/lit/ - Literature

>>21868924
What kind of books do you like to read, OP?

>>21869052
well i just wrote my first sci-fi (ish) action adventure novel and im wondering exactly how to go about putting it on the market. Im a writer not a salesmen, so i dont really know what to do.

tried to go the publishing route but disnt get any traction, so self publishing it is.

>>21868924

Look at what sells. Brandon Sanderson makes like 10 mil a year writing formulaic reddit fantasy. Rowling wrote YA isekai basically. The path ahead is clear. Plucky group of young protags with cute funny interactions, coming of age together, in a fantastical escapist setting.

>>21869074
How did you try the publishing route

>>21869074

I made less than $100 in a decade of self publishing. Keep approaching publishers, but small ones, on Twitter and other social media. Big publishers will always reject submissions if you don't have an agent. You will need some published works to attract an agent. Hence, go for small pubs first. If you need a foot in the door, find out their leading authors, approach those authors, befriend them or solicit advice as an aspiring author.

>>21869081
i reached out to about a handful of literary agents, and didnt get any positive reaponses. Most didnt reply and the one who did thought my premise was intriguing but didnt like my voice and didnt want to try to sell in an "over saturated market". so i got discouraged and decided quickly to go the self publishing route.

Im very confident in my novel so im pressing ahead regardless, but because its my first novel i feel like most literary agents/publishers dont want to take a risk. they all want established names and sure things

>>21869074
Sorry, maybe I was unclear. What do you enjoy reading? I don’t mean what have you written. Do you enjoy reading books?

>>21868924
i studied music in college and it was my profession for a number of years. it's not worth it, because anything you need to do to capitalize is going to diminish your own personal ambition.

for me it wasn't worth it. if you want to be some buzzfeed clickbait jockey then there's probably some way to make a living off writing for you

>>21868924
>Is getting a publisher worth it? Or is it better to stick with amazon/b&n publishing?
I'd bet on self-publishing, patreon, online sites personally.
Way I hear it the only thing a publisher really can do for you nowadays is payment as a lump sum upfront and they don't seem to pay significantly more over time and many agents won't even pick you up unless you're pandering to their particular hangups like heroines, feminism or lgbtq stuff.

>>21869162
of course. i typically read classics i buy from used book stores. im reading Bulfinch's Mythology right now. my next book will be a non fiction book im reading as research for my next novel. then i'll alternate back to a fun read and so on. i buy my non fiction books off amazon

>>21869198
>many agents won't even pick you up unless you're pandering to their particular hangups like heroines, feminism or lgbtq stuff.
this is my impression too. they're gate keepers a little else i feel

>>21869211
It's not something I picked up myself. I saw that when I was reading advice on how to get picked up by the Big 5 publishers.
I think even Sanderson mentioned here >>21869080 says in his writing class that you should add in heroines if you want to get published and he shilled them pretty hard while admitting they don't offer that much unless you're already succesful.

>>21869080
>>21869221
I am unwilling to change how i write or what i write about. Im not adding strong independent women to submit to big publishers. fuck them. im not playing ball. it feels like a perversion and a disgusting lie.

i feel like theres a market for non-woke bullshit, i just have to get by the publishing gate keepers

>>21869102
did not jk rowling get rejecting like a hundred times. just keep tryign

>>21869272
>i just have to get by the publishing gate keepers

Oh ho, if it were that easy...

>>21869330
i suppose, but i find myself determined to fight anyway. i wouldnt want to write at all if i had to write what others told me

>>21869087
>Hence
can you elaborate more on your experience, it sounds like you have a lot

>>21869617

Not without doxxing myself. I am tradpubbed now but it took me a decade. I approached big publishers, found out they don't accept un-agented manuscripts. So I self-pubbed, which went nowhere. So I approached small time indie publishers and eventually one gave me a chance. I made about $1,000 on my first physical book before sales fell off. That's peanuts but still ten times more than I made from Amazon over those ten years. Selfpub supplements tradpub, but it's not a real alternative to it.

>>21869628
what should one look for in an indie publisher? what are red flags? how would they screw a writer over if they were so inclined? what is the greatest value they provide?

>>21869669

Make sure they actually pay you. I heard "unfortunately we cannot afford to compensate authors" frequently. Make sure what you write is up their alley. Often they're looking for specific genres and themes. Look into their politics and don't submit anything contrary to those politics. Use an ambiguously ethnic pen name as there's no downsides and sometimes it helps get you through the door. Have a body of work for them to pick from later, keep in mind many will turn down stories which you've published online before. This doesn't mean it's a bad idea to use Inkitt, Wattpad or Royal Road, just don't put your best stuff up there. Use sites like those as a sampler platter to show around.

>>21869696

Having said this you may need to accept "exposure bucks" for a while from non-paying publishers just to get your name out there. Have a newsletter people can sign up for, it's a big help to build a loyal following and notify them when you have a new book for them to buy. Also don't focus only on publishing, there's other ways you can get paid for your writing *and* promote your brand, like submitting stories to paying podcasts.

>>21869696
fucking hell, this sounds more like navigating petty office politics than business. is it worth it? is the only goal here to have something published so you can go to larger publishers and say "i've been published x times"?

