What Are You Doing Right Now? (788 Viewers)
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Bought a few selfpublished paperback books through amazon and they didn't take longer than a normal one, but i don't know if they were in stock or had to be printed first. Will have a look at it later.
You might find this article interesting:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/deborahljacobs/2014/04/25/how-to-self-publish-your-book-through-amazon/#13755e5a44d3
Didn't know createspace also belongs to amazon.
You might find this article interesting:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/deborahljacobs/2014/04/25/how-to-self-publish-your-book-through-amazon/#13755e5a44d3
Didn't know createspace also belongs to amazon.
Oh, the let down.
So I started getting replies on the e-mails that I sent for publishing my book. I'm getting more and more answers (and info from others) that publishing houses want direct money to cover all of the expenses for publishing. Then, they also take 50% of the profit from which they sell the same book. It seems barely anybody wants to pay on their own, but want author to do so.
It got me thinking. And what a piece of shit. Just lately I saw a woman publish a book. She's older and a director in Montenegro. I saw her promotion and I was like "oh, she's got family, high position, and now a book... damn". And today it turns out that a publishing house that got her book our made a reply to me saying how I need to invest all the money. No wonder literature is dead over here, despite us having one of the best writers in the history (or just amazing). In the end the quality of the book barely even matters cause you have to write it and without thinking just pay for it to get published? What a new low. No wonder Coelho is one the most read authors nowadays. Seriously disgusting. And now I might face a nothing because my parents can't invest into such thing (while selling books wouldn't even make a tiny profit out of it).
So I started getting replies on the e-mails that I sent for publishing my book. I'm getting more and more answers (and info from others) that publishing houses want direct money to cover all of the expenses for publishing. Then, they also take 50% of the profit from which they sell the same book. It seems barely anybody wants to pay on their own, but want author to do so.
It got me thinking. And what a piece of shit. Just lately I saw a woman publish a book. She's older and a director in Montenegro. I saw her promotion and I was like "oh, she's got family, high position, and now a book... damn". And today it turns out that a publishing house that got her book our made a reply to me saying how I need to invest all the money. No wonder literature is dead over here, despite us having one of the best writers in the history (or just amazing). In the end the quality of the book barely even matters cause you have to write it and without thinking just pay for it to get published? What a new low. No wonder Coelho is one the most read authors nowadays. Seriously disgusting. And now I might face a nothing because my parents can't invest into such thing (while selling books wouldn't even make a tiny profit out of it).
Unfortunately, publishing houses that are willing to cover the cost of a print run, and the marketing of a book so it will actually sell, aren't going to take a leap on someone's very first novel, without any agent or history of publication. Unless I'm mistaken and you have submitted and been published before? A print run for a publishing house, and the marketing required for a new author to even have a hope of selling his book, is a significant outlay. What do you and your book bring to the table for them to want to take that risk on you, that's any different than any other unsolicited manuscript received? That's what you need to ask yourself? I mean, right now, you are like someone who walks into an engineering firm asking for a job, and says he taught himself at home to be an engineer... Maybe he did. Maybe he would make a great engineer, but without education and accreditation, no one would ever give him a chance. Of course writing is and entirely different industry, and you could very well be an excellent writer, who has written a novel that could plausibly sell, but the fact you have no history to illustrate this... did you at least major in writing/literature in University? Did you submit to your University's literary review if it had one?
I had quite a few friends in my early to mid 20s go through the MFA program at UBC in creative writing. And it was a constant struggle for the vast majority to get into the industry, even after most of them had published short fiction, creative non-fiction and other stuff in University literary journals and reviews. And they have connections through professors and the like.
As a new author with no name, no history, no agent, submitting a manuscript for a first novel... you have to be aware that the chances of your novel getting published without going through a vanity press and significant expense to you is infinitesimal.
There are two paths I would suggest if you don't want to go the vanity press/self-publishing route.
Option 1) Find excerpts/chapters from your novel that can work as self-contained stories. Submit these as stories to as many respected literary journals/magazines/reviews as you can. These will usually also pay for stories. Stay away from garbage online ones. The only danger here is you have to pay attention to copyright laws and ownership of publishing rights for your work. If your piece gets selected for publishing in one of these journals you have to make them aware then that it is part of a longer novel, so you need to make sure you have the right to publish in the future as part of that novel.
Option 2) Set your novel aside for the time being. Don't worry about rushing to have it published. Instead start writing a ton of short fiction. Every day. For the next year or longer. Pick your best pieces and submit them to everywhere you can that is reputable. Literary journals and magazines. Literary contests. This is how most new writers I have known/know start out. Once you build up a resume of published stories, start sending your novel to publishing houses, with this attached. You will gain much more traction, and be far more likely to be given serious consideration.
Just for an example, here's a listing on CBC of literary journals and magazines in Canada open to submission and what they pay if they select your work for publishing. http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadawrite...es-and-journals-open-to-submissions-1.4242191
Thanks for that great post.
And no, I haven't published anything so far nor I have studied literature. While I totally agree with the big idea of your post, here's what I don't get and I think ruins literature:
1) Given they are well educated, those who work for publishing houses, I think it's their job to realize if a book is good enough to earn profit (for them). If so, I don't see why would they reject a novel to begin with, as it's in their interest.
