did you ever publish something?
- Thread starter runwolf
- Start date
Heya! Well I am the same as you, I love writing and it's one of my main past times. I also thought about publishing one day, but I haven't done it yet (time and money lacking). I like to write short novels the most. But I am quite diverse when it comes to writing. It really depends in what mood I am in! What about you, any favourites? You thinking of publishing something?
Fellow writers, woohoo! I have three ebooks and a paperback published. I've also written hundreds of articles for a variety of websites, and have lost count of the copy I've written for corporate clients (if that counts as published). I run a blog too, but that's more for fun. If you have any questions, I'm happy to help.
Aw you guys are definitely a lot further along the publishing path than me then! Congrats by the way 
I hope I will be able to publish something one day too. But it does help to think that many people have managed and that it is actually doable with a lot of time and effort. Edrof: I had a question: when you published your paperback, did you do that online first? And did you slef publish, did ou have a good editor or did you have a publishing house?
I hope I will be able to publish something one day too. But it does help to think that many people have managed and that it is actually doable with a lot of time and effort. Edrof: I had a question: when you published your paperback, did you do that online first? And did you slef publish, did ou have a good editor or did you have a publishing house?After spending months kicking around book ideas and looking at how to contact publishers I decided not to go down the traditional route. There are countless stories of how difficult it is to get a publisher to notice your work (whether you have an agent or not) and, even if they do, the naive, new author is often presented with an awful contract and hardly any control over their work. Some authors don't get paid - even if their books sell in the tens of thousands. One author I know sold over 100,000 copies, did the whole book tour thing, wrote four in the series and never received a penny more than his modest advances. A friend in publishing told me that his authors get around 10% of the sales, and that was considered pretty good. (Having said all that, I'm sure brick-and-mortar publishers are great for some people.)
Around that time Amazon launched their KDP service and, deciding to experiment with it, I published a couple of short pieces on there. The sales were only tiny, but it convinced me to write a couple of non-fiction ebooks and upload them to KDP. I hit at a fairly good time and have sold a few thousand copies since then. KDP is great because you retain 75% of the sale price, retain full control over the contents, cover and even price. However, you have to do all the work yourself, and marketing the books is, in many ways, harder than writing the things.
Editors are often vital, but I eschewed an editor as my ebooks were non-fiction (in my comfort zone) and I simply didn't have the money to pay someone. I did have a legion of proofreaders though, and I proofed it myself so much I hated it by the end. Still, there were mistakes and I'm certain an editor could improve it still. Luckily, with KDP, you can unpublish and edit your manuscript at any time. If you have the money, editors are well worth it.
Any more questions, fire away.
Around that time Amazon launched their KDP service and, deciding to experiment with it, I published a couple of short pieces on there. The sales were only tiny, but it convinced me to write a couple of non-fiction ebooks and upload them to KDP. I hit at a fairly good time and have sold a few thousand copies since then. KDP is great because you retain 75% of the sale price, retain full control over the contents, cover and even price. However, you have to do all the work yourself, and marketing the books is, in many ways, harder than writing the things.
Editors are often vital, but I eschewed an editor as my ebooks were non-fiction (in my comfort zone) and I simply didn't have the money to pay someone. I did have a legion of proofreaders though, and I proofed it myself so much I hated it by the end. Still, there were mistakes and I'm certain an editor could improve it still. Luckily, with KDP, you can unpublish and edit your manuscript at any time. If you have the money, editors are well worth it.
Any more questions, fire away.
Wow - thanx - thats quite a lot to read and think about, seems you've gone through a lot I can see.
Editors, well of course if you have one at your hand, of course do it, the same counts for someone who helps you with the outlook of the book, cover creating etc.
Edrof - do you also have experiences with vanity publishers? I came across that models by reading about that.
Editors, well of course if you have one at your hand, of course do it, the same counts for someone who helps you with the outlook of the book, cover creating etc.
Edrof - do you also have experiences with vanity publishers? I came across that models by reading about that.
So after some googling I cam across Novum publishing - has anyone heard of them or had any experience with them? It seems like they take on quite a few new authors or first book authors, so this may be of interest for you. In any case you can have a look at what they offer - but they are for authors from the UK, so hope that corresponds to what you're looking for.
Can't comment on Novum as I haven't heard of them but I do recommend Amazon KDP. I've published seven books through Amazon with some success. This way does leave it up to you to do all the work re editing, promotion, covers, etc but it also puts your success in your own hands.
I write a lot of short stories and I'm writing longer stuff too, it's a hobby more than anything else (though I was told by a couple of the English professors back in my uni days I was talented) but I would like to get published one day even if only for myself. I've got an account with the kindle self publishing but never pulled the trigger. I'm my own worst enemy in that I jump around a lot from different projects and also my own worse critic in that I rubbishy my own stuff and don't just publish it despite being told it's good.
