Publishing, anyone?

What kind of books do yall write? I'm an aspiring writer who has bitten off way more than I can chew but working my way towards competency lol.

Both Amazon and Barnes & Noble offer self-publishing programs. The learning curve is fairly steep, but after you get one done, you'll understand what's required.

I went the traditional route with a publisher for my first two novels. The publisher didn't help any, took most of the royalties, wouldn't let me pick the cover, etc. Then I decided I could do it on my own and earn higher royalties. I have regained the rights to the first two and have re-published them with a cover of my own design.

It's more work to go this route, but you'll be happier in the end.

Did any of you have a lot of writing experience prior to writing your first novels or getting them published?

I've always read a ton and have always sort of wanted to write a book / series but hadn't had a really good idea. I love well done fantasy and sci fi to a lesser extent. About two years ago I sort of had a lightbulb go off with an idea I finally felt like was worth trying to write. I've spent the last couple years always having a notebook with me when reading, watching tv, listening to books and been writing down character ideas, plot ideas, setting and also some short scenes and what other shows / books / movies have done well, etc.


I've finally got a strong sense of how that story should come together and I'm now taking those handwritten notes and crafting them into an outline, with background setting / worldbuilding, character dossier kind of stuff to help me write. I have about 5 full size legal pads and 9 or so of the small pads filled up - much of it is contradictory while i was working out how moving parts work - but once I finish getting all that typed into a cohesive guide on the computer, I'm taking my first real shot at a first draft.


Been listening to this online creative writing lectures and a fiction writing podcast on my work drives (do about 12 hours in the car every week for work). Its helped me understand the nuts and bolts of how a story should be structured, different archetypal plots and characters, etc.

I may come ask some questions from time to time if i get discouraged, but seeing some of you in here helps me think I may actually be able to pull it off haha.

Wow, you're a lot more organized than me.

When writing a series, you need to know your characters. Their background, ages, what they look like, etc. You should be able to draw a picture for the reader.

I started out with well-defined characters and just let them interact. They pretty much figure out what the story should be. I released five novels without doing an outline once. I tried it for #6 (in progress) but I veer off course frequently.

i never even really new that existed until stranger things and such. I just read a ton and played video games, but i'm sure i would have loved that kind of stuff if I had been exposed to it

quote:

---

I released five novels without doing an outline once.

---

Outlines for me are very bare. Basically I start out knowing how it will end. Then I just pencil in some broad "stuff". I work on details as I'm writing the first draft. The major details for me start in the first big round of edits.

Most people just have to figure out what works for them and go with it.

I can see my writing evolving every time I write something new. I'm enjoying it.

Ya that was why i wrote it down in notebook - so i wouldn't keep going back to edit. Just let the ideas flow and if some were contradictory, that is fine.

Brandon Sanderson taught a sci fi / fantasy writing class and posted the lectures online so i kind of took that and also listened to Stephen King's On Writing book. But they say the same stuff, just have to keep writing and learn to finish something - even if it isn't very good. Just finish it and once it is complete you can figure out if you think that story is worth going back and doing another draft to fix up or move on to the next story.

quote:

---

What kind of books do yall write?

---

So my two that are finished is a fictional memoir about my family in general, specifically my mother. It is set in Livingston Parrish in tbe 50s/then Baton Rouge. LSU fans will be interested I think, my father was good friends with Billy Cannon and part of the book is an insider account of the counterfeiting scheme....

Sequel is essential my memoir of my farrel youth, incarceration and life transformation into a semi-respectable citizen and successful business man.

Friend,

I started self publishing through Amazon. Relative success achieved, a publisher house came to me and now this house publishes for me. Amazon is perhaps the best way to get a start. You might also want to approach Pelican Press if you are truly a good writer. If it's just some LSU themed junk without any real skill, they won't take you seriously. However, if you have the gift, they would be an absolute great source of info and if they offer to publish, accept.

Yours,
TulaneLSU