/lit/ - Literature

Probably not. /lit/ is pretty close though

>>18441770
>Is there anything more based than a self-published author conference?

You got the one with the amputee guy who writes books about a child amputee super hero? I remember he had a qt3.14 human female with him.

>>18441794

>>18441770
you can call them depressing if you want but they have more passion than a majority of this board

>>18441833
true

>>18441807
He gets to smash her guts just for writing children's books. ffs.

This really makes me want to cry. Why would you post these anon. This is the human condition. This is simulacra speeding past the desires of the false ideation of individualism. This is the modern man failing to drop the shackles of technocapital and ideology. I'm actually starting to cry a little. Fuck you OP.

>>18441858
i bet she does anything he wants in bed... no matter what.

>>18441770
I remember somebody on here bought that book and they full of weird autistic anime shit.

>>18441833
This, skin in the game gets my respect

The average piece of junk is more meaningful that the criticism designating it so

>>18441919
STOP DUBS GOD. PLEASE STOP. THESE PEOPLE THINK THEY ARE CREATIVE GENIUSES AND PERPETUATE THE UNDERBELLY OF DUPLICITOUS PRACTICES BY THIRD PARTY INDUSTRIES. I SEE THESE DYKES AND I WEEP FOR THEM.

>>18441870
fucking lost it

>>18441927
They’re just selling their wares, dude. They don’t think they’re genius. Stifle.

>>18442767
Anyone that sells what amounts to a culmination of their thoughts in exchange for currency think they are creative geniuses. It is simply the vicar of their will manifest upon the world if they have the audacity to believe others would pay money to read something.

>>18442702
The best one so far, the title and cover don't make me cringe.

How much money can they possible be making by doing these events? Is it not worth the cost of dignity to just stay home and not smile while sitting at a folding table with a printed paper sign of your name?

>>18442767
plz go back

>tfw self published author that would attend one of these events to promote myself
>tfw anon would make fun of me for trying my best

>>18442972
Anon, I believe in you. I'm totally not crying right now. Gambatte, anon. I love u.

>>18442972

Keep at it slugger

>>18442792
Cancel your internet and draw the curtains, spaz.

>>18442910
To...?

>>18442991
>>18442995
Ty friends. Even if we all don't make it, we'll try our best.

>>18442972
OP probably hasn't even published a short story so don't feel bad.

>>18441807
These pictures get posted every once in a while. I remember someone deep dived this guy in particular. Guy is a retired police officer and he lost his leg in the line of duty or something. Apparently Superior Sam is a children's book about a kid who is missing a leg who becomes a super hero.

>>18441770
>a self-published author conference
Who's the target audience that will attend?
>self-published authors
Who do they think will buy there works?
>....

Tip for you retarded /lit/ majors:

>>18441770
This guy should have his table set up at some BLM confidence or something

>>18441772
She should have a table at a flat earth convention

>>18441807
Schools have book fairs all the time.

>>18441850
>>18441919
Go sell at any one of the comicon clones

>>18442702
... no comment.

The vendor area should be full of people trying to sell meme writing equipment, publishers looking to sign up people, translator services trying to scam these people, etc.

This whole conference seems like a scam.

>>18441807
>>18443067
Was gonna say that looks pretty wholesome. OP is just a loser.

>>18443095
>This whole conference seems like a scam.
yeah i was gonna say i bet they spent more to get a table than they made in selling books

>>18441770
On the last thread this was posted, someone from /lit/ bought Brandon's book and posted the first chapter. It was about a white haired anime assassin girl with a katana saving the city like Batman

test

op is a hater, there was some urban lit guy who sold like 50,000 copies out of his trunk by going to beauty parlors in every black neighborhood pitching his books to the ladies there

>>18443148
he should try to promote himself to anime clubs then. according to google there are 942 community colleges in the united states, if this guy has hustle and believes in his product, he needs to get in touch with the anime club in every single one and try to set up an event or promo.

These authors don't even seem to have confidence. It something different. Maybe it's more of a nonchalance toward their goals. I'm in awe of it.
I can't talk to a girl I like without freezing, submit a poem, or even speak meaningfully with people I know while these people take the prospect of failure and use it like a sled to careen down a mountain.
It lacks awareness, maybe even sensitivity, but there is something beautiful in it. It makes me sad. Not for them, but for me.

Not like the alternative is any better. You have a higher chance finding classics here than any mainstream published house.

>>18441770
>Is there anything more depressing than a self-published author conference?
A pseud from 4chan.

>>18443236
I got really drunk one evening and submitted some shitty free verse I wrote to my college's publication and got rejected. I haven't been the same since.

>>18441770
this is really an asshole thread. nothing new under the sun i guess.

>>18443595
post it here

>>18443595
Based drunken free verse Chad.

>>18442972
Why not devote yourself to something that isn't pathetic and retarded instead?

>>18443603
>>18443627
already two shots of vodka deep tonight, why not. i'll post two.

I wrote this one, "Bomb Shelters for Temples" after watching Grave of the Fireflies.
--------------------------------------------------
Life ends, but still continues,
Like a bright blue sky above a city engulfed in flame,
Or like black ashes in a fruit-drop box,
Or prideful lions on metro station floors.

And so with that, the days have passed,
Where we must use bomb shelters for temples.
But one always finds one’s struggle again,

Just as one will find himself again praying
Under mounds of dirt

O Savage Beasts, who tear across the sky in coffins of steel,
And use the wicked force of gravity
To deliver unto earth,
Your terrible canisters of napalm
To sunder, split, and gouge the land,
And deliver hell to those guilty of complacency!

Then look back as you fly westward,
And stare at your handiwork,
To see the smoke and ash float along with the wind,
And cover the countryside,
Like waves of the ocean,
Or like suffering, or pain.

And the smoke will clear, and the skies will be blue.
Yet music will return, and wooden frames raised once again.
But the dead forever slumber, amongst worms.

Scarred skin and a long sleep:
The human cost of war

The tendency to conflict,
What sin!
It is here that we have all bitten the apple,
And not one is innocent.

A black seed sleeps in every heart,
No matter how youthful or wise.

So then, look to the present,
Like ghosts who overlook their graves,
And feel the qualm that resonates,
In the blackness of your soul.
------------------------------------------------

sticking with the war theme, this one, "MiG Alley" is about... well, MiG Alley in Korea.