I'm actually very friendly with a couple of currently published authors, I reviewed their books and they both contacted me (I must have struck a chord
) and one regularly offers good advice and the other publishes 2-4 short story anthologies a year and has offered to print me in one and then interview me on his blog to try and help. I actually had a deadline for November but my wife has been ill so I had to miss it, he was cool with it though so hoping to get somethings out in the new year.
Both of them have gave me the same message as Edorf, the writing is the easiest part of getting a book published, generating sales and being a success is another story
I have books and books of stories lying round the house that I take real pleasure in re-reading every so often so if I never get published it won't be the end of the world but I would really love to get something out there that was recognised as good. If the money followed that would be a happy second.
I'm actually very friendly with a couple of currently published authors, I reviewed their books and they both contacted me (I must have struck a chord
) and one regularly offers good advice and the other publishes 2-4 short story anthologies a year and has offered to print me in one and then interview me on his blog to try and help. I actually had a deadline for November but my wife has been ill so I had to miss it, he was cool with it though so hoping to get somethings out in the new year.Both of them have gave me the same message as Edorf, the writing is the easiest part of getting a book published, generating sales and being a success is another story
I have books and books of stories lying round the house that I take real pleasure in re-reading every so often so if I never get published it won't be the end of the world but I would really love to get something out there that was recognised as good. If the money followed that would be a happy second.
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Vanity publishing has a bad reputation - hence the name. Of course, I'm sure there are some great companies out there; and I'm sure it works for some people. I don't know why you'd need that when you can self-publish on platforms like KDP, though. Just my tuppence.
Never heard of them, sorry. I'd be reading the small print, though.
Cool! What are books called? Have you had much in the way of sales?
I flit between projects a lot too. When writing large things it's hard to stay focused on them, especially ones that are 70,000 words long. You should definitely try to concentrate on some of your more enjoyable shorts though, polish them up and get them out there. When you've done it once you'll realise how easy it is to self-publish.
Man of Honour
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This went into every school in the country apparently.
I was even bought Web Creation software to make the CD which has hyperlinks all over it.
The only bit I didn't design were the characters.
I was even bought Web Creation software to make the CD which has hyperlinks all over it.
The only bit I didn't design were the characters.
Man of Honour
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This DVD has also gone into every hospital in the country and I won a Nursing Times Finalist Award for it.
it was also supposed to be sent worldwide but I don't know what happened.
it was also supposed to be sent worldwide but I don't know what happened.
Yeah I know, like I say I'm my own worst enemy
I'm toying with the idea of doing a blog and doing (very) short stories that are a continious series of stories all feeding into something larger but with the amount of blogs out there it would more than likely be lost in the ether.
The first six are named in my sig. The latest one is My Name is Stefan Stahl. Sales are okish. Not enough to go full time but enough for fun...
One thing you need though is a thick skin. If people like your books then they may leave a good review for you. If they don't like it then it's pretty much guarantee they'll leave a bad review. It can quite frustrating especially when some dafty complains that they didn't know they were reading book 4 of a series or have jumped right in at the last book. Then you get the know it all's who write reviews telling you "where you've gone wrong". Ignore them!
I'll have a read (when I work through my baklog
) and leave a review, always good to support new authors.@ Edrof: Thanx for your advices, one more question comes to my mind - in what exactly do you see the advanteds or disadvantages in vanity publishing? I mean, for some it works quite well, of course you have to pay for it but if you care enough for promotion it must be woth that, and if you normally print a book youself you will also need advice for layout or cover - and all that would cost anyways.
Tell me about it, Bluecube. I've been lucky enough to have about 30 good reviews on my ebooks, but one or two are bizarre. A recent reviewer simply wrote "Not read yet" and gave me three stars! I've even had a same-genre author pretend to be a reader and trash my work completely. Very sad.
Vanity publishing or self-publishing? Self-publishing is doing it all yourself, but properly, and with the knowledge that you are a competent writer. Vanity publishing is similar, but you can go to companies that will publish your books no matter how bad they are. That's my interpretation, anyway.
Vanity publishing or self-publishing? Self-publishing is doing it all yourself, but properly, and with the knowledge that you are a competent writer. Vanity publishing is similar, but you can go to companies that will publish your books no matter how bad they are. That's my interpretation, anyway.
SexyGreyWolf : It's really amazing you managed to publish these, and also such a cool ideas - so I take my hat off to you!!! Especially since I myself dream of publishing a science book for kids one day, so it seems to be in a similar spirit.
Edrof : But how do you know if a publisher is a vanity publisher? I mean it's not like they advertise themselves as such right
Edrof : But how do you know if a publisher is a vanity publisher? I mean it's not like they advertise themselves as such right