Are you writing a book? Have you written a book and are you now trying to get it published? Have you always wanted to write a book, but never tried? Have you written many books and been published? If you answer yes to any of these questions, then come on in and let's chat! This is an area for the novelists at Gather - a place to share dreams, tell what you are writing about, mentor each other, and get to know each other better.
Have to write a short synopsis to send to a publisher? Post it here to get feedback on the wording. Need to know how to find a publisher? Ask! Know a good agent? Tell! Have an idea of a publisher for someone to try? Tell! Having writer's block? Come cry on our shoulders! Want a critique buddy to review your work? Ask! Most of all have fun!
Here's my start for the Novelist lounge:
I am currently editing my first novel, I'll Fly Away, and preparing to send it to publishers and agents in attempt to get it published. It is a Christian novel set in the late seventies in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. College senior, Sara McKinney, becomes pregnant after a brutal rape. Having recently lost her mother in a car accident, she no longer has any family to help her through this difficult time. Her pastor offers an unconventional solution: marry Sam Dover, a terminally ill elder in the church that Sara has worked with previously. Sam needs someone to care for him in his last days, but cannot afford a live-in nurse. Sara needs a place to live, and insurance to cover her doctor and hospital needs during the pregnancy.
Sara knows Sam is a trustworthy man, but is marrying him the answer? Could marrying him be her saving grace? Could she be Sam's saving grace in the process? Will Sara's rapist, the popular senior class president, Dell Crowley, get away with the rape? Is he destined to repeat his crime? Will he come after Sara again? If you want to know the answers to all of these questions, then tell a publisher to publish my book!
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Comments: 34
Have you thought about an self published E-Book? It's pretty easy or just get Opra to endorse you! LOL...
The litte synopsis you wrote is good/intriguing. It will work, I think, with an editor. Usually when seeking either an agent or and editor, you send a query. This consists in a short letter of introduction in which you might list any other publications you have, and also your work on Gather. Not more than a page. (Here's what I've been told about the "page": They are very busy and can take in one page in a big visual gulp. The next page will be your Synopsis. Then send the first fifty pages of the actual novel. They'll either read it or not, but it is usually part of the query package. Oh, and on the introduction page be sure to say that the novel is finished and ready for publication.
Edward -- Tell us about the book you are working on.
A cardinal rule for getting an agent is DON'T PAY THEM UP FRONT. There are agencies that promise to get you published, just pay them six hundred dollars. Don't. I tried to convince my next door neighbor some years ago to stay away from such a group, but he was eighty years old and desperate to get his life-work published. They just took his money and never did a thing with his manuscript.
The normal cost is 15 percent of your royalty plus costs for copying your manuscript.
Agents specialize in literary types. They develop their own group of editors at publishing houses that sell that literary type. So if you can find an agent that specializes in Christian Fiction, you'd be on the way for sure. It's also a benefit if you know an author who has an agent in your speciality--then you can be recommended. Often that will at least get your manuscript read!
I got my first agent--the one who sold ALTAR MUSIC--at an introduction dinner hosted by the International Women Writers Association in San Francisco. She was new. I was new. That can work (newness to the job) because seasoned agents often have more clients than they can handle. My present agent isn't taking more clients. The downside of a new agent is that they don't yet have contacts in the publishing world...unless the agent was previously an editor, then it's different.
As you can see, you are about to enter a vast new world! But you'll do great. I just Googled "Christian Literary Agents" and got lots of hits. You might browse around there when you are to that point in your writing.
QUESTION: Does posting here constitute "publication" in the eyes of contest sponsors? (As I'm sure you're aware, most contests require unpublished stories.)
QUESTION: How comfortable should I feel about copyright issues if I post here?
Thanks,
Steve
Enoch - I hope you are right! I have heard that for fiction, they will consider any writing success in your past, but for other types, they are more strict.
Steve - Check out the article I posted asking the Gather staff this question -- Gather Staff - Tell Us How Publishing at Gather.com Can Help or Hinder Publishing in Hard Copy? If this does not answer your questions, come back and ask more questions. From what i read there, if you post it to all of Gather, it will be considered published, but if you post just to your friends or coworkers etc, it is not considered published. There are more details in the comments after that article.
My book has a religious theme, but I don't think it will quite fit into the Christian publishing niche once it's done. I guess I won't know until it's done though, eh?
Welcome David. Tell us more about your book and why you don't think it would fit in the Christian publihing niche? You say maybe, so this makes me curious. You might be surprised what could fit. Glad to have you here and good luck with the re-write.
My Dad just sent me a copy of The Elements of Style. Anyone found it helpful?
When you are ready to send it out, and if you decide to do it without an agent, check Harper SanFrancisco. They do take unsolicited manuscripts and the do publish literary novels with a spiritual theme.
Also thanks for the note about Harper SF. I hope when the time comes I can sucker some poor agent into championing my prose, but if not, well... a good tidbit to mentally file away.
Submissions can be sent to submissions@baltimorewritersproject.com. More information is available at www.baltimorewritersproject.com.
Please spread the word.
I'm new here and really happy to see this thread. Is adding a comment like this the best way to be involved?
I'm in the process of flogging my just-finished novel to agents. One good established AAR agent has asked to see it for three-weeks exclusively, which is encouraging (it says something about my query, anyway) but I've been up and down this roller coaster before and I know the odds are against her taking it on. She's only the second agent to look at this one. My scar tissue tells me to be ready to query the next batch when she passes. If she doesn't pass, I'll celebrate.
I'm working on a blog to put up here, on this agent hunt, comparing it with my experience trying to lose my virginity oh so many years ago. That's turning out to be harder to write than the novel. (But fun!) If I ever post it, I'll mention it in this thread, if that's appropriate.
Hey, great to meet writers. Monica, thanks for starting this. Christin, thanks for all the great advice. Everyone else, nice to meet you.
The League -- thanks for sharing that information!
Charles - Welcome and yes - this is a great place to mention exactly what you did and to come back and post a link to your article when it is done. What type of novel are you sending out now? Nice to meet you too - come back soon!
Anyway... how's everyone's novels coming along? Charles, I hope you'll keep us up to date on your agent hunt. I'm so far away from having an actual manuscript that I'm not ready to think about the publishing game, but it's always interesting to see how others do it.
What's your project? A novel? Can you characterize it?
I know that can be hard. I've been getting familiar with the categories agents use and it's hard to stick something as amorphous as a whole novel into one slot. But is there a short way you describe what you're working on?
Yes, it's a novel. I don't know the agents' categories, but I suspect it could be pigeon-holed as "coming-of-age" in some ways.
Boy graduates college. Moves to New Orleans. Begins affair with married woman. Eventually gets frustrated/disillusioned. Drinks a lot. Meets unsavory people. Ending not entirely known.
Maybe that makes sense?
LOL. This instant I'm avoiding work on my novel's synopsis. It's the hardest writing I've ever done. Even if it weren't so crucial it would be difficult.
I heard an interview in which a famous playwright was asked what his next play was about and he said, "If I could tell you that, I woulnd't have to write it."
But, yes, it does make sense. Especially the unknown ending. If you knew it you'd have a lot less chance to write something worth the effort.
good luck
I also have a couple of sample synopsis I could email you (it's called Anatomy of A Synopsis) if you haven't already finished it :-)