JuNoWriMo Day 1

[chelseagirl]

I'm at 2056 words, on top of 209 that were already there in chapter 1. Goal is a little under 1700/day, so I'm off to a strong start.

It would be more impressive except that I'd written and trashed and then lost the remnants of (in a memory stick idiocy last February) similar scenes. This version is much better -- I solved a character problem.

When I actually have to plot out the mystery -- well, that'll be work outside of the word count, for certain.

A lot of the people doing this are indicating on the FB community posts that they're writing books in sequences they've already been writing. I'm guessing there's a lot of self-publishing and small-press internet publishing among them. I'm still (possibly deluding myself) hoping to go a more traditional route -- maybe because I'm here in NYC and I've worked on the fringes of publishing and have had friends who are/were editors, I'd love to get an agent. If nothing else, I want the rigor of that. Speaking to the former lj user linaerys, she talked about all the rewrites she did at her agent's behest and then her US editor and then her UK editor still needed her to lose X# of words. And her final product is amazing.

I guess we'll see.

Comments

[executrix]

It only makes sense to pursue traditional publishing and if you can't get a deal you like, self-pub, because the self-pub avenues aren't closed off. Whereas while it's possible to get a pick-up from self-pub, it's less likely because print publishers tend to want All Rights Forever on this Virgin Manuscript.

I need an agent, but for nonfiction, so I would be very glad to hear any insights you have to offer about Agents, Getting Of.

[chelseagirl]

I'm figuring if I can't find an agent or the agent can't place the manuscript with one of the NY houses, I'll try those small internet-based publishers. Definitely not self-pubbing. But wondering, from all the people who reported in, how vast this industry must now be?

I'm reading a few people I know from fanfic who are small or self publishing, but that's about it.

[executrix]

Self-pub, like Space, is Very Big.

[lunabee34]

Yay for writing!

[chelseagirl]

Thanks! Are you still going with your project?

[lunabee34]

Yes! I fixed my data. I have confirmation that the instrument is flawed plus the fix. So I can now go forward. I am so relieved.

[sholio]

Like the person above me said, going trad-pub-to-self-pub makes a lot of sense to me, because you always have self-pub as a fallback option. And there's a lot of things you can get from trad pub that you can't from self-pub, including rigorous editing (well, at least in theory) and someone else to do the marketing end of things. Not the least of it is that even if you eventually want to self-publish other books, you will learn a ton of things from working with a trad publisher that you can apply to self-pub if you want to do that eventually. (I only ever published through small internet presses, but I still feel like working with Dreamspinner and others was a huge help when I eventually started self-publishing my later romance novels.)

So yeah, I think it sounds like a good plan; good luck! :)

[chelseagirl]

Thanks -- I just need to make myself get through the project and not self-sabotage. So far, so good, but I'm only on day 3. ;-)

[skieswideopen]

Congrats on a strong start!

I go back and forth on traditional publishing vs. self-publishing, but I definitely get the appeal of traditional publishing, both in terms of external validation and in terms of potentially ending up with a better book in the end.

Agents...have you seen the story about the embezzlement from Donadio & Olson?

[chelseagirl]

I hadn't -- thanks for the link -- but that's not enough to put me off. I think because I live in NYC and I've worked on the fringes of publishing (I used to be a freelance book indexer for spare cash in grad school), I'm still committed to the traditional model. If I can't get published that way and I think the work's good enough, well, then we'll see.

[executrix]

OF COURSE the work is going to be good enough, that's not even a question. The question is the best business strategy.

[skieswideopen]

that's not enough to put me off

Oh, for sure! I wouldn't say it should. But personally, if I were to go that route, it's something I'd keep in mind. Maybe try to take precautions, like seeing if publishers might send me my share directly rather than funneling it through an agency.