advice needed!

segarox

I finished writing my novel a few days ago and I was wondering if anyone could tell if I should self-publish or not. I'm tempted to do it but I figure I'd get some help on the matter.

St._Andalou

Why not send it out to some publishers first to see if they're interested before you start looking into self publishing?

Honeycombnut

Self publishing is a great idea and is definetly on the rise these days. Check out Amazon who have started a new campaign to get people to publish their books on their website and you get to keep 70% of the profit. Of course, all the advertisment and publicity you get for your book is entirely up to yourself.

But if you've just finished your book a couple of days ago then you're probably not at that stage. I'm sure you're probably banging your head off the wall wishing it was totally done, but you should put it aside for a couple of weeks, even months (sounds crazy, I know) and go back to rewrite/edit with a fresh perspective. You'll be surprised at what will come out. You should also get as many people as you know (especially those who wouldn't normally read the stuff you're writing) to read it and critque it. Pick the people who are the most honest/brutal. Trust me, they're hard to find. Nobody wants to rag on something you've spent ages working on.

They're are also plenty of agencies out there who will take your manuscript and read it/ edit it for you, for a decent enough fee, depending on the length. They might charge €300 for first 250 pages and then extra for every 50 page after that.

In the end, even if you do self publish, sending it off to an agent or publisher can only help you. As some will give you fee back on what's wrong/right with the book.

The Writers and Artists yearbook is great and a must for every writer. The 2011 version is out now. Has a great section on self publishing.

Hope this helps. Best of luck. (Good job there's not a word limit on these things:))

segarox

thanks, do you think that novelists should have a facebook / twitter page?

Honeycombnut

Yes, definetly when they're successful. Although, personally I wouldn't be interested in checking out a twitter page for my favourite author. There's always the chance they're morons or something. If you ever check out someones twitter page it's just a bunch of random thoughts that pop into their heads during the day and, taken out of context they sound stupid. I guess it will be different when you'r novel goes global and people want to know about book tours etc. Facebook is a lot different, but you should think about developing your own website. Could be a good idea. Similar to what artists and photgraphers do. Build up a portfolio online.

EileenG

First, do what Honeycombnut suggested, and go back and rewrite, edit and polish. I promise you, if you try to publish what you have now, you will cringe with embarrassment in a year's time that you tried to foist something so far below what you can do on the public.

There's a Write Club here on Boards, where you can get a critique of some of it. Get some educated readers to go over it, and pay particular attention to any plot flaws they notice, or any bits they found boring. Check your research, so that all the details in your novel are correct.

Be prepared to spend a lot of time working on polishing your novel. The great thing about a first novel is that you are not under time pressure, so spend plenty of time on it.

What about entering it in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award?

I would definitely try to get it published commercially first. This could be print, or it could be electronic publishing. Self-publishing is an option if you have a niche market and a way to reach it, but for a general novel, it's not an ideal option. Most self-publishers end up spending more money and selling fewer books than they had expected.

Facebook, Twitter etc are all ways to generate publicity when you have a book to sell.

Jools_452

Also, you could use blogging as a means of sharing exerpts of the book! If you self-publish, send as many copies as is feasible to any publications which review books. The key will be to drum up lots of PR. Good luck!!!! You're braver than me...I think I'd still go with the safe bet and try and get published by someone else..that way you've got the professional editors etc, but you have to do 'whats right for you'-cheesy but true!

segarox

Well can anyone tell me if this sounds like a good idea. I had an idea for a TV show that parodies crime dramas and detective shows and in the last episode of series 1 the two main characters investigate the possibility they are characters in a TV show and about halfway through series 2 they discover that they are actually characters in a TV show.

I've come with other ideas for it, a meeting with the writers, employing a die hard fan who has seen every episode since the start, introducing a character who doesn't get the concept of breaking the fourth wall and other things that would break the fourth wall making it funnier.

Also, I plan to do Halloween and Christmas specials e.g. the first Halloween special is called 'The World's Greatest Detective and His Beautiful Assistant in The Mummy's Curse' and is set in London in 1883 and follows a kind of Sherlock Holmes style plot as they investigate mysterious murders at the Museum of Natural History.