------------------------------------------------
Engines roar with the flames of Hephaestus
And the sky glistens with sparks from Vulcan’s hammer
Whilst Ares watches his dogs slip far above the clouds
All those agents of Athena cry havoc, and spit fire

Diesel, flame, gouts of .50 caliber pain
Rip, scream, and tear across the wind
And through the fuselage
And through the chest
And through your lungs

But sighs of relief are had
As souls are extinguished
But also shouts of fear
As the super fortresses fall

The cold atmosphere
Feels so, so hot
In brief moments
Of a brutal glory

And these
Dueling Devils
All come
To meet their fate

Far Above
The closed gates
Of heaven
------------------------------------------------
I don't remember other submissions, although some of them were heartfelt but a little edgy.

(criticism, constructive or otherwise, is welcome)

>>18441858
Anon, that's his sister

>>18443658
Kina cool, still better than 90% of the poetry that ends up at our writer's club.

>>18441861
Calm down. Pathos and philosophical verbiage pair poorly. You've got to decide whether you want existential dread or sympathy from the audience. By making it personal and broadly technical simultaneously, the existentialist description fails to touch the audience and becomes a more elaborate way to pity you.

>>18441807
milkies

>>18443698
How, then, do I correctly articulate the sorrows I feel? What language do I use to convey it?

>>18443729
literature, retard. plenty of literature does this without being pretentious. ever read of mice and men?

>>18443741
No, I got turned off steinbeck in highschool, but I really should give him another shot. Thanks for the rec anon.

>>18443729
>What language do I use to convey it?
The workman language and the pseud.

>>18443658
Holy shit that’s supergay

>>18443775
I thought it was pretty good anon, better than most of the drivel I've seen published

>>18443729
It all begins with your goal. So many people use writing as a means to express themselves, and forget that it exists primarily in relation to others.
Ask yourself- Are others moved by dense terminology which decries the individual? When first convinced that individualism is a beautiful lie, was it an abstract description that conveyed it to you?
You're so full of pain over it, I'm willing to be it was something descriptive. "Heart wrenching" is a great phrase. Do you know why? Because it describes emotion as a visualized action. Everybody knows what "heart wrenching pain" because we've all felt the strenuous tug for ourselves.
What you want to do is to tell everybody how heartbreaking it feels to know heroism and self-sufficiency is a lie by describing what you see in these pictures more clearly.
Are they small men and women, sitting among laughable achievements they mean to call their life's work? Children building sand castles in a naïve attempt to mimic the ancient giants they grew up inside of? Does the futility of self-achievement make you feel empty, or doomed, demeaned or maybe castrated in comparison to the towering success of those who feed their sweat to the machine?
It's not on me to choose the words. It's on you. I'm just saying you should choose more emotional ones to convey your feelings.

>>18443658
Its good, anon, I liked it. Much better than the crap they write now days.

>>18443808
Your entire spiel was full of cliches. Heart-wrenching is a cliche. Using a sandcastle metaphor to describe minor/ephemeral art is a cliche. All that stuff about futility, doom, castration etc... is just plain melodramatic and cliched. And your last statement is what will breed more soap opera writers, not great writers. Kinda stupid you're trying to pose as a giver of great advice really.

>>18443888
Cliches are cliches because they are effective. Something isn't melodramatic simply because it uses a word like 'doom' or castration', it's melodramatic because the severity of the situation is being overplayed by the language use. One might claim viewing self-published author tables as proof that individualism is a lie is a melodramatic concept, but you can't just claim the word "doom" is melodramatic in and of itself.
He was trying to express how sad he was. My advice was to avoid overly technical language when making a pathos statement, and instead choose more emotionally grabbing terms.
My advice is sound, whether you like it or not.

>>18443658
Ignore all the other anons. This is really bad. The combination of war and classicism is terribly trite and already done with more skill by actual war poets or by confessional poets who use war imagery like Plath. The slight interesting images are killed by blatant cliches (e.g. bright blue sky above a city engulfed in flame- combining two oxymoronic cliches does not alleviate the triteness of both). The ideas are trite: life still continuing, struggling again, all that Slaughter House Five shit. Coffins of steel to describe airplanes. Savage beasts (is not the idea of savagery already inherent in the word?); the general fact that your adjectives are just redundantly recapitulating things that should be obvious (terrible canisters of napalm). Dead corpses amongst worms. Human cost of war. Rather than spinning some trite general statement why not try to imagine a scene like Wilfred Owen's Dulce Decorum Est? Why write this type of poem that has been written thousands of times before?

>>18443937
Doom is not cliched by itself. Doom is cliched when its strung with 5 other words conveying the same thing capped off with "the towering success of those who feed their sweat to the machine". And quite frankly doom is inherently melodramatic if you aren't writing gothic fiction or making a metal album.

>>18443939
I appreciate the input, actually. Thanks.

>>18443965
Five other words that would each perhaps be palatable examples to the commenter asking which words he should use to describe his feelings?
I don't really even know how to apply the concept of 'melodrama' to a list of descriptions.

>>18443937
Also cliches aren't cliches because they're effective. Cliches are cliches because they're the easiest connection one can think of to make with a certain sentiment, like feeling stabbed in your heart when you experience a breakup. Cliches are effective only to the writer preventing them from having to think too deeply about the writing, but they cause the reader's eyes to glaze over because they know they're obviously being emotionally manipulated. Of course they are more natural in ordinary speech between ordinary people, but should be avoided in rhetoric, even about sadness.

>>18443993
Cliches aren't defined by their accessibility, no. Knights saving princesses is a cliche, but it isn't cliche because that's such a naturally understandable course of events. It's a cliche because it's been done so many times, the original effect of the dynamic is lost due to the reader comparing it against all of the other times they've read it.
Ask a person whose never read any of those cliche descriptions to read them for the first time, and they will be utterly moved. It's only once they start seeing them everywhere that their eyes start to glaze over.

>>18443990
If a friend asks you how you're feeling that your dog died and you say: I feel empty, miserable, the futility of life flashes before me, doom is in my heart, the entire world is a black black pit, my hands are shaking, tears falling from my eyes like rain, a choking, sinking, drowning, tortured feeling has knotted itself in me like a great malevolent beast, and I am pierced, penetrated, by arrows, arrows of suffering and relentless torment- that is simply melodramatic. Five of these in succession is also quite melodramatic.

