Ok, I’ve written a few chapters and a few thousand words of a novel. I’ve had it critiqued by some friends who have no problem telling me that I suck. So, how does one publish a novel?
I mean, I don’t want to sit down and write the whole thing if it turns out that I do, in fact, suck.
So, do I write an outline for the rest of the story and shop it around to guage interest (and/or level of my suckitude)? Will publishers only accept full length manuscripts?
Anyone here have any experience?
Get thee hence to your local bookstore and pick up a copy of Writer’s Market. That should give you an idea of what people in the industry are looking for.
Also, have you tried doing Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month – where people get together to try to put together 50K words in November, IIRC)? I never actually participated in that, but people I know have.
FTR, you’re going to need something awesome to get out of the slush pile. I did a brief stint as a slush pile reader in university for a local press. Sturgeon’s Law definitely applies.
Anyway, my two cents. I’ll let more knowledgeable Dopers pull out the real answers now…
Seems like a real answer to me, lizardling.
Shopping it around to publishers or agents can be tough, but it will give you some idea as to whether it has any merit or not.
Then, there’s the option of self-publishing. Vanity presses are generally considered to be a waste of money, but the internet has opened up new possibilities for online publishing that require only a very, very modest investment, since it’s now possible to print books one at a time as they’re ordered. Internet self publishing places pay royalties on the books sold like a traditional publisher.
I’d try getting it published by a traditional publisher first, but if that fails and you really think you have something that will sell, try self publishing.
What are your friends’s qualifications for telling you that you suck? You might well suck, there’s a hell of a lot of writers out there who do suck, but I’d be careful where you get your feedback.
In general it is necessary to have a completed novel in hand before you submit your synopsis and first chapter to an agent or publisher. It’s rare enough that a writer makes it out of the slushpile let alone sells on a synopsis. If a publisher indicated interest in reading the rest of the novel, then they are going to expect you to be able to produce the rest of the novel – as in put it in an envelope or email it to them immediately. I can’t think of many publishers I know who would be happy to take on a first time writer who hasn’t even finished the book.
A lot depends on the genre. Mainstream has a set of rules and expectations, and so do mysteries, sf, romance, etc.
AFAIK, no publisher or agent in any genre fiction will look at a chapter and outline for an unknown writer. Used to be true, but no longer. They want to know upfront if you can finish the book. You have to submit a completed manuscript. I believe that mainstream is similar today, but I can’t really say.
The odds are at least 10,000 to 1 that you do suck. But you’ll never know which side of that equation you’re on until you finish the whole novel and then go back and rewrite it. And rewrite it. And rewrite it again.
And if you don’t want to do that, it’s real easy. You’re not a writer.
I go into this with no stars in my eyes, and that 10,000 to 1 is probably an underestimate!
I am reading Tropic of Capricorn, and Miller says he in that he made a pact with himself not to rewrite or correct his thoughts.
But the book is so damned good I don’t really beleive it and I was wondering if someone knows the straight dope.
Writing a novel “out of the gate” as it were sounds like a tremendously daunting task. Why not try to work of some short stories before spending the time to write a novel?
This way, you’ll have several pieces to shop around and if any of them get published, you’ll stand out that much more to a publisher than yet another, “I wrote a novel in one month and despite my friends telling me it sucks, I figured I’d still send it in” crowd.