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The Wet Blanket Reality– Chapter Three
Chapter Three…You Get An Agent This book is a travelogue through the steps it takes in 2022 to become a traditionally published fiction writer. So please read the Introduction and First Chapter and Second Chapter before this one. You do that, this chapter will make more sense, as much as this chapter will ever make sense to a sane, thinking person. (Writers are neither sane or thinking at this point in this process.) So after years of work, you declare your novel masterpiece finished and have a party. Then you spend a ton of time and effort sending out query letters to agents. (Your book never leaves the house, just…
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The Wet Blanket Reality… Chapter Two
Chapter Two… The Query This book is a travelogue through the steps it takes in 2022 to become a traditionally published fiction writer. So please read the Introduction and First Chapter before this one. You do that, this chapter will make more sense, as much as this chapter will ever make sense to a sane, thinking person. (Writers are neither sane or thinking at this point in this process.) So after years of work, you declare your novel masterpiece finished and have a party. So what next? EVERYONE KNOWS (stupid common knowledge and not true, but we’ll go with the myth here) that you must have an agent to sell…
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The Wet Blanket Reality… Chapter One
Chapter One… Manuscript Must Be Perfect Writers who believe in the myth of traditional publishing also believe deeply in the myth that rewriting is good and that a manuscript must be perfect before you dare send it off to an agent. Perfect, I say!! Perfect! (I have never in my 40 plus years in publishing ever seen a perfect manuscript.) So what happens is that years and years pass while the writer “Works on their book.” Okay, come on, we all know a number of these writers spending years “working on their book.” And sadly, these writers are proud they are doing that and they will be glad to tell…
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Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing: Traditional Publishing Takes Less Time
This chapter came from a conversation at a writer’s lunch and hearing this myth from dozens of writers over the last few months. Finally just got fed up with it. And when I am fed up, duck. Chapter Five There is this belief that if a writer could just get a traditional publisher to take care of them, all would be great, they could only write, create great art, eat candy all day, sign books for adoring fans, and roses would grow in the dark out of their asses. Or something like that. This myth comes from traditional publishers because, in this modern world, it’s about the only thing they can…
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Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing: #1
This series of posts will turn into a book later this fall with an introduction. And then it will be followed by a book called Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Indie Publishing. But first I wanted to put each myth or “Sacred Cow” up here again as I promised. This first Sacred Cow article was published here in 2010 and I redid it once since, but now it is completely redone for the world of 2013/2014. On many of these posts it is amazing to me as I redo them how far my beliefs have changed in a few short years. And how far publishing has changed as…