading; I've finished a few of those, too, though.) I'm pretty sure it's pretty good. I like it anyway, and a few of my kids and their friends do, too. At least that's what they tell me. Maybe they're just polite. (Kids these days!) It's an adventure book of sorts. (About 3 young kids who live/hangout at the White House. No politics of course. Just zany antics and goofball adventures. Protecting the world from the devious plots of a couple international spies. That sort of thing.) If any of you want to read it online, I'll send you a link. Anyways, now I'm on to the sequel. I like writing. It's hard, but rewarding, so I enjoy the process and the product. What I DON'T enjoy is trying to get published. I've sent off a formal proposal to a half-dozen publishers and literary agents, but after 6 months I haven't heard back a peep. (OK, well maybe a couple "peeps", but definitely no "pops".) So now I'm trying to decide whether I'm on the right track or not. Is it crazy to be writing the 2nd book when I haven't even sold the 1st? Sure it's fun, but is it worth the investment? The first book was the hardest thing I've ever completed. Took 7+ years of weekends, on & off. This second one should be a bit easier, but it still takes a lot of time. (Time I could be spending with my kids, instead of writing about somebody else's!) My dream would be to find a publisher (one of those niche outfits; not a meat grinder) who would give it a look and say, "I think you're on to something here." I've looked into self-publishing too, of course. But that's just not my gig. Maybe my ego is getting in the way, but I think the book has enough quality to earn a stamp on the spine. So now, I'm just curious: what would you do? Keep writing just for the fun of it, even if it never sits on anyone's shelf but the grandkids'? Or quit and just take the family on a hike?
I would never try to talk anyone out of his hobby, as long as it doesn't hurt anybody else. I happen to listen to a podcast that is hosted in part by [John C. Dvorak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John\_C.\_Dvorak), which a lot of people here might remember from PC Mag. He's had a 30-year writing career, and even though it has nothing to do with his current podcast(s), he does talk about writing every once in a while. Based on what I've repeatedly heard him say, I'd suggest you get yourself an agent, first and foremost. Without one, forget about going directly to publishers - that's a dead end. It's also my understanding that Amazon might be more willing to publish books than any "traditional" book publisher. I wouldn't know where to start however, but that's something that was relayed to me.
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OK, this is a little more off-topic than most, but I don't do much social media outside of CP, so I wouldn't know where else to post it. I finished a book a while back -- my first! (authoring, that is, not reading; I've finished a few of those, too, though.) I'm pretty sure it's pretty good. I like it anyway, and a few of my kids and their friends do, too. At least that's what they tell me. Maybe they're just polite. (Kids these days!) It's an adventure book of sorts. (About 3 young kids who live/hangout at the White House. No politics of course. Just zany antics and goofball adventures. Protecting the world from the devious plots of a couple international spies. That sort of thing.) If any of you want to read it online, I'll send you a link. Anyways, now I'm on to the sequel. I like writing. It's hard, but rewarding, so I enjoy the process and the product. What I DON'T enjoy is trying to get published. I've sent off a formal proposal to a half-dozen publishers and literary agents, but after 6 months I haven't heard back a peep. (OK, well maybe a couple "peeps", but definitely no "pops".) So now I'm trying to decide whether I'm on the right track or not. Is it crazy to be writing the 2nd book when I haven't even sold the 1st? Sure it's fun, but is it worth the investment? The first book was the hardest thing I've ever completed. Took 7+ years of weekends, on & off. This second one should be a bit easier, but it still takes a lot of time. (Time I could be spending with my kids, instead of writing about somebody else's!) My dream would be to find a publisher (one of those niche outfits; not a meat grinder) who would give it a look and say, "I think you're on to something here." I've looked into self-publishing too, of course. But that's just not my gig. Maybe my ego is getting in the way, but I think the book has enough quality to earn a stamp on the spine. So now, I'm just curious: what would you do? Keep writing just for the fun of it, even if it never sits on anyone's shelf but the grandkids'? Or quit and just take the family on a hike?
If you enjoy doing it, keep doing it. If it gets to stressful quit. If you keep doing what you've been doing you'll keep getting whatcha been gettin.
A home without books is a body without soul. Marcus Tullius Cicero PartsBin an Electronics Part Organizer - Release Version 1.4.0 (Many new features) JaxCoder.com Latest Article: EventAggregator
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OK, this is a little more off-topic than most, but I don't do much social media outside of CP, so I wouldn't know where else to post it. I finished a book a while back -- my first! (authoring, that is, not reading; I've finished a few of those, too, though.) I'm pretty sure it's pretty good. I like it anyway, and a few of my kids and their friends do, too. At least that's what they tell me. Maybe they're just polite. (Kids these days!) It's an adventure book of sorts. (About 3 young kids who live/hangout at the White House. No politics of course. Just zany antics and goofball adventures. Protecting the world from the devious plots of a couple international spies. That sort of thing.) If any of you want to read it online, I'll send you a link. Anyways, now I'm on to the sequel. I like writing. It's hard, but rewarding, so I enjoy the process and the product. What I DON'T enjoy is trying to get published. I've sent off a formal proposal to a half-dozen publishers and literary agents, but after 6 months I haven't heard back a peep. (OK, well maybe a couple "peeps", but definitely no "pops".) So now I'm trying to decide whether I'm on the right track or not. Is it crazy to be writing the 2nd book when I haven't even sold the 1st? Sure it's fun, but is it worth the investment? The first book was the hardest thing I've ever completed. Took 7+ years of weekends, on & off. This second one should be a bit easier, but it still takes a lot of time. (Time I could be spending with my kids, instead of writing about somebody else's!) My dream would be to find a publisher (one of those niche outfits; not a meat grinder) who would give it a look and say, "I think you're on to something here." I've looked into self-publishing too, of course. But that's just not my gig. Maybe my ego is getting in the way, but I think the book has enough quality to earn a stamp on the spine. So now, I'm just curious: what would you do? Keep writing just for the fun of it, even if it never sits on anyone's shelf but the grandkids'? Or quit and just take the family on a hike?
Here is one resource you might look into. It is the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) They are the organization that sponsors the yearly challenge to write a complete novel (50,000 words or more) during the month of November. They tend to cater to new writers with tips and encouragement to finish a first novel. I do know that a few literary agents do check out the winners (finishers) of their novel to see if there is any new talent that they can represent. Here is a link to the general organization: [^] Here is a link to one of their work shops on how to edit your completed first draft of a novel: Edit to Excellence with ProWritingAid[^] If writing feels good, keep at it! (I think it was Stephen King that said he sent his first novel to about 100 publisher/agents before one gave him a shot.)
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I would never try to talk anyone out of his hobby, as long as it doesn't hurt anybody else. I happen to listen to a podcast that is hosted in part by [John C. Dvorak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John\_C.\_Dvorak), which a lot of people here might remember from PC Mag. He's had a 30-year writing career, and even though it has nothing to do with his current podcast(s), he does talk about writing every once in a while. Based on what I've repeatedly heard him say, I'd suggest you get yourself an agent, first and foremost. Without one, forget about going directly to publishers - that's a dead end. It's also my understanding that Amazon might be more willing to publish books than any "traditional" book publisher. I wouldn't know where to start however, but that's something that was relayed to me.
You are right on the dot about Amazon as a publisher. I know a 13-year-old high school kid in Chennai, India who got his book published by Amazon. It is an adventure story set in Central America, God only knows where he got the idea and how he got the details about Central American jungle right but the book was good enough for Amazon to agree to publish it.
