I've Finished My Book!

i-digress

I just wanted to post about it, because nobody except my husband knows that I'm writing. I've finished it, and edited it three times and am now handing it over to by husband to pick out grammatical and continuity errors (he edits magazines, and edits my college stuff. can be very picky) and then I'm going to send it out into the world!

smcgiff

Congrats - it's a good feeling.

care to share your genre?

EileenG

Well done. What's it about?

Fuinseog

was it easy to find a publisher?

smcgiff

Fuinseog wrote: »

was it easy to find a publisher?

Doesn't look like she's that far... yet!;)

i-digress

It's a young adult novel with a supernatural theme, about a girl who finds herself in a new country caught between two rival groups, one who practice magic and one who wants to suppress those who do. It's coming in at about 65,000 words, which I hope is ok. I just can't believe I finished it! Even if it goes no further, I'm proud to have completed it

i-digress

Fuinseog wrote: »

was it easy to find a publisher?

By sending it out into the world, I meant sending it to agents and publishers. Sorry, I should have been clearer about that! :rolleyes:

Fuinseog

smcgiff wrote: »

Doesn't look like she's that far... yet!;)

some people (very lucky people) manage to secure a publisher before they finish their book.
I find myself in a similar situation. finding a publisher if you are a no name and without connections can be difficult.

I had a a look at unibook which is a posibility.

I also had a look at Authorhouse UK, but they have received a lot of negative publicity.

Fuinseog

i-digress wrote: »

By sending it out into the world, I meant sending it to agents and publishers. Sorry, I should have been clearer about that! :rolleyes:

luck and contacts. when you think about it Harry Potter was nothing special, written by a very ordinary person who got lucky.

istillgotit

Well done, That is something I have been wanting to do for years, but never got round to it. I wish I had your motivation ;-)

EileenG

It's exceptionally rare for an unknown to get offered any sort of deal before finishing a first novel. In fact, I can't think of a single case.

Even John Boyne, who routinely does 10 or 12 drafts per book, did not sell his first novel.

liza22

congrats on finishing - I know what a big achievement that is! Have a glass of bubbly and celebrate
The next bit is the hardest bit for a lot of writers.
My advice is to try secure yourself an agent first. Have a look through the writers and artists yearbook and see who deals with your genre. I found that just posting submissions, even following their specific guidelines, gained me no responses. I called up an agent I thought would be suitable, told her about my book - she said it sounded interesting, and hey presto, she ended up taking me on
Publishers will take you much more seriously if your work is presented to them via an agent
Very best of luck! x

Fuinseog

liza22 wrote: »

congrats on finishing - I know what a big achievement that is! Have a glass of bubbly and celebrate
The next bit is the hardest bit for a lot of writers.
My advice is to try secure yourself an agent first. Have a look through the writers and artists yearbook and see who deals with your genre. I found that just posting submissions, even following their specific guidelines, gained me no responses. I called up an agent I thought would be suitable, told her about my book - she said it sounded interesting, and hey presto, she ended up taking me on
Publishers will take you much more seriously if your work is presented to them via an agent
Very best of luck! x

unless you know the right people securing an agent is not that easy. they not always appreciate a phone call.
I too have finished a book and am looking for a publisher. if i do not find one I may go ahead and publish it myself. in the past a lot of famous authors self published.

EileenG

The good agents have a lot of potential clients. You need to be exceptional to impress them.

Fuinseog, rather than self-publishing, would you consider e-publishing? Much easier to be published, because the publisher is not betting €100,000 that your book will be a success, no cost to you, and the royalties are higher. Many best selling authors cut their teeth in e-pubs.

blue_steel

Very well done!

Fuinseog

EileenG wrote: »

The good agents have a lot of potential clients. You need to be exceptional to impress them.

Fuinseog, rather than self-publishing, would you consider e-publishing? Much easier to be published, because the publisher is not betting €100,000 that your book will be a success, no cost to you, and the royalties are higher. Many best selling authors cut their teeth in e-pubs.

e-publishing is soemthing new and something I should look into. thanks for that.

EileenG

Fuinseog wrote: »

e-publishing is soemthing new and something I should look into. thanks for that.

I reckon it's going to be a big thing soon. A lot of older Americans are buying Kindles, because the print size can be adjusted to their comfort level, and I see the trend continuing over here.

dawvee

EileenG wrote: »

I reckon it's going to be a big thing soon. A lot of older Americans are buying Kindles, because the print size can be adjusted to their comfort level, and I see the trend continuing over here.

Don't forget iPads. That and the iPhone have the potential to make ebooks truly mainstream, since a lot of people who wouldn't go in for a dedicated reader are buying the devices, too. And once they own the hardware, if they read at all then odds are they'll buy an ebook for it every now and again.

EileenG

I've been quite tempted by novellas written by favourite authors. They often don't come out in book form at all. It is one thing which might tempt me to buy a smart phone which will download books.

Miranda7

HI Lisa. Did you get your book published? If so what was the time scale after you got an agent.

smcgiff

Miranda7 wrote: »

HI Lisa. Did you get your book published? If so what was the time scale after you got an agent.

The OP posted only two weeks ago - give her a chance. Check back in maybe a year.:D;)

mustang23

EileenG wrote: »

. Many best selling authors cut their teeth in e-pubs.

Which bestselling authors did this?

EileenG

Angela Knight is one of my favourites who did.

geekGirl

hi there,

Well done on finishing your novel. That is the first and most important step. Many people never get this far, so well done.

As for publishers, I'd start out trying to find an agent as they will be able to help you to find a publisher with that genre and will also give you useful feedback.

I'm writing a novel at the moment and I've sent sample chapters to agents. It's helped a lot and has been an extremely motivating experience. They've given me good advice (for free and taken time to give careful and specific feedback.

Good luck with your novel. It's an amazing achievement so far and I hope it gets published!!

GeekGirl

EileenG

geekGirl wrote: »

hi there,

Well done on finishing your novel. That is the first and most important step. Many people never get this far, so well done.

As for publishers, I'd start out trying to find an agent as they will be able to help you to find a publisher with that genre and will also give you useful feedback.

I'm writing a novel at the moment and I've sent sample chapters to agents. It's helped a lot and has been an extremely motivating experience. They've given me good advice (for free and taken time to give careful and specific feedback.

Good luck with your novel. It's an amazing achievement so far and I hope it gets published!!

GeekGirl

Read Eoin Purcell on the subject of sending unfinished work to anyone. He is seriously against it, since a chapter from an unfinished book is obviously a first draft and will need a lot of editing and polishing. Even more important, if they like it, and want to see the whole thing, you don't have it available.

Just as a matter of interest, who are the agents who gave you feedback on an unfinished novel?

bazma8

well done on finishing the book because it's the real first step on the whole process.

I read an interview with john Connelly where he said that it's not that writers are not people who write, real writers are people who finish.