>>18444014
Yes. I wouldn't recommend using five descriptive statements simultaneously to express how you feel either.

>>18444009
Something being done many times is by the very fact that it's accessible. Heart pain is a natural and accessible metaphor for any human being to talk about sorrow.

And yeah of course if a person knows nothing much about writing they'll be moved by a Hallmark card. What's your point? Do you want more people to write like hallmark cards?

>>18443662
i bet she does anything he wants in bed... no matter what.

>>18444029
Something being done many times is because it's effective. Its accessibility might constitute part of the reason why it's effective, but this is not always the case.
Your definition of 'cliche' isn't related at all to familiarity, which is exactly its problem. It is familiarity, not the ease-of-association, that makes cliches bad. And they aren't bad because they're 'cheap' or 'lazy' or any of the other self-centered reasons authors come up with for why they're bad.
They're bad for one reason only.
They don't produce the intended effect on the audience anymore. And if you do still get the intended effect, then the cliche wasn't bad.

>>18442792
>Anyone that sells what amounts to a culmination of their thoughts in exchange for currency think they are creative geniuses
You're reaching a bit there lmao.

>>18444055
Ease of association and familiarity aren't mutually opposed. Certain metaphors like those involving body parts or cosmic bodies are consistent across many cultures simply because they are natural to our state of being, which later makes them familiar.

If you're trying to make your family members weep at a funeral you can lard the speech with all the cliches you want and they'll probably cry. It's still cheap and lazy, writing-wise, even though it gets the job done. And while one can hit the emotions, it's less likely that anyone will even remember the specifics of what you said in that occasion. Of course if that's not your intent, to say anything memorable, then use all the cliches you want. But as writing advice it is still trite and silly.

Mom, dad, stop fighting. I’m already sad enough as it is.

>>18441770
two self-published author conferences

>>18444111
I laughed. I thank God in Heaven that my parents have never used the word "simulacra" in a sentence in their lives.

These photos are a bit underwhelming but apart from that, these people are impressive. I'm afraid of creating and putting it out there. Affraid of judgement. Consooming is easier and I'm prey.

>>18442792
I think you went too far. These people don't look like geniuses and I know they know it too. Also they're fat.

>>18442792
>the vicar of their will
ESL here, I have never heard this turn of phrase before? What mean?

>>18443236
I used to feel like that and my creative output was close to zero while I spent a lot of mental energy and time 'theorizing' about art.. 'why art?...hmmm', and endlessly qualifying and attacking other styles and approaches - all the while never actually putting any kind of real work into the disciplines I was interested in. I knew I was better than (self-published author/soundcloud rapper/local painter), it was self-evident. But I got older and more clearly defined by my lack of achievements and now my opinion has changed.

>>18443067
And he gets $3159 a month untaxed from SSDI and probably more from his copper disability pension. He gets probably $6000 a month untaxed just to piss around and do nothing. That's why he looks so happy. Free healthcare too. Losing his leg was the best thing that could have happened to him.

>>18444205
Just because you realized you were crap doesn't mean they aren't crap.

>>18441770
He looks so happy. I hope he never loses his passion and becomes a jaded ass like OP

>>18444266
He wrote and finish his book. How many pseuds can say the same?

>>18444266
probably a basket case...on disability like the other guy with his leg blown off. lack of success doesn't matter if you got the neetbux.

>>18441770
>>18441772
>>18441807
>>18441850
>>18441919
>>18442702
Not going to lie, I admire these people, they wanted to write a book and actually did it. Shame it can't be said about the pseuds on 4chan.

>>18442972
Dude you would still be much better than anon who never wrote anything, much less try to get it published. Its so easy to put some down, much harder to do even a little bit of work yourself.

>>18444230
I didn't say I was crap, I'm a juggernaut frontiersman of western aesthetics

>>18441770
Why does this guy look like Dre Dennis

>>18444281

>>18444670
Post your juggernaut frontiersman writing.

>>18444685
nice try, remember what happened to Dimebag Daryl?

>>18443004
to the noose you've never had the stomach to hang yourself with

>>18443236
They’re not as self-conscious as you and me. These people tend to lack the introspection needed to improve, but on the flip side they’re not afraid to publish their work

>>18441770
You know else was self published? Martin Luther's 95 Theses. Still think self publishing isn't badass?

I'm a self-published author in the exact same boat as these sad-sacks. I'd probably consider going to something like this if it wasn't too far away from my home. I'd be a little apprehensive though after I went to a "writers group" in my town and it was just a cramped room with 6 or 7 boomers in it and they all wrote crime.

>>18444121
lol

>>18443014
but trying your best is not good enough
you have to KNOW what you want and then try your best

>>18441770
>>18441772
>>18441807
>>18441850
>>18441919
>>18442702

I actually admire and unironically respect all of these people. They set for themselves a goal to write a book, stuck with it and now are socializing with like-minded individuals.

>>18443658
>>18444670
The Virgin Juggernaut versus The Chad Vodka Poet

The Chad Vodka Poet
>posts his work
>writes about what interests him
>boomer cold war aviation enthusiast combined with doomer alcohol reliance
> A Douglas A1J Skyraider in an age of Mig-17s
>his soul has the size and service ceiling of a Boeing B-52F

The Virgin Juggernaut
>doesn't post his work
>turns phrases but only shitposts
>a flightless bird in an era of spaceflight
>has a tiny, diatomic soul

>>18444884
this, but only the white ones

>>18445864
I'll second that.

>>18443939
you are trite mate

>>18444199
>A vicar (/ˈvJkər/; Latin: vicarius) is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, vicar is cognate with the English prefix "vice", similarly meaning "deputy". The title appears in a number of Christian ecclesiastical contexts, but also as an administrative title, or title modifier, in the Roman Empire. In addition, in the Holy Roman Empire a local representative of the emperor, perhaps an archduke, might be styled "vicar".
>Will, generally, is the faculty of the mind that selects, at the moment of decision, a desire among the various desires present; it itself does not refer to any particular desire, but rather to the mechanism responsible for choosing from among one's desires.

The phrase implies that something automatic is making decisions for these individuals for them instead of their own will and that they do not themselves have control or autonomy.

Aka NPCs in 1337 speak.

>>18444678
kek

>>18444884
Can the same be said with 4chan /lit/?

>>18441807
>Superior Sam
>SS
>"Superior"

I like where this is going desu.

