/lit/ - Literature

>>10611245
I think part of the difference between then and now, is that back then more people believed in the fantastical. In an Enlightened world a story like LotR will naturally be less affecting.

>>10188135
>How many of you have actually gotten your work published?

I've gotten some short stories published. A few for pay. I feel like there's a few other published authors here too, although no one would ever admit that publicly. Political climate is too hostile atm.

> How many of you are like me and just keep saving random bullshit on your computer in the hopes that "one day" you'll polish them and maybe show a friend?

You might as well start submitting. Not that you'll get feedback with your rejections, per say, but you'll start to write with more purpose.

> What's the process of getting your work published like?

For short stories you read their guidelines, follow them with respect to editing your story, and then submit it through a web portal like submittable. Then you wait a few weeks (or months) and find out if they take it or not. If they take it they email you a contract and potentially request a few edits. Then a few months later it appears in print.

For novels, I think the idea is you're supposed to first submit to agents. You write a query letter and probably only attach the first 5 pages to see if they like your style. If they do, they request more. If they like the whole thing they offer representation. At that point I have no idea what happens really because I've never been offered representation.

> How much money can you reasonably expect to make off say, a novel?

Not sure. Going rate for a "professional" sci-fi short story market is $0.08 US a word, though.

>>9916475
yeah, wikipedia is great. to me it represents what the internet should always have been: a crowdsourced tool for learning. i know it's not always perfect, but wow is it better than social media or any of the other "new era" websites. publicly editable information on every topic imaginable is exactly what i want.

i sincerely wish that the internet was just 4chan and wikipedia.

>>9390606
of course i did but i wanted to pick a career that was economically viable but still let me """follow my dream""". i picked a safe fucking option instead of having the balls to live cheaply for a few years and make a video game of my own. now the indie game bubble has burst and there isn't a point financially unless i have massive connections with social media / journalists. also, i guess i didnt realize that the aaa game industry in general doesn't legally permit you to release entertainment software while you work for them. its a conflict of interest.

i knew how bad it would be going into the job but kind of blinded myself to what that meant in a day-to-day sort of view.

that said, i'm starting to wean myself off of my materialism (which was the cause of all this pain in some sense). i'm gaining progress on paying off my college debts. maybe in another 5 years or so i can quit and have a little free time before my next job.