No Write Way 3
Editorial: Reality Sets In.
No Write Way 1.
No Write Way 2.
So you’ve put easily a year or more of work into putting together
a solid rough draft of your novel. Many people consider this to
be the hard part, but really, it’s as good as it gets. Next comes
the tooth pulling, and then the tooth gnashing.
Why did you get into writing fiction again? It wasn’t the fame,
it certainly wasn’t the fortune, and it most likely wasn’t the
women either (notice the slow backward shuffle, the wide, terrified
eyes, as you try
to explain your novel about alienation and despair.)
Chances are, if
you got to this point, you’re in for the long haul. You realize that
even the majority of the “greats” rotted in asylums, died cold and
hungry on the side of the road, or went out of this world liver
first, and chances are, you’re not quite so great. You realize that
the availability of self publishing tools also means that the marketplace
will be crowded with even more products, many of them half-assed, all
wailing and moaning for attention. You realize all of that, but you simply
don’t care. Welcome to being an author. See, many people the common thread between authors is intelligence.
I don’t think it is. It’s stubbornness. You’ve seen the lonely darkness at
the end of the tunnel, and you simply don’t give a fuck.
When you’re finished your first draft, you need to find distance, and you
need other perspectives. If you are one of those rare authors who keeps
friends, you can probably find your input from them, supposing they
are literate and honest. Otherwise, you’re going to need to scout out
forums on the Internet that exist for this very purpose. I suggest
giving out your book as a PDF rather than a document. You can control your
content easier this way, and it also tends to push people to print it out
and read it. One easy way to get your text in PDF is
is to use Open Office,
which is an open source
word processor. (It can also read and save in Word format.)
I also suggest
keeping a backup copy in the very unlikely event that someone
“steals your work.” (Listen: your work may be good, but chances are
no one’s going to steal it.)
If possible find at least 10 people who are actually going to read the
book and give you some useful input. During the time that other people
are reading your book, work on something else. Get distance, as I said,
so that you can come back to it from a different perspective. Go to
Thailand, pick up some newfangled disease, learn how to knit little
kitten-ear hats, pick up a new drug habit. Whatever it takes.
When you get your feedback from them, you need to learn the ability to take in
people’s opinions, without taking them too seriously. This
is a very tricky balance, as you can err on one side by simply ignoring
all the input you receive, and on the other, but taking everything in,
and going on bad advice, or worse yet- locking yourself up in your room, blaring
emo music, and shredding your manuscript in a cloud of tears and
bad hair. Consider their input a “market reaction,” not editorial
advice from God. If you can peg where their perspective is coming from,
you can start to get a sense of how it is going to play out in the
minds of those with a similar stance. (Also, keep a rubber mallet around
to hit them with if they describe your book as “good” or “bad.” Those
terms are totally useless when it comes to critique.)
Go back to your work with that input in mind, and play with the big
picture. The arrangement of scenes, the portrayal of characters. If you
remember, during your first draft writing process you’re paying attention to
nothing other than the demands of the work itself. Now you are bringing in
some other perspectives, sanding it down, reshaping it, without damaging
the core. Once again, it’s a matter of balance, and I’m sure it’s a process
that takes a lifetime to perfect.
After this you can repeat the ‘test market’ phase as many times as you
feel is necessary. Ultimately, you must move into smaller picture
editorial, and this is where you either need to find or hire a competent
editor. Worst case scenario, find a detail-oriented, well-read, obsessive grammar Nazi
and bring them to your aid. Yes, at times, they will suggest changes that don’t
mesh with your “artistic vision.” You get to make the final call on that, if
you’re self publishing. More often then not, you’ll find that their advice is
correct, artistic vision be damned.
If you’re like me, by this point it’s probably been two or three years
since you came on that first “seed idea” that started your novel… You
may want a break. Learn how to play the guitar, or find a cure for that
disease you picked up in Thailand. Eventually you have to move from editorial to
layout.
But before we get into layout, you have to pick a printer- as each printer
will most likely require slightly different settings in the files you send them.
I know from experience that changing printers last minute can be a real
hair pulling nightmare.
Next time, we’ll go over some of the different printing and distribution
options out there, and some of the layout basics.
Oh yeah, finally, speaking of novels… My most recent, Fallen Nation:
Babylon Burning, will be available before the month is through. Sign
up at Mythosmedia.net to be alerted of it’s release.
ADDENUDUM – Fallen Nation: Babylon Burning is now available on Amazon.
loading...
11 Comments
You’d really think that about the no stealing thing. But someone tried to bootleg my ebook, they were selling a bootlegged copy right next to my copy in the Amazon Kindle store. I notified the Amazon legal department and they removed it, but it was like, huh? And their version was 19 cents more expensive than mine and had a blurry cover. I swear to god, some people, dude. You gotta watch em. Hide all your socks and underwear, they’ll come after that shit too.
*you can delete this comment, just posting it to subscribe to thread, forgot if i did already or not.
A bootleg like that is annoying but doesn’t provide any real competition. (Especially if they’re pricing themselves out of the game.) The kind of “theft” most people are afraid of is for instance a major studio taking your idea and making it into a movie and not giving you a cent. Which is a potential issue but, by and large, that’s mostly a concern if you’re actively pitching it.
There will be exceptions, of course.
Oh of course not, lol. But it’s like, people will still try stupid stuff. True, but if have a registered copyright, if a big company stole from you and made money you’d be entitled to every penny. Same if a small company did it. Though that truly is unlikely.
If you’re putting your work out there though it just makes sense to formally register the copyright.
I agree. Though technically everything you produce is copyrighted- and you have one hell of a precedent for authorship if twenty thousand people can vouch for it.
I usually use Creative Commons for most of my digital work. Attribution, share-alike, usually non-commercial though it depends- I’m fine with people creating their own “derivative” works, giving attribution but profiting off of it. I actually plan to write an article about that in the future- about my preference for the use of mythological characters and themes because they are by their very nature open source.
hehe playing devil’s advocate, yes everything you produce is copyrighted, but in order to be able to legally sue for damages you have to have a legal registered copyright. Even if you can prove the work is yours you don’t have the legal right to sue for damages without a registered copyright, per the copyright office.
And I love you calling mythological creatures “open source” haha. that’s great.
If that’s the case then I’ve been mislead by several entertainment lawyers because that’s not what I was told. (I was told that it’s simply easier to do so if you’ve registered the copyright.) I have copyrights on my primary published works anyhow but find that interesting. Do you have references I could check out?
From the US copyright official government website FAQ page:
Do I have to register with your office to be protected?
No. In general, registration is voluntary. Copyright exists from the moment the work is created. You will have to register, however, if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section “Copyright Registration.”
So basically… you have to register and if you don’t register, you’re SOL. I have no idea why they don’t just come out and SAY you have to register, since if you can’t bring a lawsuit for infringement without it, what is the point of this nebulous automatic copyright.
and the website is: http://www.copyright.gov
Yeah that makes no sense. I feel like there’s some piece of the story missing here.
What I *think* and this is totally personal opinion with nothing really to back it up, so it’s pretty worthless…
Is that if someone were to come to you and try to say that your work belonged to them, if you could prove it was really your work, you’re safe. But you can’t claim any financial damages. So you may theoretically be able to protect your right to use your own work, but you can’t go out and sue someone.
So it seems like it’s pointless without the legal copyright. It’s not that expensive, so I think there is no reason not to just register it and be safe.
It’s like using condoms. You just gotta do it. Even if it pinches a little.