>>18444884
The totality of my shitposts on 4chan is lather is a few million words. I've posted more here than they will write their entire lives. I'd estimate I solved 20k captchas or more.

>>18443939
Post body

>>18441770
Uh-huh, /lit/.
I mean, these people may suck, but they're still trying. It's more than anyone here.

>>18443658
Pretty nice

>>18442972
you´re a cute lil´frog tho

>>18441850
the red "AUTHOR" top is the icing on the cake

>>18441770
>>18441772
>>18441807
>>18441850
>>18441919
>>18442702
They all finished their novels and published them, unlike OP or the lazy /lit/ loser reading this post.

>>18441770
>ctrl + f
>buck
>Phrase not found

I'm impressed /lit/

>>18444859
You should go for it anon.

Sure, maybe it’ll suck, maybe it’ll be cringe, super awkward, etc…

But maybe not. Maybe it’ll be fun.
Maybe you’ll meet some people and expand the circle of people who care about your work by a handful.
Maybe it’ll be something you look forward too every year?

Who knows?

As other anons have said, actually completing a work is something in of itself to feel pride in. I’m not saying be delusional in it, but be proud for what it is.
I can confidently say that without ever reading one word you’ve written.

All I’m saying is-
Don’t let 20 years go by and have future regrets you didn’t at least give it a try once or twice.

Sometimes the best things in life come from stepping outside your comfort zone.

In the long run, I very much doubt you’ll regret it if you give it a shot, but you might if you never do.

>>18443095
Cope seethe and dilate tranny
Cope that you will never write and publish a book, and that you will never be a woman

>>18448812
What a cute girl

>>18443067
what a chad

>>18442972
Embrace cringe

These pictures gave me the same kind of feeling that finding a really enthusiastic Youtube channel with like 200 followers that hasn't uploaded in years does. The fading into obscurity, the death of dreams, the cold reality that some people just don't have what It Takes, it breaks my heart.

>>18447333
poast physique

>>18449431
Memetic selection is much harsher than genetic selection; there is far less headspace for memes than there is spacespace for genes.

>>18444725
I’ve never had the urge, degenerate.

>>18443239
I thought we believed in gatekeeping here. You don't deserve editors

>>18441770
Nothing depressing, quite the opposite

>>18443658
probably have better luck on the /poetry/ general
Also, In This Corner of the World 2016 is another really nice animated WW2 rural Japan movie. Heartfelt and a little less mean spirited than Fireflies.

>>18441807
i hope to find a girl who mires me like that one day.

>>18441770
Yes, most things.

>>18441807
Chick is semicute. Guy looks like retarded Stephen Crowder.

>>18444310
t. failed self-published depressed author

For some reason, so many people get stuck in this "middle school" descriptive narrative style and can't get out of it.

>>18451410
>"A man and a woman..."
it's not doing a good job at being descriptive

>>18443658
I like it a lot anon : )

>>18451410
This is the most boring prose

>>18441807
Guarantee that this guy is a pedophile.

>>18443939
this nigger knows their shit.

>>18441770
You

>>18441770
They actually wrote a book Anon
They made an effort and did something
Shame we can't say the same for (You)

>>18441807
How is he an amputee he has both hands? Or is one fake?

>>18441770
>Is there anything more depressing than a self-published author conference?

An unpublished author's complete works ending up on the skip outside his house after he dies alone and no one ever reads anything he spent countless hours on.

>>18451410
It reads like someone who’s sort of knows how to write but hasn’t read enough to figure out how lace the descriptions and narrative together. I’m certain it’s one of those cases where he was told his writing was good and that he should try to pursue it.

>>18443658
you are literally retarded
you are so distracted with trying to get attention that it you've bypassed all potential for growth

you are dead, make it official

>>18453265
He lost a leg.

I don't read 'books about writing's and I never will. Now tell me: How do I outline a novel?

>>18453607
How?

>>18454290
Fighting for Israel

>>18447323
Gosh, you should publish a memoir of your best funposts, sounds like your hyperliteracy in this very specific sub-sub-culture might lead to a fruitful of interesting writings.

most depressing post here in some 5 minutes

>>18441770
this is the most soul-crushing shit I've ever seen on this board

Why do we find it depressing? Is it because we can't imagine ourselves devoting that kind of energy to a book that has 99% chance of not leading anywhere, even if it's actually good/okay?

Most of us are in our 20s, so maybe we still don't feel secure enough with ourselves, and we feel like every egg we put in a basket has to count down the line.

Meanwhile someone like >>18441772 may very well be a housewife with an established life already, for whom this shit is a hobby.

>>18442972
Lol who gives a fuck what /lit/ thinks

>>18445864
the only non obese white ones*

>>18445864
no

>>18445864
because you're being shown up by nonwhites?

>>18441861
Don’t be a faggot. Op is mean(to be fair these nerds are hilarious to look at so maybe he just has a good sense of humor) but being a limp dick like you is even worse.

>>18441770
Please don’t post broken bucks on this board, jannies clean this nigger trash up now. I’ll double your salary if you do it post haste.

>>18454394
It's depressing because it shows a fundamental lack of awareness of the literary world. I've never been to one of these self-publishing conventions, but I have worked at a literary magazine, and the problem is we have a surplus of authors and a lack of readers. I can't imagine actual readers going to these things. It's just people looking to sell their book. What do you want to bet the other authors at these conventions bought someone else's book? I bet it's close to zero.
>>18451410
It's because they don't read. Non-readers all write the same way. They use the same tired expressions, the same vocabulary, the same tone.

>>18443067
yeah, and it seems like the cover art is actually pretty good and he has a positive message. This is something I would buy to just donate to schools. Not like these other weirdo's fantasy fiction.

>>18453256
if there's one thing Nanowrimo has taught me it's that every faggot on the internet has written a novel. And with self publishing, I'd guess more than half of those novels are being printed on demand. Even if you do it all when you're 12 years old, you've got a line of other 12 year olds who have self published. It's a non-accomplishment at this point.

>>18441927
Dont agree with butters always, but kinda >>18442767
dude.

>>18444843
Yes. Luther was just as cringe as these guys. In fact more. He was a vain autsit with power and he royally fucked the world.

>>18455653
>>18455620
So how do you achieve "proper" success?
Let's put Stephen King at as 1. So "proper" success would be something like 0.01King.

