Magic Hat 4 Aspiring Writers!

[Cee-Jay Aurinko]

I believe that 80 percent of all bookworms are secretly dreaming of becoming writers themselves, and if they are not dreaming, they are already published. I might be wrong, but that's not the point. What is is this Magic Hat for all wannabe Rowlings and Kings.

It's hard to keep doing what you love as a writer when you don't have the necessary information to help you get your work out there, read, and paid-for. I myself know of many online magazines that publish short speculative fiction (Like Tor.com or Shimmer magazine for instance) that pay you. But the question is, do you?

As writers, I think we should help each other out, share information about things like writing competitions, how to use your writing skills to supplement a small income so that you can work on that novel of yours with a peace of mind, knowing that you are financially secure at least, no matter what happens.

This is a magic hat to help aspiring writers become more productive human beings rather than sit at home worrying about a job he/she might not even like in the first place. Let's throw our aces in the same pot, share some helpful tips, and ultimately push each other forward in the direction of the career we all see ourselves in.

[ALynnPowers]

Unfortunately for me, it doesn't really matter how many online magazines I apply to or writing competitions I enter. In the end, I'm just not good enough. Sometimes writers need to realize this as well.

[Melanie_Page]

I would like to know about writing opportunities that pay, not because I want to leave my day job, but because those writing contests would offer me the opportunity to write and test myself against other entrants.
I've learned a lot from entering and not winning the short story contest here. Reading the winning entries has made me think critically about my own writing.
So yes, please. Bring it on!

[HoneyB]

I believe that 80 percent of all bookworms are secretly dreaming of becoming writers themselves, and if they are not dreaming, they are already published. I might be wrong, but that's not the point. What is is this Magic Hat for all wannabe Rowlings and Kings.

It's hard to keep doing what you love as a writer when you don't have the necessary information to help you get your work out there, read, and paid-for. I myself know of many online magazines that publish short speculative fiction (Like Tor.com or Shimmer magazine for instance) that pay you. But the question is, do you?

As writers, I think we should help each other out, share information about things like writing competitions, how to use your writing skills to supplement a small income so that you can work on that novel of yours with a peace of mind, knowing that you are financially secure at least, no matter what happens.

This is a magic hat to help aspiring writers become more productive human beings rather than sit at home worrying about a job he/she might not even like in the first place. Let's throw our aces in the same pot, share some helpful tips, and ultimately push each other forward in the direction of the career we all see ourselves in.

I think this is a wonderful idea. I hope it succeeds by continuing to grow with positive, informational posts.

I agree with ALynnPowers about not everyone being cut out to be a writer, but it can be fun in the attempt. Maybe you don't know until you try your hand at it and work towards improving. Maybe you'll discover your joy of reading surpasses your joy of writing. For those interested in the attempt of being a published author, this could be the start of a wonderful thing!

-- 31 Mar 2015, 15:27 --

I would like to know about writing opportunities that pay, not because I want to leave my day job, but because those writing contests would offer me the opportunity to write and test myself against other entrants.
I've learned a lot from entering and not winning the short story contest here. Reading the winning entries has made me think critically about my own writing.
So yes, please. Bring it on!

I agree with all of that.

[literarycat]

Unfortunately for me, it doesn't really matter how many online magazines I apply to or writing competitions I enter. In the end, I'm just not good enough. Sometimes writers need to realize this as well.

Its the same way with me. I always get letters back saying what I submitted just wasn't what they were looking for. It gets discouraging after awhile.

[Cee-Jay Aurinko]

* literarycat

I got my fair share of rejection letters. It gets tiresome after a while. But like John Cena, I NGU. Ha ha. He he. No no. I wanna see my name in print already! Sorry. Didn't mean to yell. It's just this writing business. At some point I need to see something.

[literarycat]

Leon; it does get discouraging. I want to see my name in print as well even if it is a short story in Chicken Soup lol. I gave up for a while and am thinking of getting back to the grind so to speak.

[zeldas_lullaby]

I actually received a form letter that apologized for being a form letter. That struck me as ironic. It was something like, "I'm sorry that I'm responding to you with this form letter, but I don't have the time..." etc.

It doesn't always mean you're not good enough. Often it can mean that your writing doesn't fill the niche of what they think will sell. For example, middle grade agents don't like my books because they 1) teach moral lessons, and 2) contain substantial character development. That last one might sound weird, but middle grade books are "supposed" to involve generic eleven-year-olds with no personality. YA agents don't like my books, because teenagers are "supposed" to feel alienated from their parents, rather than being close to them and talking to them. I can't modify my writing, and I wouldn't want to. So I self-publish.

