Feedback on Book Concept Wanted

[Quickening666]

Hey everyone,

Over the last few weeks I've been working on a book with the intention of having it published early on in 2012. Originally I was just going to go the print on demand route mainly because I then have more control over my own work. However over the last few days I've been thinking that perhaps I might try and have it published "normally".

I would just like to ask your opinions on a certain matter. The book is not a single story but rather, a collection of five stories. They are all standalone and the only thing they share in common is being based in the same fictional world.
The thing is I often think that some stories simply don't need to be novels. I often come across people struggling to write and discover that all they're really doing is desperately trying to make it longer because they have this idea that somehow the longer the story, the better it is which is of course silly.

Now when I was planning to go the print on demand route this was no issue because I can do whatever I like. I'm just curious how people, and therefore a publisher, would view my book idea. My reasoning for having several seperate stories in a single book is that I personally enjoy reading shorter stories and I've always enjoyed short story (or novella) collections far more than novels. I also think that in a time when people are busier than ever, it's just far more convienient. What I want to ask you is whether you think a publisher would think the same way and if you yourselves would buy such a book. Would the fact it's a collection of shorter stories make you want to buy it more, or put you off? Indifferent?

I'm just trying to gauge how people might respond generally.

 

[Brawndo]

I'm actually working on something myself, and while unfortunately I don't have the time right now to sit down and read your drafts to give you feedback, I would like to ask a question. I don't know anything about the publishing side of books... how would budding authors get their material looked at seriously? Should we first post our drafts for peer-review on some forum and hope to get noticed?

Thanks.

Oh btw, I'd more willing to sit down and read short stories from an unknown author than invest 8-10 hours in a 300+ page novel. Once I get started I tend to want to finish even if the novel is bad, and if it is, I get annoyed I wasted my time.

 

[Harkonnen64]

You should read this book I borrowed from a friend's once called "Thieves' World." A bunch of different authors came together to create their own short stories where their characters interact with each other in a single fantasy city. It's pretty neat and sounds similar to your premise, except that it was worked on by several people.

 

[Quickening666]

I'm actually working on something myself, and while unfortunately I don't have the time right now to sit down and read your drafts to give you feedback, I would like to ask a question. I don't know anything about the publishing side of books... how would budding authors get their material looked at seriously? Should we first post our drafts for peer-review on some forum and hope to get noticed?

Thanks.

I wasn't planning on showing any of my drafts. I was just curious about that one issue.

In the past you could just send your work off to the publisher and they would respond to you but in the present day, with technology being what it is, they just get so many submissions that you need an agent first. It really is a long and difficult road so you have to really want it and be prepared to be rejected again and again.

I'm not sure about your final question. There might be forums set up for that purpose but I wouldn't go and post material you intend to have published on just any forum.

 

[MetaMop]

I've bought plenty of books that were collections of short stories or novellas and I enjoy them. They're good for light reading or if you just want a quick story rather than a massive one. Usually better for me anyway, because when I start a book I usually go through the whole thing in one go. I've been up for the best part of 2 days reading the Dark Tower series.

 

[Kpt._Rob]

There are lots of people who sell short stories, that said, where publishers will be hesitant to publish a full length book by someone who hasn't published before, they will be even more hesitant to publish a set of short stories from an author who hasn't been established.

I realize that there are a lot of restraints that are placed on an author if (s)he tries to get published in a magazine (though publishing with an online magazine can lift some of those restraints), but it is the most reliable way to get established as an author.

My advice, if you want to get published, is to start looking into magazines that might publish your work (particularly e-zines to start with). Write for them and wait to try and get a collection of short stories published for when you've already established a small body of work.

 

[Quickening666]

There are lots of people who sell short stories, that said, where publishers will be hesitant to publish a full length book by someone who hasn't published before, they will be even more hesitant to publish a set of short stories from an author who hasn't been established.

I realize that there are a lot of restraints that are placed on an author if (s)he tries to get published in a magazine (though publishing with an online magazine can lift some of those restraints), but it is the most reliable way to get established as an author.

My advice, if you want to get published, is to start looking into magazines that might publish your work (particularly e-zines to start with). Write for them and wait to try and get a collection of short stories published for when you've already established a small body of work.

That... sounds like very good advice actually. Of course it's frustrating if you have an idea you really want to see realised but yeah, I'm looking into that now. Thanks for that.

 

[Some_weirdGuy]

You need to have points where the stories cross over/ reference each other. They don't need to join, but having points where the characters cross paths, or events from one have effect on another, or someone from another stories name crops up, things like that, are good. That's what I would specifically be looking for in those stories if I read them, and so if your stories don't have that I would be sorely disappointed.

 

[BENZOOKA]

There are lots of books already with similar concepts. They should somehow join to each other though.

Quenta Silmarillion for the win.