>>18455716
sell 10k copies of your book. If you're a first time author and you manage that, your publisher will be begging you to write a sequel.

>>18442972
I wouldn’t. Keep trying your best. You already achieved more than those people you think would put you down, who are miserable losers

>>18455729
Is 10k copies a big number? Doesn't seem that unachievable considering publisher have global reach. Millions of potential buyers.

>>18442972
I feel you, brother. Had a book deal before COVID hit; had to change all my plans and put my books out myself. Very proud of them, but the series will always be relegated to this tier just because of unfortunate circumstances. Stick with it, anon.

>>18455811
Why didn’t you wait until covid blew over to publish them?

>>18455820
This was right at the beginning. We had no idea how long it was going to take to get the books picked up again, and due to the uniqueness/gimmicky nature of the concept, there was a real risk in waiting. I personally know several authors who had to wait more than four years to see their accepted books hit shelves. One had to wait eleven because she kept getting passed around from publisher to publisher during acquisitions and all that. I still wonder what my books would have looked like had I waited, but I've just resolved to go back to the traditional route with my future works. Gotta keep moving forward.

>>18453265
based retard

>>18443808
>>18443888
Writing to conform to others is pseud tier. Good art should stand by itself and not on the back of trite nomenclature to convey worn ideas. ngmi desu

>>18455653
based

something something culture industry, something something the desire to be creative is more profitable than actually making something of worth, something something these fucking tools have day jobs in service to their little phantasy of changing the world through literal ink on paper in the 22nd Century

lol imagine

>>18456007
If only they resigned themselves to being useless cynics like you.

>>18456007
>thinking people who write genre fic are out to change the world
it's another mopey marxist projects depression post

>>18455810
you would think that. But like I said the market is over-saturated. Too many authors. Not enough readers. Publishers try to sell books with phony reviews from big names and phony awards like the Hugos, and that certainly gets the name out there, but it doesn't get the books off the shelves. The whole industry is incestuous. Publishers and authors fellating each other over how their book is "the next big thing," heaping praise and awards on themselves, and then struggling to get more than 3,000 sales. Because it's crap. Modern literature is all crap.

>>18456045
finally someone gets it

>>18441770
nothing depressing about chasing your dreams

>>18441784
only right answer

>>18456666
quads of simple truth

>>18456666
there is absolutely something depressing about chasing your dreams after certain facts become obvious.

30+ year old writer who actually threw money at self-pubbing physical copies under the dream that they'd take the self-publication industry by storm with their generic "Finding Love" or "How to Adulting" word-vomit?

Yeah, ok, it shows effort. You know what else does? Carrying wet bags of salt from one end of a field to the next. Does effort = success or valuable novelty? No.

Artistic hope does primarily ONE thing in American society: endorse pathetic dream-delusion consumption. It tortures and it drains. The percentage of people who can actually do shit on their own, in ANY artistic endeavor, is even smaller than the people that can do shit with a publication/record/gallery label.

>>18456812
You're not Cioran.

>>18456818
if you say that enough i'll start crying

>>18456812
interesting

>>18441770
"“Be shy in accepting! Distinguish by accepting!”—thus do I advise those who have naught to bestow.
I, however, am a bestower: willingly do I bestow as friend to friends. Strangers, however, and the poor, may pluck for themselves the fruit from my tree: thus doth it cause less shame.
Beggars, however, one should entirely do away with! Verily, it annoyeth one to give unto them, and it annoyeth one not to give unto them."

Nietzsche, "Thus spoke Zarathustra"

>>18456843
Your opinions would matter more if you had some demonstrable expertise in publishing. Do you? To hear non-authors, non-writers bemoan publishing is like listening to blowhards at the art gallery shit-talk paintings they couldn't even conceptualize creating themselves. As much of a gargantuan faggot as Cioran was, at least the man was a world-class stylist. But here you are.

>>18456924
i do have experience publishing (self and non-self pub, though I draw a line at absolute beggary (see: >>18456866)

2) don't talk about my papa that way

3) thank you for complimenting papa that way

>>18451410
>tall man with dark skin
>short woman with blonde hair
mmmm

>>18456940
Beggary has nothing to do with this. And do feel free to share some of your work, anon.

You'd do well to distance yourself from that shriveled old root. The only thing worse than abject pessimism is borrowed pessimism.

>>18457036
>And do feel free to share some of your work, anon.
Jamarcus and Moesha took turns practicing with their new made-in-Africa crossbows in Van Hassain’s backyard. After two hours, the two were reasonably quick at reloading bolts and hitting the target, and the doctor ended the session. The two put away their weapons, and Van Hassain called the two to him.

“Vampires are strong, but not invincible,” explained Van Hassain. “They are weakened by sunlight, garlic flowers, and …”

He opened a small, dark wooden box.

“… and blood diamonds,” he finished.

Inside the box was a single bolt with a transparent gemstone tip.

“The steel bolts that you’ve been using will hurt the count slightly, but only this blood diamond bolt will stun him long enough to for me to get close to him and strike him with my onyx stake.”
Moesha took the box and examined the sparkling bolt.

“And we only have one?”

“Alas, yes,” answered Van Hassain. “It is very precious. Many South Africans died for this to be made. As I will be the melee fighter, you two should decide amongst yourselves who should be the one to carry the diamond bolt.”

Mrs. Harker then gently closed the box and handed it to her husband.

“Here. You keep it,” she said, leaning in close to Jamarcus. “I know that you’ll use it when the time is right.”

>>18456973
whatever does it mean?

>>18457045
>He's a genre fiction writer

>>18451410
I recognize this book. It's the book that this guy wrote
>>18441770

https://www.amazon.com/Diamond-League-Brandon-Jones-ebook/dp/B01MYY7NRD/

I have published before but I have also developed marketing skills and to self publish and make it if I want
learn marketing you fags

>>18457036
Cioran is excellent, read Tears of Saints or History and Utopia. He goes beyond Trouble with Being Born why does no one read past that

>>18457075
I already did, its the pseuds who refuse to learn it.

>>18441770
>NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO YOU CANT JUST PUBLISH YOUR OWN MATERIAL YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH A PUBLISHING HOUSE!!!!!!!

>>18443067
>wake up
>immediately socked in the mouth by feels
dammit, anon.

>>18442702
What's wrong with her neck? Looks like a Shaft head-tilt straight out of Bakemonogatari.