>>21869278
The story goes publishers thought it was a trash series for children, one decided to see if his daughter would like it and she did. So he published it.
>>21868924
I've read sort erotica is pretty lucrative. This requires keeping up on trends and authors won't reveal their methods of how they study.

>>21869739

>is it worth it?

If you're serious about making money as an author

>is the only goal here to have something published so you can go to larger publishers and say "i've been published x times"?

Yes, big success is built atop many small, prior successes.

>>21869744
>I've read sort erotica is pretty lucrative

I've gone down this road. It's only lucrative if you pander to niche fetishes. There's basically no market for vanilla, even if it's dubcon or noncon. It has to be degenrate deviantart shit. Gays buy most erotica, and subsets of gay erotica involving furries, bug chasing, etc. sell the most copies. Second best is just wish fulfillment harem anime for women, aka the romance genre. A lot of the best sellers lately are about fucking werewolves for some reason.

The state of publishing now is horrific. You won't get thrown a bone unless you're writing the exact kind of generic fantasy/sci-fi/YA that's already popular. No wonder books are dying

Never, ever compromise. OP, and any other anons trying to get published, don't ever sacrifice who you are, what you believe, or what you've written. Not for money, not for fame, not for anything. Write your story exactly how you want to. You will be rejected by publishers. It is a certainty. Publishing, like any other aspect of contemporary society, is wholly corrupt and unjust. Unless you inject your writing with textual abomination, you have nearly no chance. Self-publishing is the only way forward. Never let go of your pride and write from your heart. Write, and make something truly great, something you will be proud of. Join communities of kindred souls and build relationships. That is the real key to success. You'll start with nothing, and no one, but then that one person will read your work and become your first fan. Whether it starts and stops there, or ten, one hundred, a thousand, or more read it, you can take pride in the fact that some other soul out there loved it.

>>21869889
brought a tear to my eye, anon

>>21869889

What do you guys think about self-publishing in serialized format?

This isn't the first time I've asked this question on /lit/, but it keeps recurring to my mind. I spent many years as a fanfic writer, and some of my fanfics became rather famous in the fandoms to which they belonged. Almost all fanfics are serialized, and the process of releasing chapters with break time in between can often increase the hype around a story; it leads to speculation, fan theories, discussion, and generally allows a community of fans of the story to thrive.

I've wondered if serializing original fiction couldn't make a serious comeback. It was done multiple times in the past. Dickens wrote serialized fiction; so did Tolstoy and Flaubert. Maybe serialzing a story and releasing it via a blog system like Substack could work. What do you guys think?

Anecdotally, I see a close relationship between people getting published and university programs. As much as I hate to say it, I do wonder if the key to being published today lies at the end of an MFA program.

>>21870334
I think that it can work well for the right person but won’t for most. I don’t see it making a comeback.

I’d be curious to hear about the experience of anyone trying publish non-fiction specifically? I sometimes wonder if that’s not as pozzed or competitive.

>>21869889
Thank you, Anon. Even if our paths may never again cross, nor we ever know the other's face, I won't forget you.

I will write.

>>21870334
I wish. But the reason short stories were so popular back then, as I’m sure you know, was because it was a popular form of entertainment printed in magazines, that people would consume much the way they now view short form digital content on their phones. It’s hard to imagine a novelist these days also having a huge back catalog of short stories the way writers like Hemingway and Fitzgerald and Bradbury did. The demand simply isn’t there.

>>21870355
I mean, it’s like saying that some people who go to acting school become famous actors. Sure, a tiny percentage of them do. Personally, there’s something I find sort of anodyne and repulsive about overly workshopped; overly MFA’d writing. But perhaps it does work for some people.

Just write trash if you want to make money, lots of people read trash. Convert to mormonism and write science fiction.

>>21869889

>>21869889

Should I build a website to host my stuff and self promote? Or should I use a blog/writing site for a slim bonus to promotion? Should I go ham and put it out on amazon or print on demand?

Either way I don't want to become an online personality just to shill my stuff, I don't want to join a writing circle jerk to network, but I do want to put it out there such that it can be seen, after all, If a tree falls in the forest and no one's around to hear it, does it even count?

>>21872043
>don't want to become an online personality just to shill my stuff, I don't want to join a writing circle jerk to network, but I do want to put it out there such that it can be seen, after all

are you me? this is exactly how i feel. i dont want to be a business man, or a internet celebrity, or a networking faggot. i just want to write and put my stuff in a place where maybe i can make some money on it.

T.S. Eliot said there are only two ways to distinguish yourself as a writer. The first is to publish a lot of work of differing quality frequently. The second is to publish very little work of high quality infrequently.

Obviously, the former will be more likely to provide an income, particularly early on. So if you want to make a living off writing, start writing, a lot, and publish as much of it as possible.

>>21872117
>The second is to publish very little work of high quality infrequently.
this is the path i will choose
>but how do you know if you're good?
i will bet my life on it, come what may

>>21872150
That’s fine, but keep in mind that Eliot worked as a banker in an era where a banker didn’t necessarily have to take his work home with him. Nowadays, so many jobs just can’t disconnect.

>>21872216
All i can do is write slow and steady. im not a fast writer, but i believe i am a good writer. I have no desire to write fast, because for me it would be much too sloppy and inaccurate.

Also i do have a job that stays at work, and i can devote nearly all my spare time to writing