Any writers?

[Diamondback]

WWII "hard to sell"? Obviously, these jokers have never heard of Ken Follett or W.E.B. Griffin...

For the noir crowd, you might look up the publishers of the Hard Case Crime series, ask them to take a look and see if they can refer you to an agent. Who handles Max Allan Collins?

 

[AmateisGal]

WWII "hard to sell"? Obviously, these jokers have never heard of Ken Follett or W.E.B. Griffin...

For the noir crowd, you might look up the publishers of the Hard Case Crime series, ask them to take a look and see if they can refer you to an agent. Who handles Max Allan Collins?

Here's the difference, though. My novel isn't a thriller or military-related. It's set in Hollywood during the war and my main character is a B-17 pilot who was shot down over France, made it back home, and is dealing with PTSD (though it wasn't labeled as such then).

It's not a literary novel, and it's not strictly historical. I think it fits nicely as a mainstream commercial novel.

 

[Diamondback]

Or, another gambit: Drop a note to an author you like who inspired your style, maybe tell 'em "I'm a longtime fan who's attempting to sell a novel of my own, could you spare a little time to give me some advice and maybe a quick read-over?"

Gain an in with a successful author, and they become a name you can drop--and may even tell their agent about you. You never know unless you try, right?

 

[AmateisGal]

Or, another gambit: Drop a note to an author you like who inspired your style, maybe tell 'em "I'm a longtime fan who's attempting to sell a novel of my own, could you spare a little time to give me some advice and maybe a quick read-over?"

Gain an in with a successful author, and they become a name you can drop--and may even tell their agent about you. You never know unless you try, right?

Not a bad idea, Diamondback!

 

[Harp]

I'm resurrecting this thread... to have some sort of thread where the writers of the Lounge can go to ask for advice or commiserate on the writing life.

Are you a...
Published author or new to the game?

 

[AmateisGal]

Are you a...
Published author or new to the game?

Harp -

I have some short stories published and a few non-fiction historical articles. I still remain unpubbed in what I want to be published in the most - the novel! Not new in the game at all. I'm working on my fourth and fifth novels - trying to get the third one published as we speak. The first two? Well, they'll probably stay on my hard drive forever.

I've been writing actively since the 6th grade.

 

[dr greg]

hard sell

Let me tell you, If you really want to spend your days wiping spit off your face...publish your own work!
I've spent 40 years in shobiz and that's got nothin on publishing for watching no talents get treated like royalty and decent people treated like scum..the contempt I've encountered from the lower orders in both bookstores and publishing houses, who are after all, just bloody clerks, is amazing.

 

[Harp]

I've been writing actively since the 6th grade.

The 3rd time's the charm. All the best. :eusa_clap

I was still throwing erasers back in 6th grade....

 

[AmateisGal]

I asked a literary agent about the "World War II is a hard sell" and here is what he said:

"Yeah, it is a hard time period to sell in simply because there have been so many takes on World War II that it's hard to make one stand out. But then again, THE BOOK THIEF, for instance, is set in World War II and it's massively successful. I'd think of it as playing tennis with the nets a little higher. It may be a bit harder to sell than it would be if it were a different setting, but that doesn't mean it's impossible either. And the fact that WWII is known to be a difficult time period also gives agents something easy to say in a rejection letter, so I wouldn't read too much into it."

 

[davidraphael]

I'm a writer and editor. I've had some poetry published, but I'm mainly a screenwriter and I've had a few commissions for features, sold pitches, and have placed in a few competitions.

 

[Undertow]

Oh, and drinking does make the rejection easier. I'm having my evening gin and just got a rejection from a referral.

I took your advice and had a few whiskey-colas Saturday while watching Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Girl In Lovers Lane. I sent a query to a referral and I'm waiting for a negatory response.

Upon receiving the "NO!", I will send out a deluge of letters to agents.

 

[Senator Jack]

"Yeah, it is a hard time period to sell in simply because there have been so many takes on World War II that it's hard to make one stand out. "

Yet replace 'World War II' with 'vampires' and they'll take notice, won't they?

 

[AmateisGal]

Yet replace 'World War II' with 'vampires' and they'll take notice, won't they?

GAH. It's irritating, isn't it?

I refuse to give up.

 

[Undertow]

GAH. It's irritating, isn't it?

I refuse to give up.

I know it, and anyway, if you were to cater to the masses, you couldn't get a book out fast enough before the new craze hit the racks. Vampires today, WWII tomorrow, followed by god-knows-what next! (aliens, again!?):rage:

 

[AmateisGal]

This is a TERRIFIC blog posts that explains some realities of the publishing world. All of us need to read it!

http://www.arghink.com/2010/08/09/six-myths-about-publishing/#more-4224

 

[Undertow]

This is a TERRIFIC blog posts that explains some realities of the publishing world. All of us need to read it!

http://www.arghink.com/2010/08/09/six-myths-about-publishing/#more-4224

Wow, thanks alot Amateis; that's a good read!