>>18457076
I quite literally have every work of his that's been translated into English. Again, he's a master stylist -- truly world-class. But the man is spiritual poison unless treated as a cute, moody little lepper.

>>18457045
Well, at least that other guy thinks I'm a genre writer

>>18457109
obesity

>>18443067
>These pictures get posted every once in a while. I remember someone deep dived this guy in particular. Guy is a retired police officer and he lost his leg in the line of duty or something. Apparently Superior Sam is a children's book about a kid who is missing a leg who becomes a super hero.
He's actually based then. Cool.

>>18447313
>>Superior Sam
>>SS
>>"Superior"
>I like where this is going desu
Based Nazi Children Book

>>18451410
what's wrong with this?
asking for a friend....

>>18458184
Usually, I don't judge a book by the first paragraph or page, but look at it! Is that how you tell a story to anyone or your diary? Does it sound good to you? Does it provoke pictures in your head? The prose feels ruined by bad re-writing. The descriptions don't even touch essentials of a person, so they are imagined like plastic mannequins. It's not the worst I've read, but it's a dime a dozen around creative writing classes.

>>18443939
This is actually a really good critique. Exactly how I felt.
>>18443967
Anon, you do have talent. Have you ever been to war? Why did you write this?

>>18443095
holy faggola!!!!

>>18458184
ngmi

>>18449541
Must be nice to be a woman.

>>18458184
>Evening began to fall and with it a light rain
This is already kind of clunky. If he put a period here it would feel like it ended abruptly. Personally I'm not a big fan of modifers like "began" because they weaken the impact of what's going on. Is it evening? No. It's just beginning to be evening. Why not just say it's evening?
>the lights of Minersoa lit up the night.
As opposed to those lights that do not light up the night?
>Cars crowded... people...
Minerosa has no identifiable features. This could be any city in the world.
>large three-story... tall
it sounds pretty short for a large, tall building.
>metallic badge and the letters MPD
>a man and woman
the author thinks I'm wondering what MPD stands for. He also thinks I'm wondering who this man and woman are. I'm not. This "withholding of information" thing is extremely common in bad fiction because they're copying how movies tell stories.
>stood a building
>still like statues
>bustling city
>stood straight
>mind racing
these are all cliched expressions
>although the ends of her blonde hair still caught some drops of moisture
purple prose. I just can't see how this is relevant at all, even as character description. The character description is cringe, by the way, but you probably already knew that.
>the tone
this is written in an "authorial serious tone" but nothing actually serious is happening. It's vague descriptions of weather, city, and people. This is a tone that people who want their work to be taken seriously write in, but who can take these cliched expressions seriously?

>>18456812
or, maybe they enjoy their craft and any sale or reader is just icing on the cake

>>18451410
Please humor my question:
What differentiates this from Hemingway, for example? Both use simple sentence structure and simple vocabulary. (I am generalizing, but please grant me that.) Could this not just be a poor Hemingway piece?

>>18458970
Hemingway talks about wine and cheese more.

>>18458970
I didn't know Hemingway wrote anime.

>>18441770
Self-published author interviews on local public access tv stations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytL7B3BG2I8

>>18459102
I can tell from the video thumbnail that this is going to be too much cringe to handle.

Fuck off OP these people do what makes them happy they are more based than they majority of this board.

>>18458970
Hemingway wasn’t black.

All of them are playing at the level of emotional effect, right?
https://ia600701.us.archive.org/12/items/kybalion_ghs_librivox/kybalion_08_3initiates_64kb.mp3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1R8y4Ah8-s
Any esoteric / occult material?

>>18441772
>When retired U.N. spy Mai Fisher leaves a diplomatic reception a cold, rainy night early in the year 2001, she dashes for the first cab she sees. The driver has a tattoo Mai has seen before on Serbian paramilitaries. Suspicious, she forces him to admit he was waiting for her--to deliver her to the Russian Mafia.
>After almost 40 years as a spy for the United Nations Intelligence Directorate, Alexei Bukharin is glad to be alive to enjoy time with his wife, Mai Fisher, and to finish raising his college-student granddaughter, Natalia. When Mai called him out of bed to bring her dry clothes after she takes an information drop from a Serbian diplomat, he discovers she's suffered something that can be death for a spy, retired or otherwise: Someone knows her true identity.
>A raid on the Mafia apartment where Mai was to be taken uncovers something more devastating. The thugs have a photograph of Natalia at her university. The investigation becomes two-pronged: Who burned Mai, and why is the Russian underworld interested in Natalia?
>Their investigation uncovers a Russian mole in the FBI, one who has been selling America's secrets to the Soviets and the Russian Federation for more than 20 years. When Alexei discovers the reason behind the interest in Natalia, he realizes a decision he made in 1974 has come back to haunt him.
>Personal needs, professional standards, and a choice from the past collide in a war of deception.
why isn't this a bestseller yet?

>>18459102
$28 FOR A SELF PUBLISHED DRACULA FANFICTION? And for a paperback, no less. AND $10 FOR THE EBOOK? Calvin must be out of his mind

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1641389060/

>>18459975
i-is this the back cover or an excerpt? lmao

>>18458914
thanks
i agree about the cliched expressions but i still think this is not particularly as bad as the post claims, it's just someone's idea of how the movie would look which i guess is a bit dishonest. Why not just write a script?

>>18458221
it actually does generate images in my mind desu but i get what you're saying

>>18456812
Have you considered that the writing of the book provides the bulk of the pleasure and the publication is simply a little bit of socializing at the end of each project; a way to meet other people in a similar space?

My intention is to finish my novel and print 50 copies of it to sell and give away to friends. That is all.

>>18443067
Based.

>>18460278
goodreads

>>18447313
Do you? Cashing in on a trend or sincere you decide.

>>18458970
I'll humour you cause nobody else is:
Take the first line of The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber as a counter example to that opening paragraph

"It was now lunch time and they were all sitting under the double green fly of the dining tent pretending that nothing had happened."

It's basic in a similar way, but it isn't generic like that guy's is:
1) "double green fly of the dining tent" is concise, specific description that establishes an interesting setting (they're in a tent!). compare that to giving the man's height, or saying he's wearing a black trenchcoat- who cares.
2) "pretending that nothing happened" is a good hook because it
a) makes you wonder what happened, and why they are pretending
b) sets up the terse, tense relationship between this rich WASP couple who won't acknowledge their marital problems; this distance that is established for the reader by having them pretend nothing is happening is held through the whole story, and only resolved with the ending.

someone smarter than me could tell you more but that's my impression of things.