 

[KoolKomedian]

Dude if you want to hear some of the best advice for writing/publishing check out The Dragon Page Cover to Cover Postcast.
http://www.dragonpage.com/

Every week they offer lots of great advice on writing, how to get published, and where the literature market is heading with in the next few years. Right now we're in a weird period where the traditional publishing market is about to completely change. With both publishers and bookshops closing left and right, and the huge upsurge of ebooks, the market will be vastly different with in a few years.

Also a word of practical advice, please do not take this as an offense. If you really are planning to have this published in 2012 and you haven't even hired a book agent, well I'm sorry bro, but that dream probably won't come true. If you do plan on going the traditional route plan on a few years of rejection delays, cause the publishing world is a hard market to break into, and its getting harder everyday. That being said I hope you do make it, and I hope one day I'll be reading your book on my iPad.

 

[Quickening666]

Dude if you want to hear some of the best advice for writing/publishing check out The Dragon Page Cover to Cover Postcast.
http://www.dragonpage.com/

Every week they offer lots of great advice on writing, how to get published, and where the literature market is heading with in the next few years. Right now we're in a weird period where the traditional publishing market is about to completely change. With both publishers and bookshops closing left and right, and the huge upsurge of ebooks, the market will be vastly different with in a few years.

Also a word of practical advice, please do not take this as an offense. If you really are planning to have this published in 2012 and you haven't even hired a book agent, well I'm sorry bro, but that dream probably won't come true. If you do plan on going the traditional route plan on a few years of rejection delays, cause the publishing world is a hard market to break into, and its getting harder everyday. That being said I hope you do make it, and I hope one day I'll be reading your book on my iPad.

Sorry, I should clarify that I meant early 2012 assuming I went the print on demand route which was actually another bonus to that method. I have no problem with being rejected, but waiting months on end to be rejected would just be torture.

Regarding what THE PREVIOUS COMMENTER (edit, it's late) and some_weirdGuy said about the stories relating... well they will certainly reference one another. You see the stories are set in different ages of a fictional epoch. So the first story takes place in its prehistory, the next in that worlds equivalent to ancient times and so on. So what the stories do illustrate is how the world as a whole develops and of course you have a unique protagonist in each age. I mean, I like the idea. But then again, it's my idea haha.

 

[Kpt._Rob]

There are lots of people who sell short stories, that said, where publishers will be hesitant to publish a full length book by someone who hasn't published before, they will be even more hesitant to publish a set of short stories from an author who hasn't been established.

I realize that there are a lot of restraints that are placed on an author if (s)he tries to get published in a magazine (though publishing with an online magazine can lift some of those restraints), but it is the most reliable way to get established as an author.

My advice, if you want to get published, is to start looking into magazines that might publish your work (particularly e-zines to start with). Write for them and wait to try and get a collection of short stories published for when you've already established a small body of work.

That... sounds like very good advice actually. Of course it's frustrating if you have an idea you really want to see realised but yeah, I'm looking into that now. Thanks for that.

Well I hope it's helpful, I was, for a very brief period of time, a creative writing major, and long before that I was an aspiring writer, ultimately I never made anything of it, but I did still spend quite a bit of time looking into how people get established as writers. There's a book that's published every year called the Novel and Short Story Writer's Market, and it's a really good resource for an aspiring writer. It's full of advice from authors who are currently writing, and it has a sizable list of magazines that are accepting submissions as well as general information about those magazines, what they're looking for, etc... The other book I would suggest is On Writing by Stephen King, it's partially his memoirs, but the last half of the book is his advice to authors, including information on getting published, finding an agent, etc... Whether you like the man's work or not there's no denying the powerful literary force that he's become, and it's hard to imagine that one could find someone better suited to advising aspiring writers.

Best of luck with your writing!

 

[Quickening666]

There are lots of people who sell short stories, that said, where publishers will be hesitant to publish a full length book by someone who hasn't published before, they will be even more hesitant to publish a set of short stories from an author who hasn't been established.

I realize that there are a lot of restraints that are placed on an author if (s)he tries to get published in a magazine (though publishing with an online magazine can lift some of those restraints), but it is the most reliable way to get established as an author.

My advice, if you want to get published, is to start looking into magazines that might publish your work (particularly e-zines to start with). Write for them and wait to try and get a collection of short stories published for when you've already established a small body of work.

That... sounds like very good advice actually. Of course it's frustrating if you have an idea you really want to see realised but yeah, I'm looking into that now. Thanks for that.

Well I hope it's helpful, I was, for a very brief period of time, a creative writing major, and long before that I was an aspiring writer, ultimately I never made anything of it, but I did still spend quite a bit of time looking into how people get established as writers. There's a book that's published every year called the Novel and Short Story Writer's Market, and it's a really good resource for an aspiring writer. It's full of advice from authors who are currently writing, and it has a sizable list of magazines that are accepting submissions as well as general information about those magazines, what they're looking for, etc... The other book I would suggest is On Writing by Stephen King, it's partially his memoirs, but the last half of the book is his advice to authors, including information on getting published, finding an agent, etc... Whether you like the man's work or not there's no denying the powerful literary force that he's become, and it's hard to imagine that one could find someone better suited to advising aspiring writers.

