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Author Craft / Re: Author In Progress
« on: January 15, 2009, 07:11:07 AM »
Hi,
I've always wanted to write a novel, ever since I was reading comics and RPG-ing as a kid.
I'd written a few short stories in college (even won a prize for one) and loved that, too.
I finally wrote a novel because I had time every day (I commute by train to downtown chicago for a total of 2 hours a day) and found I completely loved it.
I had about - and when I say "about", I guess I mean "exactly" - seventeen "beta" readers who gave a lot of brutal feedback as well as compliments, but they all said essentially three things:
Since I had the money, I self-published it at booksurge (you can check out my book here : http://www.amazon.com/Out-Black-Lee-Doty/dp/1419696858) mostly to give the betas a nice bound copy as thanks. I mean really, some of these nuts read it up to four times as I revised it, so I owed them.
Finally I'm listening to the betas and taking time out from writing my second novel to try to find an agent and get my first book published.
So, here's my problem: I've never had any interaction with the literary world. (I know the martial arts world, the gaming world, the comic book world, the software engineering world, and even the investment banking world, but I have NO IDEA what landmines or dens of hungry weasels await me on the literary landscape.
Do any of you have any advice on the agent-finding process? I've got a query, I've got a synopsis, I've got a fairly polished manuscript... but what don't I know that will potentially kill me? What should I know to attract a helpful, engaged agent?
BTW: My first novel is a thriller that starts out as a near-future crime drama but deepens into an urban fantasy, complete with a secret world of wizards and monsters. Mine's set in chicago, too, but that's because I live here. It's funny that I didn't pick up (and then voraciously devour) the dresden files until after probably my sixth revision.
Great minds think alike? Well, that's how I flatter myself, anyway... butcher is probably the best author I've ever read... and I'm pretty widely read... 2 hour train commute, remember?
I've always wanted to write a novel, ever since I was reading comics and RPG-ing as a kid.
I'd written a few short stories in college (even won a prize for one) and loved that, too.
I finally wrote a novel because I had time every day (I commute by train to downtown chicago for a total of 2 hours a day) and found I completely loved it.
I had about - and when I say "about", I guess I mean "exactly" - seventeen "beta" readers who gave a lot of brutal feedback as well as compliments, but they all said essentially three things:
- They were sucked in almost immediately
- It was too short (though it's just north of 130,000 words)
- Why don't I get it published?
Since I had the money, I self-published it at booksurge (you can check out my book here : http://www.amazon.com/Out-Black-Lee-Doty/dp/1419696858) mostly to give the betas a nice bound copy as thanks. I mean really, some of these nuts read it up to four times as I revised it, so I owed them.
Finally I'm listening to the betas and taking time out from writing my second novel to try to find an agent and get my first book published.
So, here's my problem: I've never had any interaction with the literary world. (I know the martial arts world, the gaming world, the comic book world, the software engineering world, and even the investment banking world, but I have NO IDEA what landmines or dens of hungry weasels await me on the literary landscape.
Do any of you have any advice on the agent-finding process? I've got a query, I've got a synopsis, I've got a fairly polished manuscript... but what don't I know that will potentially kill me? What should I know to attract a helpful, engaged agent?
BTW: My first novel is a thriller that starts out as a near-future crime drama but deepens into an urban fantasy, complete with a secret world of wizards and monsters. Mine's set in chicago, too, but that's because I live here. It's funny that I didn't pick up (and then voraciously devour) the dresden files until after probably my sixth revision.
Great minds think alike? Well, that's how I flatter myself, anyway... butcher is probably the best author I've ever read... and I'm pretty widely read... 2 hour train commute, remember?