>>18441770
An unpublished author conference, meaning this board.

>>18462793

>>18462911

>>18462913

>>18462920

>>18462940

>>18462945
NOOOOOO

>>18441770
I think I would rather never be read by anyone than debase myself in this manner.

>>18444212
It’s nice that he’s making something instead of just lying around and beating off then.

>>18442972
look at what you've done OP, you cocksucker

>”AT LEAST THEY’RE PUTTING THEMSELVES OUT THERE!”

I’ve been posting here for ten years, and virtually all you fuckers ever have done is tear down people who post any of their original work on this forum. Don’t pretend as though you wouldn’t act the same towards the books written by the sad people being posted in photos in this thread.

>>18443236
You just have low testosterone levels and you care too much about what other people think.

>>18462913
I wish this dude had been shot in his head instead of his leg or whatever it was that happened.

>>18462904
I’m both published and read, Anon. (Published here, and read by you.)

>>18463064
Based

>>18463041
would kiss the qt smoker jew on the right

>>18462894
Do you think it’s the mundane nature of the thing being described (black trench coat) or the manner in which it is done that makes it poor writing?

>>18463080
It’s sad to consider how old she is now. Like Donna Tartt. It hurts to think about.

>>18463041
>Now THIS is water.

>>18457045
Is this Dracula with just the names changed? And a blood diamond instead of a cross?

>>18463092
This fucking board man, lmaoooo.

>>18441770
Dementia unit

>>18463086
I'm not a reader or writer but allow me to state my theory: its bad because it lack purpose. Anything without a purpose, like a book, a prose, a design, is boring because there is no reason to use it

>>18463041
it's a shame really. anons here waste all the power they have and could have.

>>18463064
damn

Still want to know if this 700 page self-published maximalist novel is worth reading.

https://coronasamizdat.com/2020/10/18/the-manifold-destiny-of-eddie-vegas/

Excerpt:
‘Right here,’ Jimmy Blade replied with inarrogant pride, unsheathing to reveal, held in both hands the way one offers not a gift, rather a recognition, the rustic grandeur of his singular knife. The blade itself was fresh polished, sharpened evenly from hilt to tip and back the other side to hilt. The handle was wrapped tight in crimson leather, forming a tubular grip of such apparent mass it was difficult to conceive a substance beneath, as if it were a cylinder of nought but dense, taut hide. This effected a stylish contrast with the surprise wood of the hilt and butt, which were painted in checks of black and white.

‘Get this fer a bet a five yer getting a thievy bounty. No pirate ever flunged a finer dagger.’

Rance, entranced, needed no Bladely boast, gazing rapt at the knife all the while he counted five gold pieces from the purse sack tied to his belt and handing then to Gravel, the implicit arbiter, whose own allurement was coaxed aside by prophetic vision of a con unfolding. The first throw missed, to be sure, but by mere inches, the illusion of catastrophic ineptitude created by the slice of blade into eftesque feminine paw—yes, the point a mere handspan from the frog’s belly, which would remain a relatively massive target from the, come to reflect, relatively short distance of these ten paces: the next throw would be precise, the sawed off confidence man taking away six gold pieces rather than a mere one.

And so it occurred, from the explosion of energy that projected the blade ten feet in a second, this fling flung more brisk and violent, compact, splunk and thwang, splitting the belly centrally, sticking the bullfrog to the tree, Clem and Jem instantly releasing the two legs each they’d held, fore and aft frogwise, up and down that is to say, one each side of the target, lifting their now free hands aloft as they slunk away from the display, the spectacle of a giant bullfrog pinned to a giant tree, the three others abruptly approaching, effervescence sparkling their aspect, even the soothseer Gravel disimmuned by awesome of nature and artifice convergent to glamorous effect.

Jimmy Blade tugged the knife from the guts and tree, the victim jerking in its dying physios from cling-to-steel to back-barked before yielding to gravity in league with fate of fucked frog floppery. Blade wiped the blade on his pants.

>>18463407
>the spectacle of a giant bullfrog pinned to a giant tree
you had my attention, now you have my curiosity

>>18463319
Describing a character has no purpose?

>>18442792
i think u are a narciccist

>>18463165
Yes, and everyone is black and Dracula is called Blackula

I usually write film scripts, but recently I feel like a novel might be better suited for some of my ideas. Anyone care to give me some pointers?

>Jack, a 5 year old boy with dark black hair and pudgy face wandered around white sands of the beach, looking to find anything fun to play with, the visit was impromptu, he wasn't able to bring his shovel and bucket. Wind snapped at his blue button-up shirt that his mother helped put on, he always mismatched the buttons. Jack looked to the tree line, where his mother sat reclining comfortably in the shade. She gave Jack a wistful wave and motherly smile. Jack returned the wave flapping his hand hard.
>The boy made his way to the water, the waves were calm, the water warm, it reminded Jack of the jacuzzi in his home. He reached into the water and found all sorts of interesting items. Little bags holding fishes (Jack hoped they were alive), batteries (Jack hoped they were dead, else he get shocked), seaweed, sometimes a handful of what Jack liked to call "plasty eggs" little beads of opaque plastic, reminiscent of caviar. Jack hated caviar, so did his mother, his father said it was fancy, it didn't taste fancy.

only depressing part is that it is (mostly) fiction. if it were non-fiction it would be really nice

>>18463723
>non-fiction
Boring.

>>18462911
>>18462913
>>18462920
>>18462940
>>18462945
Based and blue pilled

>>18443748
>>18443741
>literature, retard. plenty of literature does this without being pretentious. ever read of mice and men?
For those who got turned off by Steinbeck in high school, what was your life like back then? Were you readers? If so, what did you read, something more than manga, I hope?

>>18463773
Comics.

>>18443939
Post chin

>>18451410
Their education was garbage because they weren't taught ancient Greek and Latin so that they could translate the greatest works. The best poets have that in common, not sure about prose writers though.

>>18463319
nice, as someone who also doesn't write but plays music, i get that

>>18463407
>inarrogant
?

There actually was a comic convention thing here which had lots of self-published authors and I have to say while I expected nothing I somehow still got let down. Basically printed deviantart web comics.