Best of luck with your writing!

If you don't mind me asking, what is your opinion on the print on demand route? I have done a considerable amount of research on what the best method of publishing would be. Print on demand seemed like the best way because like I said I maintain complete control (I had Lightning Source in mind). The other obvious alternative was to go the ebook route but I personally hate the idea of sitting in front of my monitor and reading a book and according to the information I've gathered, most people still do prefer reading physical books.

 

[Kpt._Rob]

There are lots of people who sell short stories, that said, where publishers will be hesitant to publish a full length book by someone who hasn't published before, they will be even more hesitant to publish a set of short stories from an author who hasn't been established.

I realize that there are a lot of restraints that are placed on an author if (s)he tries to get published in a magazine (though publishing with an online magazine can lift some of those restraints), but it is the most reliable way to get established as an author.

My advice, if you want to get published, is to start looking into magazines that might publish your work (particularly e-zines to start with). Write for them and wait to try and get a collection of short stories published for when you've already established a small body of work.

That... sounds like very good advice actually. Of course it's frustrating if you have an idea you really want to see realised but yeah, I'm looking into that now. Thanks for that.

Well I hope it's helpful, I was, for a very brief period of time, a creative writing major, and long before that I was an aspiring writer, ultimately I never made anything of it, but I did still spend quite a bit of time looking into how people get established as writers. There's a book that's published every year called the Novel and Short Story Writer's Market, and it's a really good resource for an aspiring writer. It's full of advice from authors who are currently writing, and it has a sizable list of magazines that are accepting submissions as well as general information about those magazines, what they're looking for, etc... The other book I would suggest is On Writing by Stephen King, it's partially his memoirs, but the last half of the book is his advice to authors, including information on getting published, finding an agent, etc... Whether you like the man's work or not there's no denying the powerful literary force that he's become, and it's hard to imagine that one could find someone better suited to advising aspiring writers.

Best of luck with your writing!

If you don't mind me asking, what is your opinion on the print on demand route? I have done a considerable amount of research on what the best method of publishing would be. Print on demand seemed like the best way because like I said I maintain complete control (I had Lightning Source in mind). The other obvious alternative was to go the ebook route but I personally hate the idea of sitting in front of my monitor and reading a book and according to the information I've gathered, most people still do prefer reading physical books.

Well, I'd be a liar to say that I'm an expert on self-publication methods. At the time that I was looking into this I believe that, apart from a traditional method of publishing (as in, through a publisher) the only alternative was vanity press, which struck me as such an incredibly bad idea that I didn't look into it any further. I'm not all too familiar with "print on demand," but I'm going to assume that it refers to a system in which the book is custom printed each time someone orders it. If that's the case, what I would probably say is that whether or not its advantages outweigh its disadvantages really depends on what you want to get out of writing a book.

Now, like I've said I'm not an expert on these things, so anything I say should be taken with a grain of salt, but it seems to me that it would probably be incredibly difficult to develop a career as an author through any self-publishing method. Established publishers offer some significant advantages to the career author, they have the resources to properly market and publicize a book, and even though, from the author's perspective, having the hands of an editor in your work is undesirable, the fact of the matter is that while they're not always right editors are professionals who know not only the technical things an author sometimes overlooks, but also has a good grasp on the things that can make or break a book from the customer's perspective. If you want to make a living as an author, having a publisher is probably a necessity. Even beyond that, there is a fairly sizable stigma associated with self-published books. Most people tend to believe that a self published book is a book that no one thought was good enough to publish, and if that's the case, why would they spend invest their time and money to read it? This means that unless you can afford to have the book marketed, your customer base will probably consist of your family, friends, and anyone you personally convince to buy the book. It is also possible to tour, visiting bookstores that agree to host you with copies of your book to sell, but that's a sizable time investment, and you'd probably have to have another job on the side in order to earn a living.

The only case in which I would suggest self-publishing is that of authors who consider their work to be high art, and are unwilling to compromise it for commercial success. I have yet to find an author who I felt fell into this category (doubtless they exist, but are the rarest of gems), but Tristan Newcomb's films (specifically Only Interstellar Pinball Lives Forever) would be excellent examples of this case. This case applies to works that are so far outside of the norms of their medium as to make commercial success nearly impossible. The rest of the self-published industry is populated mostly by people from one of two groups, those who were too afraid of rejection to try traditional publishing even though they have the talent, and more often, those who are genuinely bad writers.

The point that I've been slowly rambling my way towards here is that, unless you consider your stories to be experimental high art too far ahead of its time to be accepted by the average reader, I would strongly suggest getting published by an established publisher. Writing as a career is a job, and like all jobs, it's not perfect. Making compromises with an editor can be hard, but it is important, and realizing that it's still your story even if you have to change some of it is, in most cases, a sign of maturity as an author. You haven't said much about your story here, but from what little you've described it sounds like a genre piece, which means that it is probably not inordinately experimental. If that's the case, even though getting accepted by a publisher is a lot of work, in the long run it will pay off much more than self-publishing.