Will I Take the Plunge?

The question is becoming more real. As my first good piece of writing (at least my first good novel) is nearing completion, I'm beginning to consider publishing. I know, I know. How could I let my baby out into the world to be picked apart? The answer? I really don't know. I guess I've just finally realized that eventually this baby needs to grow up and be out in the world. I've submitted short stories to magazines. The many rejection letters posted on the wall remind of where those all went. I should become more involved in that again, I think. I've submitted freelancing. I've made a total of $.05! YES! But I tell you, eventually, they will get accepted as well, if I keep trying. My nonfiction skills have not developed enough yet I guess. To tell you the truth, the $.05 is because the source/freelance agency that I uses gives you a cent if you're in the top five choices. You don't get the actual cash promised to the writer unless they use your article.

However, as I look into the world of novel publishing, I'm getting discouraged. It looks like I have two choices that are options for me in my current state: publish where I put no money down and work with a gosh-awful publisher for the rest of that book's career (PublishAmerica), or publish where I put down $225 and I do my own marketing and editing (XLibris). I have no agent and no way to get an agent so the big publishers are pretty much out, and if I want XLibris to actually market and edit for me, it's more to the tune of $2500. For $225, they'll design my cover and print it for me! I'll have to research more and stuff, but right now, from what I've heard of PublishAmerica both on the internet and through people I know who have published through them, I'm going through XLibris.

Comments

george & clarine review said…
You can always write for the joy of using words and for how they become a building block in an overall creation. My advice: don't strain at getting published; it seems to me publishers are somewhat unscrupulous; it is always best to get "discovered" rather than trying to force the direction the other way (none of the advantages is for the creator; the publisher stacks them all in his favor.) You have the talent, but it is a tough world to break into. gwh
April 7, 2008 at 2:05 PM
p said…
Pay to publish is a crock. Don't do it.

Write until you get sold. Once you're sold, you can re-work/sell your older material now that you've cracked the market. Also, agents will take your material at that point.
April 7, 2008 at 2:46 PM
diane said…
I hope you are more successful with publishing than me. I always wanted the publisher to put out all the money. I've been at it for 20 years. I think you have a better head for it than I though.
April 7, 2008 at 6:07 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Over-analyzing Disney Movies: The Little Mermaid--Why Eric is White.

Image
I have recently noticed a trend of just purely over-analyzing Disney movies.  In this category, I also include the fascination with photoshopping Disney characters to swap genders, races, or eras, as well as making princesses have "realistic" body shapes (which is something I could write a whole other post about, and it wouldn't be pretty.  Spoiler alert:  I find it to be one of the most unempowering trends of recent years).  However, I sometimes wonder at how much people are reading into Disney movies.  Today, I'm going to over-analyze their over-analysis. I recently read that the fact that Eric is a white prince is a representation of how we white-wash racial expectations for our children.  I'm not even sure what that sentence means.  It seems to have a lot of buzz words.  But I'm going to show you today, using evidence from the film, why Prince Eric is, in fact, the correct color. (I will, however, say that Eric is the only Disney prince wh...
Read more

Derevaun Seraun! Derevaun Seraun!

James Joyce is my kind of guy. He made puzzles that I like to think are just for me. He was a great lover of languages, and he is sometimes called the father of a literary technique called polyglotism. This is when you insert other languages in there. Just 'cuz. So, in James Joyce's wonderful story, "Eveline" there is a phrase that nobody knows what it is. Even to this day. "Derevaun Seraun! Derevaun Seraun!" Many people believe it to be corrupted Irish Gaelic. Needing a break from homework, I have approached this by taking the words and then transliterating them into Irish Gaelic, trying to create Irish Gaelic that would be spoken by someone of this status in this time in Ireland. Nationalist, but not educated enough to actually understand all the ins and outs of the language. I came up with two possible phrases that I find very probable. And I'm not pretending to solve the mystery. If Joyce experts over the years have not discovered the mean...
Read more

What does it mean to be a Russell?

Image
As many know, most European families (not all, but most) have a coat of arms, a crest, a motto, all that good stuff. So, I decided to look a bit into what being a Russell means. And maybe I'll do the same for Hatches, because I am a Hatch too. The last name Russell is Scottish and means "Red-headed" and derives from the Norman name of Roussel. The Russells are a well-respected Highland Scot clan, complete with Scottish crest and tartan: The motto on the crest "virtus sine macula" means "Virtue without blemish." As Scotland incorporated more and more into England, the Russells became nobility in that world as well, and were thus presented with a coat of arms: And yes, the motto written on that one is "che sara sara." You've got to admit, that's pretty gosh-darn cool. It really does mean "Whatever will be, will be." And in honor of that:
Read more