That said there were many cute girls there.

>>18455620
>a surplus of authors and a lack of readers.
I felt this when submitting my novel. I was amazed how many journals and publishers there were but I couldn't imagine the readers. Who reads all this shit?

https://youtu.be/roRiHeV8u90

>>18442881
You think that but the fact is different, fren. The IRS shadows these events and counts the product as they load/unload their trunks

>>18441770
I came here to mildly defend people who pursue a passion and have the discipline and work ethics to get a thing done, but I got to the end of the thread feeling pretty down, honestly.

>>18464857
Kek picrel

>>18441807
>>18441772
>>18441770
>Hey guys it’s me OP! Wanna help me mock and made fun of sincere, humble people who won’t let the publishing industry be the final arbiter on whether or not they get to pursue their passion in life for writing books and telling people stories?
You’re everything wrong with the world, OP

this whole thread is sadder than 10 self-published author conferences put together
get a grip

>>18449380
That's a man

>>18464918
Its simple projection, really.

I've talked to self-published authors. One in particular did an event a local library, it was well attended (filled the room) showing pictures from his adventures and talking about the stuff in his book (He wrote autobiographical stories about climbing exploits). I talked to him about the business side of it. He said that years of attempting to interest publishers was a fruitless waste of time and they always wanted a big bite of the profits. So, he invested $1000 and made ten times that in a couple months doing events like these selling books out of his trunk.

About to release my 2nd book in 8 years... fucking STOKED!

>>18451410
This passage isn’t good but I wouldn’t say it’s irredeemable. It simply needs a judicious editing.

It’s likely that a lot of these self-published authors never hire an editor, which they should because that’s how professional books are finished before publication. I write and edit for a living, and even with that background I would still very likely hire an editor to go over a book of my own before putting it out. Many times you fall into strange habits in your own writing style and don’t realize what you’re doing wrong until someone else points it out.

>>18454394
I bet the boomer Christian books are the only things that sell well at these things.

>>18465924
I sold a whole bunch of my 1st book at bars, even took a few female customers home with me!

>>18443108
Everyone is smiling in the pictures

>>18466464
People are happy doing what they enjoy? Crazy!

>>18464918
He's a pseud, so there's that.

>>18465994
Bullshit, I like the spirit of the people rooting for these convention going authors, but you are a bullshitter and ill not have it in this thread. Thank you. Goodbye.

>>18443236
I read a lot of self published sffg and a lot of it is just a remix of media they've consumed and enjoyed -- anime fights, d&d campaigns, vidya. But because of the low-budget, high-volume nature of the business, some personality does leak into them.

>>18467032
Why would you immediately jump to "bullshit" when you have no idea who I am or what I look like?

>>18467086
I will definitely be spamming the fuck out of this board once I've got my blade back from getting sharpened... then I can finally have a book that isn't crooked and all fucked looking, haha!

>>18467092
If it smells like bullshit, looks like bullshit, reads like bulllllshit, its bullshit. Good luck.

>>18467086
It's the same in /wg/. The only writing there are the animefags. All they write is anime fights, d&d campaigns, vidya, and it makes the pseuds seethe there.

>>18467105
Okay dude, whatever you want to believe. Clearly you aren't, or have never been much of a barfly.

>>18467174
Good luck.

>>18441770
>We are united here by one thing: we each wrote a book no one wants.

I'd say so.

>>18441770
self-publishing isn't always pathetic and desperate

but it usually is

>>18465188
>tv as a monitor
fucking cringe

>>18464241
No one. The majority of literary journals are kept alive by art grants from the government. They're mostly non-profits for a reason. More and more journals are switching from print to digital because they can't afford the paper to print them.

>>18441770

>>18467844
yeah but those niggers can actually draw and have some modicum of artistic talent.

>>18441770
>the diamond league

Go on…

>>18467875
more like the buck league

>>18455889
How do you even get a publisher to look at a book?

>>18453649
Read a book about outlining a novel. There's tons of resources out there, but people just aren't willing to put in the time

>>18454394
>Why do we find it depressing?
Because I already know that none of those people are going to make it, despite all of the work they've clearly put in. It's just sad to look at. Even just by looking at the covers of some of these novels, I can tell exactly what the story is and why they were rejected from a traditional publisher (hint: they're rehashing novels that were successful over a decade ago for the millionth time).

The sad reality of self-publishing is that unless you already have a huge social media following or hit the lottery with the right combination of story elements at the right time, you're not going to be successful. The percentage of people who actually make a livable profit from their novels is extremely small, with a lot of them doing serialized publications online rather than complete novel releases

>>18458184
It's extremely boring and lacks personality. There's also nothing on the first page that hooks me into the story. Why would I turn to the next page? To be drowned in more bland and pointless description?

If the first page is boring, then the reader can properly assume that the next 300 are going to be boring as well

>>18458184
Nothing. Pseuds don't know how to write.

>>18441770
They're at least doing more than you.

>>18467736
4k monitor, faggot.

>>18467844
A lot of the stuff there is genuinely well done though

>>18442972

>>18463041
I actually find it a bit admirable of them. Better than being forever-stuck trying to write something, but never finish because you hold yourself to some insane standard and/or lack vision.

>>18468184
So many dudes in here have no idea what the "artist" lifestyle entails... it can be a lot of fun!

>>18463407
I have it and it's a great read, although at times it takes some time to conceptualise what rxactly is going on. The language is extremely dense but you get used to it after a while.

>>18468248
Is it endearing?

>>18442972
Don’t pout, brussel sprout. Keep at it.

>>18441927
Or they’re just trying to squeak by doing what they love to do on the side instead of selling their entire soul to wagie mart.

>>18442792
You sound like you hate yourself for being uncreative and afraid of putting yourself out there.

>>18454394
it's depressing to me because none of them are going to make it unironically. their books are probably trash, and it makes it more depressing knowing they spent thousands of hours writing the thing only to flog it at conventions or on amazon for a few dollars.

the insecure body language, the look in their eyes - the look of a hopeful but delusional failed writer. all of the authors at that convention would have cried themselves to sleep that night.

Promoting your books at a self authoring convention degrades the literary quality of your work.

>>18451410
can i please have that ebook?

>>18469396
lol

>>18469387
>Every creative endeavour is an attempt to "Make it"

I bet the thought of not becoming rich and famous weighs just as heavily on their hearts, as it does your own.