Website How can I give away my novel without publishing?

I wrote a sci-fi novel ~30K words. I did it for fun, practice and writing therapy. I do not expect it to be published. I considered self publishing but decided against it. What venues are available to give it away to the public? I am not sure it would be very convenient to pub 30k words novel on a forum. Thanks!

 

I'm curious. If you wrote it for fun, practice and writing therapy and do not expect it to be published (and there is nothing wrong with any of that), then why would you want to "give it away to the public"? What is it you're looking to achieve?

That said, there are ways to e-publish at little or no cost to yourself. I believe you can do so via Amazon.

 

You could also investigate Smashwords. There are some other fiction sites where people publish their work, but I'm not familiar with any of them -- you could probably do a websearch, or someone here probably knows.

And of course, you could always just start a blog/webpage yourself, put the story up there, and then publicize that page in every way you can (sig lines, twitter, facebook, etc.)

 

Making it available to the public is publishing it.

 

I changed my mind about self-pub. Maybe via giveaway it can find one or two readers.

It's possibly what I am looking for. They mention FREE publishing. Thanks!

 

Why not give it a good editing and polishing job, and then submit it to science fiction magazines? If it's good enough to publish, you could make some money from it. Try the self-publishing route when you've exhausted the paying markets.

 

It was my first serious attempt at writing a book. While not all of time, I spent years writing it. In my opinion it is not the type of product that publishers would buy. On another hand I have given it to read to my friends and they say that some parts of it are fun and enjoyable. Which is why I would like it to find a reader or two outside my circles. BTW if you want it PM me and I will email you a Word copy.

 

Do you personally know any writers (aspiring or otherwise)? Ask for their opinions. See if there's a local writing/critique group and join that.

Why not? Are you worried about marketability or your writing skills?

 

Yes, some of my reviewers were writers.

With volume of solicitations that publishers receive I'm afraid my chances are slim to none, whatever the skills.

 

I suggest you launch a Kickstarter project.

Simply have a very cheap package (one dollar or perhaps less if that is supported),
and those people will receive an e-book version.

The second package would perhaps be nothing more than what you would need to print the book in paperback form,
perhaps ten dollars, and a person who pays that amount would get a paperback copy.

It is all very simply and already explained on Kickstarter.com

You could, even more fantastically,
simply post the first book online, as a proof of credibility,
and start on another one, perhaps a sequel or prequel or a story set in the same world.

This all depends on the book itself of course, so I would very much like to see it.

Publishing really has become wonderful with kickstarter.

You could perhaps also promise a few short stories to go along with it,
or a doodle and a "Thank You" letter.

Just have fun, again, but this time you make a little bit of cash, and people learn about your writing.
Win-Win.

 

So, what you're really saying is that you would like to publish it but are afraid no one will pick it up, a common condition among young writers. The answer, of course, is that you won't know if you don't try. But keep in mind that querying agents and trying to get published can also be a very good way of learning the finer points of improving your writing, even if you don't succeed in getting it published. At least, that's been my experience.

 

I'd argue that you're not in a position to know what product publishers would buy. Get it workshopped.

 

I tried submitting it to a magazine or two, no replies there. Years of writing it were fun and it's time move on. If I were to seriously expect it to be accepted by a publisher I would have had to put in even more effort in refining and probably pay a professional corrector to go over the grammar. At this point I would rather not. Last time I touched that novel was almost 3 years ago and it's just been sitting there since. My reviewers have told me that the story is ok and some parts of it are fun yet others need more refinement. I wrote an outline for it exactly almost 10 years ago and don't think about a lot of the stuff there anymore. For example one chapter is dedicated to a nuclear experiment taking place in Japan and recently there was a real life nuclear "experiment". Somehow I feel stupid about revisiting it.

 

Yes, you would have to put in more effort. All good writing requires that. And if you have to pay someone to go over the grammar, then it's most likely a lost cause to begin with.

So, why the need to foist it on others, even if only for "free"?

 

I couldn't disagree more.

I don't think it's entirely unlikable. I will post a chapter or two for review here as soon as I can.

 

Since most magazines don't accept pieces that are 30k words, I have to ask. Did you read the magazine guidelines?

 

I highly recommend AGAINST putting it out on the net at all. If it's not of at least decent quality, then it would do more harm then good. The thing to remember about writing, and the internet in general when it comes to marketing and selling products, is your brand. If you put out merde, then it'll do such harm to your brand that it'll take years to recover-and possibly never.

Don't put anything up that you're not willing to have held against you.

 

please see my post above about how that's a terrible idea.

 

If it's becoming a 'patchwork quilt,' which seems to be what you're describing, it sounds like you've voice has changed also. It's time to put it down and start another project. If you're serious about being a writer, then things like happen. I killed off a character I had for 20 years because my voice changed and ended up creating a totally different world with new characters. Ten years is a long time between putting it down and going back to work on it. I fear even the most commercially successful writers probably couldn't pull that off.

I recommend starting a new project from scratch and go forwards.

 

I am sure it is not that bad.

I have, but it's not merde. Which is why I want to get it out in the open.

 

sounds like a jab to me

 

Well, I was just asking to make sure. I've never actually seen magazines that accept pieces that long. But then again, I don't follow many sci-fi magazines.

If you haven't heard back from the magazines, you could always inquire about the status of your submission (assuming that the reporting time stated in the guidelines has passed).

 

Good advice, indeed.

 

ditto that!