2) I studied economics and it reminds me of finding a job with that degree here. I mean, I can't get a job if I don't have experience in the field. At some point it does make sense, but it other it makes no sense whatsoever because I'm never going to get experience unless you offer me that job. So far I had a couple of different jobs, working outside of the field, and I gotta say I always stood out despite zero experience in the field. It's a gamble, maybe, but otherwise it's just people fading out because zero chances were given.
3) Let's say I get rejected because, well, I never published anything and I'm just among plenty of those who submitted their manuscript without having their name unknown. At some point, I'd understand why is that. On the other side, though, it feels horrible to see other 200-500 books getting published by the SAME people like myself, also unknown, just because they had the money to pay their printing costs. Like I said, plenty of publishing houses automatically accept your manuscript if you say you're paying the costs. It might be a good book. But it might be shitton of books that are pure garbage and are getting published, ruining the whole point of literature and quality reading, just because they had the money? That's just so wrong. It makes me think how they don't care about the quality of the book at all, nor about their own reputation, since they are ready to publish literally anything.
But I do like the options that you named. It makes sense.
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Been thinking about that for a long time.
I just don't understand how something can be translated well enough so it doesn't ruin the original. Not only the person translating needs to have native English, but IMO he needs to love and be in the business of literature so he captures the essence of the original. And that's very rare and hard work. You need to be in the authors skin to see what he sees. I think if I translated mine with google translate (even if it's excellent) it would be a disaster.
Especially when it comes to poetry. No wonder Goethe learned Serbian to understand some. IMO it's impossible to capture the 100% of it.
And no, I haven't published anything so far nor I have studied literature. While I totally agree with the big idea of your post, here's what I don't get and I think ruins literature:
1) Given they are well educated, those who work for publishing houses, I think it's their job to realize if a book is good enough to earn profit (for them). If so, I don't see why would they reject a novel to begin with, as it's in their interest.
2) I studied economics and it reminds me of finding a job with that degree here. I mean, I can't get a job if I don't have experience in the field. At some point it does make sense, but it other it makes no sense whatsoever because I'm never going to get experience unless you offer me that job. So far I had a couple of different jobs, working outside of the field, and I gotta say I always stood out despite zero experience in the field. It's a gamble, maybe, but otherwise it's just people fading out because zero chances were given.
3) Let's say I get rejected because, well, I never published anything and I'm just among plenty of those who submitted their manuscript without having their name unknown. At some point, I'd understand why is that. On the other side, though, it feels horrible to see other 200-500 books getting published by the SAME people like myself, also unknown, just because they had the money to pay their printing costs. Like I said, plenty of publishing houses automatically accept your manuscript if you say you're paying the costs. It might be a good book. But it might be shitton of books that are pure garbage and are getting published, ruining the whole point of literature and quality reading, just because they had the money? That's just so wrong. It makes me think how they don't care about the quality of the book at all, nor about their own reputation, since they are ready to publish literally anything.
But I do like the options that you named. It makes sense.
- - - Updated - - -
Been thinking about that for a long time.
I just don't understand how something can be translated well enough so it doesn't ruin the original. Not only the person translating needs to have native English, but IMO he needs to love and be in the business of literature so he captures the essence of the original. And that's very rare and hard work. You need to be in the authors skin to see what he sees. I think if I translated mine with google translate (even if it's excellent) it would be a disaster.
Especially when it comes to poetry. No wonder Goethe learned Serbian to understand some. IMO it's impossible to capture the 100% of it.
Been thinking about that for a long time.
I just don't understand how something can be translated well enough so it doesn't ruin the original. Not only the person translating needs to have native English, but IMO he needs to love and be in the business of literature so he captures the essence of the original. And that's very rare and hard work. You need to be in the authors skin to see what he sees. I think if I translated mine with google translate (even if it's excellent) it would be a disaster.
Especially when it comes to poetry. No wonder Goethe learned Serbian to understand some. IMO it's impossible to capture the 100% of it.
I just don't understand how something can be translated well enough so it doesn't ruin the original. Not only the person translating needs to have native English, but IMO he needs to love and be in the business of literature so he captures the essence of the original. And that's very rare and hard work. You need to be in the authors skin to see what he sees. I think if I translated mine with google translate (even if it's excellent) it would be a disaster.
Especially when it comes to poetry. No wonder Goethe learned Serbian to understand some. IMO it's impossible to capture the 100% of it.
Imo it's impossible. You can get close, but it's not quite the same. Different styles, sometimes even different ways of thinking, work in different languages. I guess it's because very often language and culture are intertwined.
What kind of job are you looking for within that field? In my experience, degree in economics is one of the few useful degrees as companies are actually requesting this, I've yet to see a job ad requesting a person with a degree in History, Philosophy, Philology or Political science though.
You can't even get an internship in a bank or something? If you really stand out, it's hard to imagine they wouldn't hire you after a month or three.
You can't even get an internship in a bank or something? If you really stand out, it's hard to imagine they wouldn't hire you after a month or three.
