Ya'll have been woefully neglected lately, and I sincerely apologize. I've been writing my coon-dog butt off lately, and none of it has been for this blog. Bad Farmgirl!
But, I have made some progress on Jane, and I'm considering starting another book that's been floating around in the back of my head. Just gotta draw up an outline so I know what the heck I'm writing about. And figure out my characters. The protagonist is already jumping up and down in the back of my head screaming for her chance, and screaming at me that I made her a hooker in an earlier short version of the concept. Sorry, lady, but you won't even tell me your name....
Meanwhile, I've been reading Miss Snark's Blog like it's holy writ. Stumbled across it through some of my web cruising in writers resources, trying to learn a bit about the publishing business before I finish the book or books and start diving in with query letters. Miss Snark, while no longer posting, unfortunately, is an agent in New York and she straightens out some of the more convoluted pathways to that great brass ring, becoming a published author.
She's my hero. Whoever she is.
Also, I've been trying to write some more currently publishable stuff, short stories for magazines and such. Haven't gotten them to the polished gem state yet, so nothing is sent off, but I'm working on it.
Trying to break into writing for money is a bit frustrating, to be honest. I'm working hard and getting a lot done, without a lot of real results except for the ever-increasing word counts on my own personal hard drive. Once I get something published, I'm going to be doing a happy dance, and rubbing Cowboy Mechanic's nose in the check.
He's very supportive of my writing, in a "that's cute honey, you go ahead and write" kind of way. He asks about progress, how much I got written on a particular day, and makes appreciative noises when I say that I came up with a fantastic concept for a short story... but he's not a writer, so the finer points escape him, most of the time. Ah well, can't have everything, and I have other writers I can talk to, when they're not just as swamped as I get sometimes. ( Ya hear me, AD?? I'm gonna be sending you some more stuff soon!)
And, that's what I've been doing. I'll try to share more with ya'll as I can. I'm going to withhold Jane, evil person that I am, on the chance that she'll get published, but I'll share some of the short stories.
I'll try to be a better blogger from here out.
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3 comments:
Baen Books takes f+sf submissions, no agent required (or all that useful) and they have a very good reputation. Just a thought, if you can deal with the genre.
Anonymous-
Apparently either you stumbled across this blog from a search, or you haven't read far enough back in the archives to find Jane, LOL. I'm writing one fantasy book already, and the second that I'm starting to plot out is also going to be fantasy. It's just more fun when you can play with reality.
As for an agent, in my researches I've seen people who say that it's absolutely necessary, and people who say that it's useless to have an agent. Personally, I don't know what a publishing contract should look like, what an advance should be, or where to send a manuscript so that the proper eyes see it. I'm willing to pay a percentage to someone who does know those things, so that I can focus on what I do know, and write.
Thanks for the recommendation, though!
My apologies, I was looking through Lawdog's links and saw your blog, but haven't done any archive searching. :)
Look at Preditors and Editors. http://anotherealm.com/prededitors/
They have some good information. Baen is highly recommended by them, BTW.
Visit www.baen.com if you'd like, they have a forum called Baen's Bar where many of the writers (and the publisher, Toni Weisskoff)have their own 'tables' and talk about books.
Yes, you can ask a question of the publisher or a particular writer and have a decent chance of them answering. Not always, life being what it is, but I don't know of any other place like it.
I'm not a writer, just an addicted reader who lurks there and infrequently posts on this or that. I do know that John Ringo started out posting there, the publisher asked him to write a book, and he's really taken off.
Check it out, sleep is over-rated anyways! :)
Justin Bischel - no longer so anonymous.
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