Selling that novel

[Bonegavel]

Like many here, I'm sure, I am a closet novelist (i.e., not published). A few years back (mid 90s), I actually finished a novella-sized story and sent out a few letters to agents and whatnot and, of course, received many nice "no thank you's."

After that I stopped sending out stuff. I wasn't frustrated by no's, I just didn't know what to do with it. I didn't really know how to go about getting somebody to actually read more than just a few paragraphs in a letter and so, while I've kept up with my writing, I am even further out of touch with what to do with any finished material.

Can anyone share success stories or maybe possible outlets for this sort thing?

I've had a recent revival in my enthusiasm because I've finally made a breakthrough for a setting that is going to keep me creatively busy for years.

[AZSpeechCoach]

I would be interested in any success storiesas well. Mrs. SC is close to finishing her first editing and starting to test the waters of publishing.

[Senator]

You HAVE to get you a current copy of 'Writers Market'. It will show you how to write a proposal page, get an agent if need be, and more importantly, breaks down each genre so that you get your subject matter to the correct publishing company. And the other point is, don't give up this time. Get Stephen Kings, 'On Writing' as well.

[WVUFAN]

Writer Market is a must. And since I work for them, lemme do some shilling:

http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1582973946

[Schmidty]

Try Penthouse. I'm not into that stuff, but I hear they're lenient about pusblishing "original works".

[Chas in Cinti]

Nothing to add to the excellent opinions here except a good luck. My dream is to be published, but it is far off, I fear.

Regards,
Chas

[bbor]

Try Penthouse. I'm not into that stuff, but I hear they're lenient about pusblishing "original works".

:D

[GrantDawg]

My wife has collection of stories from being a preacher's wife that are roll-on-the-floor funny. She has very witty style of writing. I wish I could talk her into getting her stuff out because I know it would do well.

[Super Ugly]

We have similar books here in the UK, but it also helps to look on the websites of the bigger publishing houses. I'm afraid that I can't give any examples off the top of my head, but some of them have guidlines on how to present your manuscript - how it should be formatted, how much you should include in your pitch etc. The first fifty pages, double-spaced usually suffices, I think.

One thing you might want to consider is sticking it on the web ...? You won't get any money from it, but at least it won't be sitting in a shoe box gathering dust, like my effort from a couple of years ago. :)

[bryce]

I also fall under that 'written a novel, but haven't published it' category. I recently heard a stat that it's easier to be an astronaut than publish a book, odds-wise, or some such ridiculousness like that. Any way you cut it, I don't much like them odds...

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm also in the category. I'm on my 3rd re-write of a 250 page fantasy novel with my wife as my harsh editor. Grantdawg, I like your idea and hope you talk your wife into giving it a shot at some point.

[clintl]

Here's a community of writers worth checking out - you'll get a lot of answers there on all kinds of questions about whatever kind of writing you want to do. In particular, check out the Bewares and Background forum - the threads there will help you avoid publishers and editors that are scammers:

Absolute Write (http://www.absolutewrite.com)

A couple of other good sites for helping you avoid scams and scammers:

Preditors & Editors (http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/)
Writer Beware (http://www.sfwa.org/beware/)

The advice to buy Writer's Market is a good one. If you write science fiction, fantasy, or horror, here's a good online market report that is kept up to date:

Ralan's (http://www.ralan.com/)

I haven't found a comparable guide for mainstream or other genres (but would love to know about it if someone else has).

If you're still trying to market the novella, good luck with it. It's a very difficult length to find a market for - too short for most book publishers, and too long for most short fiction markets.

[Antmeister]

Like many here, I'm sure, I am a closet novelist (i.e., not published). A few years back (mid 90s), I actually finished a novella-sized story and sent out a few letters to agents and whatnot and, of course, received many nice "no thank you's."

After that I stopped sending out stuff. I wasn't frustrated by no's, I just didn't know what to do with it. I didn't really know how to go about getting somebody to actually read more than just a few paragraphs in a letter and so, while I've kept up with my writing, I am even further out of touch with what to do with any finished material.

Can anyone share success stories or maybe possible outlets for this sort thing?

I've had a recent revival in my enthusiasm because I've finally made a breakthrough for a setting that is going to keep me creatively busy for years.

First of all, you should be proud of the fact that you completed a novel. For a number of would-be novelists, there are a large number of unfinished novels collecting dust over the years or just taking up some space on the hard drive (I am one of those people).

Now just because you got some rejection letters does not mean that you don't have a chance. A number of times it just may not be what the current publisher is looking for. Just plug away at some publishers using Writer's Market. In fact they have an online resource, so you don't need to buy the book, you could just pay for a subscription. What's nice about this is that it is updated with new publishers during the year:
http://www.writersmarket.com/index_ns.asp

If you want to test out your material and improve your work, you may want to consider these links. One is a writing group and the other is just a writer's resource:
http://www.writers.net/
http://www.onlinewritingworkshop.com/

Now if think you can be successful marketing the book yourself, but can't find a publisher for your work, then you can go the self publishing route. Lulu won't cost you a thing and it is like a CafePress for books. The other Print on Demand service is iUniverse. iUniverse gives you a number of nice options and has more of a professional feel, but you have to pay for this. I would only use this if you are confident that you can market this book well, otherwise you will lose money on using this service. The highest package is over a thousand dollars.
http://www.lulu.com/
http://www.iuniverse.com/

Lastly if you are into podcasting, there are two really good ones that I listen to from time to time. One is from a published article writer (yet she is an unpublished fiction writer). The other is what he describes himself as a Media Artist. He gives some great tips for any type of creative professional.
http://shouldwrite.blogspot.com/
http://www.fmstudio.com/blog/index.html

[sabotai]

I'm in the group of "thought about writing a novel but have not done it yet".....one day.

[clintl]

Whatever you do, stay away from Publish America. Or at least read the 1000+ page Neverending Publish America Thread over at Absolute Write first.

[Marc Vaughan]

You could always publish it online as an ebook - put up the first chapter or something similar and let people buy the entire book if they like it ...

[Jonathan Ezarik]

If you're serious about getting published, I would stay far away from iUniverse or any of those other vanity presses. They scream out amateur and will make selling your book to a real publisher almost impossible. Now, if you just want to have a book printed, by all means go this route. But I wouldn't recommend it.

What kind of stuff do you write? Genre, literary, non-fiction?

[Senator]

I have about 127 books in pdf format on writing that I would be willing to share with those on this board for a short time. PM and I will give you the link to where I uploaded them in zip form. It is 21.5MB, so keep that in mind.

[NoMyths]

Stay away from eBooks. Take the time that publishers aren't responding or rejecting to read, read, read good work and revise the hell out of the manuscript.

[Rasmuth]

I need to finish my book first...275 pages and maybe halfway done...I may never finish it...