Thanks for that great post.
And no, I haven't published anything so far nor I have studied literature. While I totally agree with the big idea of your post, here's what I don't get and I think ruins literature:
1) Given they are well educated, those who work for publishing houses, I think it's their job to realize if a book is good enough to earn profit (for them). If so, I don't see why would they reject a novel to begin with, as it's in their interest.
2) I studied economics and it reminds me of finding a job with that degree here. I mean, I can't get a job if I don't have experience in the field. At some point it does make sense, but it other it makes no sense whatsoever because I'm never going to get experience unless you offer me that job. So far I had a couple of different jobs, working outside of the field, and I gotta say I always stood out despite zero experience in the field. It's a gamble, maybe, but otherwise it's just people fading out because zero chances were given.
3) Let's say I get rejected because, well, I never published anything and I'm just among plenty of those who submitted their manuscript without having their name unknown. At some point, I'd understand why is that. On the other side, though, it feels horrible to see other 200-500 books getting published by the SAME people like myself, also unknown, just because they had the money to pay their printing costs. Like I said, plenty of publishing houses automatically accept your manuscript if you say you're paying the costs. It might be a good book. But it might be shitton of books that are pure garbage and are getting published, ruining the whole point of literature and quality reading, just because they had the money? That's just so wrong. It makes me think how they don't care about the quality of the book at all, nor about their own reputation, since they are ready to publish literally anything.
But I do like the options that you named. It makes sense.
- - - Updated - - -
Been thinking about that for a long time.
I just don't understand how something can be translated well enough so it doesn't ruin the original. Not only the person translating needs to have native English, but IMO he needs to love and be in the business of literature so he captures the essence of the original. And that's very rare and hard work. You need to be in the authors skin to see what he sees. I think if I translated mine with google translate (even if it's excellent) it would be a disaster.
Especially when it comes to poetry. No wonder Goethe learned Serbian to understand some. IMO it's impossible to capture the 100% of it.
And no, I haven't published anything so far nor I have studied literature. While I totally agree with the big idea of your post, here's what I don't get and I think ruins literature:
1) Given they are well educated, those who work for publishing houses, I think it's their job to realize if a book is good enough to earn profit (for them). If so, I don't see why would they reject a novel to begin with, as it's in their interest.
2) I studied economics and it reminds me of finding a job with that degree here. I mean, I can't get a job if I don't have experience in the field. At some point it does make sense, but it other it makes no sense whatsoever because I'm never going to get experience unless you offer me that job. So far I had a couple of different jobs, working outside of the field, and I gotta say I always stood out despite zero experience in the field. It's a gamble, maybe, but otherwise it's just people fading out because zero chances were given.
3) Let's say I get rejected because, well, I never published anything and I'm just among plenty of those who submitted their manuscript without having their name unknown. At some point, I'd understand why is that. On the other side, though, it feels horrible to see other 200-500 books getting published by the SAME people like myself, also unknown, just because they had the money to pay their printing costs. Like I said, plenty of publishing houses automatically accept your manuscript if you say you're paying the costs. It might be a good book. But it might be shitton of books that are pure garbage and are getting published, ruining the whole point of literature and quality reading, just because they had the money? That's just so wrong. It makes me think how they don't care about the quality of the book at all, nor about their own reputation, since they are ready to publish literally anything.
But I do like the options that you named. It makes sense.
- - - Updated - - -
Been thinking about that for a long time.
I just don't understand how something can be translated well enough so it doesn't ruin the original. Not only the person translating needs to have native English, but IMO he needs to love and be in the business of literature so he captures the essence of the original. And that's very rare and hard work. You need to be in the authors skin to see what he sees. I think if I translated mine with google translate (even if it's excellent) it would be a disaster.
Especially when it comes to poetry. No wonder Goethe learned Serbian to understand some. IMO it's impossible to capture the 100% of it.
In the sort of places that work as a vanity press, or in conjunction with a vanity press, it's highly unlikely they even read your manuscript, and if they do, it's a page or two to make a decision on whether it's worth reading more. They receive a ridiculous number of unsolicited manuscripts, the vast vast majority utter dross, and pretty much everyone is only offered the vanity press option.
The problem is one of sheer volume. Literacy rates are at their highest ever. Which means more people read (though this is sadly beginning a downturn with the digital age), but also that more people write. The romanticism of becoming a writer exists for a lot of people. So the number of people writing rubbish and wanting to become published writers is kind of silly. There isn't a market for such rubbish. There isn't a market for their books even if they were half-decent writers. So vanity presses exist purely as profit machines, and to allow people to get that brief sense of euphoria at having their writing "published" and then they can sell/give their book to family and friends, and usually fail to sell another copy.
It sounds like you are holding on to romantic notions of a 19th century style book industry, with publishing houses taking chances on unknown writers, caring about reputation, and the good of literature, and so on. Unfortunately the only companies who care about such things today are those who publish already well-respected authors. The rest, they just care about profit.
I have trouble letting go of those same notions. It's a little soul-crushing to try to be pragmatic and cynical about literature and art.
@Osman