[Scott]

I think of literature as art.

I suggest aspiring writers consider themselves as aspiring artists.

As an aspiring artist, one must ask oneself if one wants to be what Britney Spears is to music and what McDonald's is to culinary art. It's a totally different game if winning just means selling more.

In any art, the big guys--who can make your career with a simple yes or no stamp on your application--want puppets not talent. That's how they became the big guys. They are the ones with the real talent, either in the sense of general business talent or the specific talent of mass-production of commercialized art-like products.


:ugeek:

[DATo]

I think of literature as art.

I suggest aspiring writers consider themselves as aspiring artists.

As an aspiring artist, one must ask oneself if one wants to be what Britney Spears is to music and what McDonald's is to culinary art. It's a totally different game if winning just means selling more.

In any art, the big guys--who can make your career with a simple yes or no stamp on your application--want puppets not talent. That's how they became the big guys. They are the ones with the real talent, either in the sense of general business talent or the specific talent of mass-production of commercialized art-like products.


:ugeek:

I agree with virtually everything in Scott's post and have voiced similar views on several other threads.

I have worked for a university for the last 40 years and have noticed the gradual and continuous commercialization of education to a point that sickens me. The same can be said for publishing. It is a business in which art is marginalized for the sake of profit. Let's face it, the general public are not connoisseurs of fine literature; however, they represent the target audience for authors and publishers today because their numbers are greater and provide the means for the highest possible profits.

I've said it before and I will say it again: write for yourself, not for fame or profit unless your family is starving and you have no other means of earning an income. I dedicate everything I write to a person I do not even know - that person, perhaps one in a thousand, who reads something I've written with genuine appreciation. I value and treasure that person's appreciation more than I would any publisher's cheque.

[vmaxnick]

I have to disagree with comparing an unknown author with an aspiring artist. In today's media driven society, there are countless ways of sharing a work of art which is chiefly a visual medium. As an aspiring author, we are asking the people who matter to give us hours of their time to read and critique our work, before considering whether even worthy literature is merchantable. You can have the best, mind blowing innovative product in the world, if it's sat under a sheet in your garage, no-one will buy it. My problem is that I have written 3 novels (a trilogy) which have been through extensive beta-reading with favourable results. I have allocated a modest sum of money for the publishing and marketing, but where do I start? The industry seems to be in such a state of flux at present with conflicting advice at every turn.

[moderntimes]

Unfortunately for me, it doesn't really matter how many online magazines I apply to or writing competitions I enter. In the end, I'm just not good enough. Sometimes writers need to realize this as well.

Its the same way with me. I always get letters back saying what I submitted just wasn't what they were looking for. It gets discouraging after awhile.

Keep plugging away. My fairly strong (language, violence, etc) private detective novel was very well received by a publisher recently, but they admitted that my writing simply wasn't suitable for their mostly "cozy mystery" readership. They did nevertheless speak very well of the book.

So I simply turned around and submitted to other publishers. Rejection is commonplace for writers, and it simply is something to get used to.

Don't give up.

[laura419]

I think of literature as art.

I suggest aspiring writers consider themselves as aspiring artists.

As an aspiring artist, one must ask oneself if one wants to be what Britney Spears is to music and what McDonald's is to culinary art. It's a totally different game if winning just means selling more.

In any art, the big guys--who can make your career with a simple yes or no stamp on your application--want puppets not talent. That's how they became the big guys. They are the ones with the real talent, either in the sense of general business talent or the specific talent of mass-production of commercialized art-like products.


:ugeek:

I agree with virtually everything in Scott's post and have voiced similar views on several other threads.

I have worked for a university for the last 40 years and have noticed the gradual and continuous commercialization of education to a point that sickens me. The same can be said for publishing. It is a business in which art is marginalized for the sake of profit. Let's face it, the general public are not connoisseurs of fine literature; however, they represent the target audience for authors and publishers today because their numbers are greater and provide the means for the highest possible profits.

I've said it before and I will say it again: write for yourself, not for fame or profit unless your family is starving and you have no other means of earning an income. I dedicate everything I write to a person I do not even know - that person, perhaps one in a thousand, who reads something I've written with genuine appreciation. I value and treasure that person's appreciation more than I would any publisher's cheque.

I think that commercialization is one of the best ways discovered to ensure that new things are accepted and used. Sure, maybe education was "better"(define better?) before it started being "sold to the masses" but that's the way most universities, colleges, and even the better high schools survive. Also, if you really think about it, the "publish or perish" mentality was fully developed in medieval times. I can say this because I've read books from that time where the authors complained of the "excess commercialization" of everything from the cost of educating oneself to the cost of books and publishing.

