Good luck!
Many people are far more prolific writers then me. Thus I must write and not be lazy.
I’ve got a kids book written and sitting on my PC, based on a story I made up to tell my sons at bed-time. So far I’ve sent it off to one publisher with no response but to self publish I need to go through the process of finding an artist to work on the illustrations.
I’ve had two full-size maps published through work - a topographic sheet and a geological map and maps published in several books including this one.
What about?
Sure I could - just doubt it would be anything anyone would want to read! 
My son just sent his first novel off to a couple of agents. Fingers crossed.
Yep, I’ve written one. Haven’t gotten it published yet, nor landed an agent.
ETA: if any of y’all who are published authors have the ear of your agent, (as many agents are more likely to consider a ms if an author they know recommends it), and might consider having a peek at my book so as to contemplate making such a recommendation, PM me.
Hah!
My sympathies. I’ve been trying to land an agent for over five years now. You’d think that with two published books, a publication list running several pages of small type, and a listing on the isfdb I’d be able to find one interested in me, but I’ve had almost zero luck.
If anyone knows of an interested agent, I’d like to hear about it.
PM me with details about the book AHunter.
Not omitting you CalM but my agent doesn’t do scifi.
Everybody does have a book in them, but in most cases that’s where it should stay. - Christopher Hitchens
probably, but it wouldn’t be any good.
If you offer to pay me a million dollars, I’ll give it a shot. How many pages?
I used to say that everyone has a story, but after working in media and the communications for a while, I’ve discovered that’s not true - there are quite a number of people out there who are simply not interesting, haven’t led interesting lives and basically don’t have a story.
It’s kind of sad, although I also tell people it’s never to late to start doing interesting things and getting a story that way.
Define “book”.
I wrote a PhD thesis? Definitely long and complicated enough. It was fairly hard and time consuming.
Later, as a researcher I wrote dozens of papers so writing at the scale of a thesis isn’t so daunting. I once worked out in my mind how the bulk of one of my grad student’s thesis should go during a taxi drive. (Not the actual details of the results, but all the core ideas and a general idea of how they should be done.) I could have written that thesis in a couple months, tops.
Fiction? A few years back I had some fun writing some alt-universe stuff. I’d do ~chapter every 5 days. Of the two biggest things I did, looking back, the first is shorta meh, but I really enjoy re-reading the second. Now, when I come up with an idea, I do an outline outline of it. Still enjoy re-reading those but don’t have the urge to write them out in full.
I could write a book, but at this moment, I’m saying: never again. Give me six months though, and I’ll probably be onto the next one. All my books are published with conventional publishers: ten for education, one Young Adult novel, three popular science, one academic and a new popular science coming out in two months. ‘Popular science’ in the trade means for the mainstream market, not that it was wildly loved by all and sundry, unfortunately.
I have had two agents over the years, but have gained all the contracts myself. I no longer have an agent and won’t again. I’ll just stay with my current publisher. Breaking in is the hard bit, then you just slowly crawl up the ladder, unless you are brilliant, of course, and stun everyone with your first outing. I had to do it the hard, slow way. The new book has exhausted me. I am not sure what direction I’d take next anyway.
I agree with comments above - it is persistence above all else. My YA novel took ten years and two major rewrites before it found a publisher.
Writing a book is hard. Publishing a book is harder (finding a home for it and slogging through the revisions). But grinding out a career is the toughest… so many of the writers I debuted with quit by now (seven years later). I’m barely hanging on myself. My latest novel is at a much smaller press and with a more modest advance. Shit ain’t easy. The idea is that you publish one book and Aha! You made it! Now the world will come clamoring for more. Sigh.
Lynne, I’m interested in knowing what your YA novel is if you PM me, but understand if you want to keep your identity a secret.
Hearing that persistence pays off is encouraging. I can do persistent. I do have this vision of lit agents, circa 2038, opening their email (with a glance at the “open email” button floating in their field of vision) and seeing my latest pitch and sighing “Oh yeesh, that guy again?!?”
Sure. I have. You didn’t specify good or published. It isn’t bad, in parts.
Actually, wait. I did, in fact, “publish” one of those weird bestiality porn Amazon books as kind of an experiment. (It’s made me, like, twenty bucks, which is twenty bucks I wouldn’t have otherwise.)
You speak the truth! I love the ideas and research and planning. The actual writing and editing and publishing process is just hard slog. But so worth it!
You’re ahead of me, tnetennba. I haven’t been able to make a living out of it. In the last eight years, I have had a PhD scholarship, literary grant and advance on my next book, so that has made it close to a living. I teach one day a week. If my husband and I didn’t own our house thanks to full time work for decades, I’d be a long way from writing full time.
There is no secrecy to my identity. It’s all in my profile. The novel is called “Avenging Janie”. It never made it to the US, which my non-fiction has. The rights have now reverted to me, so I must decide what to do with it.
Yes, I think I could write a book. I’ve written short stories, poetry and quite a few history essays, and from time to time I think of writing a book. Maybe when I retire? Hmmm. Maybe. It’s definitely been in the back of my mind.
I had all those sorts of images running around my head, but they are entirely in your imagination. Now that I am inside the industry, I have asked publishers and agents and journal editors about the rejections of which I have plenty. They don’t register your name. They are too overloaded. They may never have even looked at your name. I have heard so many stories of clearing out the slush pile because they were in a bad mood that day and simply rejected them all without looking, of another publisher clearing out the slush pile because the manuscripts were stored in a room they wanted to paint so they had a work experience student just reject them all … rejections may be nothing to do with your work.
‘Yeesh, that guy again’ may just make them look. Publishers also like the idea of a writer that has persistence so might be good for a number of books. Their process then becomes a form of training and building the relationship. I’m not sure if that makes sense. My next book is my fourth with Allen & Unwin here in Australia, and then they handle the overseas rights to other publishers. I am comfortable with them and have learned a huge amount so I am easier for them than I was with the first book. They know I will always go to them first and they talk to me about what they want.
So persistence is the way that people like me - the non-stars-but-at-least-published - get into the industry and stay there.
I do have a day job. It’s writing-related but not writing. I have good years and bad years but it’s not stable (and no benefits).