I especially liked #3:
"Myth: Publishing your writing is a good way to make money.
Truth: You can make more money doing almost anything else"
lol :eusa_clap

 

[Undertow]

I said I was going to take a break from writing and not begin anything new till I sell one of the four projects I got going on. Well, that vow didn't last long. As of yesterday, work on the second novel has begun.

Haha, I have to follow suit.

I'm a scatterbrained writer. I have three irons in the fire at all times, and when I'm in a certain mood I'll go back to whichever feels right. (BTW - no one steal the following ideas! lol )

Currently, I am nearly 1/2 through a novel set in a small Midwest town. It's a humorous (not comedic) take on Midwestern small town people. Most importantly, it's a tragedy about a coping alcoholic who loses his sister to a "drunk driver" (yeah, not really, but that's part of the twist), while his best friend (who was dating his sister - yet another twist) is coping with a growing addiction to Meth. It's actually a bummer of a story. The humor comes trotting in occassionally because the small town people depicted are so racist, backwards, ignorant, unenthused and greedy that you can't help but make fun of them.

I have another one I've started about a celebrity who fakes his own death to escape criminal and civil suits pending against him, only to take a job in another city as a poorly adapted impersonator...of himself. Think Elvis impersonating Elvis, or Chaplain coming in third at a Chaplain contest.

My most recent is a huge break from my usual style. I've written in genres, but never intentionally. Within the last four years, I've been considering a detective noir, but I hate labeling what I do because it seems canned. However, I simply MUST write a detective noir. So I've started one about a hard nosed PI trying to solve a serial killer/art theft case for a distraught, beautiful dame.

Sometimes I feel like one of the animals from the Flintstones, "Eh, it's a living."

 

[AmateisGal]

Haha, I have to follow suit.

I'm a scatterbrained writer. I have three irons in the fire at all times, and when I'm in a certain mood I'll go back to whichever feels right. (BTW - no one steal the following ideas! lol )

Currently, I am nearly 1/2 through a novel set in a small Midwest town. It's a humorous (not comedic) take on Midwestern small town people. Most importantly, it's a tragedy about a coping alcoholic who loses his sister to a "drunk driver" (yeah, not really, but that's part of the twist), while his best friend (who was dating his sister - yet another twist) is coping with a growing addiction to Meth. It's actually a bummer of a story. The humor comes trotting in occassionally because the small town people depicted are so racist, backwards, ignorant, unenthused and greedy that you can't help but make fun of them.

I have another one I've started about a celebrity who fakes his own death to escape criminal and civil suits pending against him, only to take a job in another city as a poorly adapted impersonator...of himself. Think Elvis impersonating Elvis, or Chaplain coming in third at a Chaplain contest.

My most recent is a huge break from my usual style. I've written in genres, but never intentionally. Within the last four years, I've been considering a detective noir, but I hate labeling what I do because it seems canned. However, I simply MUST write a detective noir. So I've started one about a hard nosed PI trying to solve a serial killer/art theft case for a distraught, beautiful dame.

Sometimes I feel like one of the animals from the Flintstones, "Eh, it's a living."

What an eclectic group of ideas! Love 'em all, but especially love the actor impersonating himself.

I am putting aside my WW2 thriller for a bit (need some space away from it) and going back to the fourth novel I was working on when the thriller idea hit me and I shamelessly abandoned it. I love, love, love this novel (also WW2 era) and it is much easier to write (no twists and turns, etc.), so I'm really looking forward to diving in.

 

[AmateisGal]

Some of you may find this interesting, as well. Steven Pressfield (of the Legend of Baggar Vance fame) is chronicling how he is writing the end of his novel in a daily journal.

http://www.stevenpressfield.com/2010/08/a-writers-journal-day-1057/

 

[Undertow]

What an eclectic group of ideas! Love 'em all, but especially love the actor impersonating himself.

I am putting aside my WW2 thriller for a bit (need some space away from it) and going back to the fourth novel I was working on when the thriller idea hit me and I shamelessly abandoned it. I love, love, love this novel (also WW2 era) and it is much easier to write (no twists and turns, etc.), so I'm really looking forward to diving in.

Thanks! The "impersonator's" name is Rod "The Rocket" Williams, a bloated, surly shadow of his previous self. He can't sing like he used to, and no one - not even his ex-wife who was suing him - believes it's actually him. Instead of chapters, I'm writing each chapter in "episodes", as if his pathetic new life is some kind of funny sitcom. lol

What kind of story are you writing? The one without twists and turns?