Really, where would we be without commerce? I think we would be still back in the caves. Books are expensive. That is a fact of life. Merchants want to make a profit--that entails selling things that the public wants to buy. Writing for oneself strikes me as an exercise in masturbation (something that strikes me as the safest, most boring method of sexual expression), which I do only if I am so depressed I'm one step from being hospitalized for it. So I write things that I hope others would appreciate (if only I had the courage to present it to them ).

Also, since I know lots of people who read lots of books, I think that "the public" is the best judge of what is good. Even children appreciate a good story line. The runaway best sellers all have some things in common--exciting story lines, good dialog and character development, among other things. Matter of fact, grammar and style are way down the list of what people think make up a good story. Now it just so happens that I am homeless, so I could be tempted to say anything that sells is good, but we all know that's not true. But the fact is that good books sell better than bad books. So in that respect the general public are connoisseurs of fine literature and should be considered while I am writing.

[moderntimes]

Commercial publishing is a difficult venue to break into, I totally agree.

But I disagree that formulaic writing and lack of creativity is what the publishers are looking for. As was said by laura, the reading public wants a good story, and publishers therefore want to provide that.

Sometimes we as writers have to realize that maybe our writing just isn't good enough to sell. It matters not whether it's what you want to write -- and I'm using the "group" you not a specific person here -- and if you want to have your writing accepted, you've got to write to the audience, the readers out there.

I've been pushing to get my new mystery novel accepted for some months now, since early spring. And behold! I just received a "yes" from a mid-size publishing house. Not just for the new book, but for all three of the novels in the series! Contract details are confidential of course, but this is a "real" publisher, not a vanity press, and no, I won't be paying a red cent to get the books published (both trade paperback & e-book). The publisher pays me via royalties, the money flows into my wallet, not out.

I had to however realize last fall that my new "great!!" novel had some considerable flaws. I'd thought it perfect, ha ha. I received a very kind rejection from a publisher who told me that the book was a good story but had too much backstory, which ground the rhythm to a dead halt. For those who may not know, "backstory" means filling the readers in on the history of the characters, how they grew up and went to school and got where they are when the book begins. Naturally, a certain amount of this is requisite but I'd spent way too much time on the backstory. And so in February I put the book thru a total rewrite, tightened up the narrative and dialogue, cut out lots of backstory, and added a new subplot to liven up the action.

And after some self examination, I realized that the rejection I received was correct, and took measures to fix the flaws. And so, hey, my book -- actually all 3 books -- are sold!

As was said, writing for yourself is akin to masturbation. It may be fun but there are better venues for your spirits and creativity.

Some folks here seem to be dilettantes and regard their writing as "too good for the masses". And I say, fine, if that's what you want to do, write something that nobody wants to read, and maybe create a PDF of the book and send it to your sycophantic friends. Maybe you'll have 9 or 10 fans who lavish their praise upon your special talent, far too precious and unique for common readers to appreciate.

And please understand, I am saying "you" not for a particular person here, but for some in the writers' forum who are "too special" for conventional publishing.

Myself, I've worked damn hard to create a fairly unique private detective persona, a highly educated and urbane protagonist who's totally removed from the stereotypical "tough guy" Mike Hammer-ish PI, and thankfully, a publisher has noted this and has picked up all 3 of my extant novels. I'm writing within a genre (modern American private eye) and therefore there are "rules of the road" for this sort of story. I cannot have, for example, werewolves or vampires. That's a different genre. So yeah, I am writing within the "conventional" envelope, but I am still varying the tenets so that my detective is unique but still within the PI umbrella.

Same for any other writers here. If you're writing juvenile fantasy (ala Harry Potter), there are "rules" to follow that are genre-specific. Likewise romance, spy novels, supernatural thrillers, and so on.

I have managed to sell a lot of what I've written over the years, both fiction and articles, essays, freelancing sports articles, and so on. Some of the stuff I've written of course remains unsold, but I've still managed to place lots of stuff. Have I made a gazillion bucks? Nope. I reflected not long ago and figured out that I've likely made less than $20k for all I've written. But it's sure as hell been fun!

There IS a market for most prose and you can get your stuff published, if it's good. Honest. And you also don't have to kowtow to the "powers that be" either. Real and very honest publishers will often find new gems in their submission tray, and you may be among them.

[Cee-Jay Aurinko]

@moderntimes

Congratulations on the deal!