Good points. When I got back my ms, I also got a 'Mini Critique' (quite comprehensive actually, despite the 'mini'...) and her Editing Notes. Both were very honest. When the opening sentence of the critique is 'The prologue is too long and also a bit boring', you know you're in for it. But seriously, that was only about a year ago and I've taken a lot of her suggestions on board and find it has improved my current writing.
Yes I am very interested in this as well Tom - I am seriously considering self publishing in a couple of years time if I haven't managed to go down the traditional root.
As I have said. I have been reviewing my manuscript personally today, to try and see where a proofreader might alter things. Typos etc. Once I get the feedback from the proofreader, I have found areas in which I know I could improve on to help me complete it. I have been watching Sharpe on Dvd over the last week and certain aspects have interested me to borrow for my manuscript. Even the way in which Sharpe is played by Sean Bean and the other actors, has allowed me to picture my own characters as if in a film. In one episode of Sharpe it mentions Voltaire. Curiosity getting the better of me to find out who he was. Having never heard of him before, I decided to research more about Voltaire to make sure he was real. Quite interesting what I found on the Net. I was looking at some of his quotes and without being involved in a form of plagiarism, I was thinking I could rework some of them into my own words to make them fit into a Vampire world. Using them as a sentence structure but turning them into a characters speech. The way they are said, quite interested me for some of the older characters in my story to use as speech. But as I said completely new words, without quoting his words. Has anyone else borrowed a format or idea from Authors of yesteryear without getting too deep in copyright infringements? Maybe had I seen the episode first before sending the manuscript, it would have definitely cost me more because I would have added it. Never mind, its all a learning curve. As one of my trade trainers once told me years ago 'Failure is Not an Option.' I don't intend to with this work. But, Que Sera Sera?
Finally got my Proofread manuscript back today. I am very happy with their comments and corrections. I'm glad that I decided to go with them as it will now help with future works. I might use them again if I ever get stuck! They only took out 147 words and changed some. No major changes made grammatically, I guessing my writing wasn't too bad after all. Now I just need to slip in the new elements, making sure they follow the flow of the manuscript. I recommend to anyone who finds themselves in a rut to get their work checked by a professional? It worked for me and it definitely wont take me another 10 years to complete now.
Very much so. It wasn't too expensive and for what they did do, was exactly what I needed. Now I just need to finish my manuscript and make the decision on do I Self-publish or find an Agent/ Publisher. I'm still deciding because I keep changing my mind. Its not an easy choice to make. I have the finances to Self-publish and yet an Agent/ Publisher might take more care of my work. Then again I could be waiting months or years to see it in print because of the constant rejection. I find that choice harder than deciding if I want a cup of tea or a cup of coffee!
Cool that's good to hear. I'm in a similar boat, in that I'm working on editing my ms and deciding what steps to take after that...
Yeah, but you could also have the instant gratification that is often people's motivation to self-published, and have the novel you've worked so hard on simply collect dust and drown in obscurity. My concern is you seem to be fine on financing, but not on time. Do you have the time to support a self-published endeavor? People often assuming their work has ended when they click the 'self-published NOW' button, but really your work has just begun. And I'm of the opinion the only time it's worth actually self publishing is if the work is good enough that you feasibly could find success with it through traditional publishing. Many people self-publish because they know the work won't hold up in traditional publishing routes, so just self-publish because they just want the work out there and don't care what becomes of it, at least they can then say they're published. If you're wanting to take a serious shot at being a profession author, I'd only self-published after verifiable proof your manuscript is 'good enough' for traditional publishing. Sure, there are those rare exceptions where someone self-publishes and end up rich and famous (after a TON of work, usually), but are you going to trust your future as an author on a one in a million chance at getting really lucky? So, imo, the time to consider self-publishing is when you have agent interest, and are thinking from a business perspective what you want to do, have more control and higher profit-per-sale self-publishing, or go traditional and have a bit more security and an agent to do most of the leg work when it comes to contracts and marketing. Going self-publishing because it seems easier, faster and less work, is a mistake though, because it only is those things if you self-publish and then let your manuscript slip into obscurity (which is what a lot of people do, and then blame the world for not understanding their genius, since their self-published and utterly un-supported novel didn't become the next big thing).
I had 55867 words to begin with. After proofreading it dropped to 55720. Since I got it back and have added a couple more bits that continue the flow and am back up to 55858 at the moment. I still have enough to add, that I thought of whilst it was away for proofreading to easily clear the 70000 mark. I had a thought though! I remember in my youth reading books at school that had a short story at the end of the main one. Still by the same author but a new story altogether. Possibly to entice the reader to the authors next novel or just a short story! As some people have said, so far I don't have enough in my current manuscript. That I can agree with at the moment but I am working on it. If I choose to for example, a self-published route and decide not to continue with the manuscript anymore (I don't want to ruin it with too much padding and irrelevant information!). I had thought about piggy-backing one of my other shorter stories on the end. To give me an incentive to finish that one or just leave it as a short story! Like ones I use to read at school! Or possibly write an opening chapter for a possible sequel to the one I just had proofread. Anyone done a similar thing to their Novels? Or is it just a bad idea I should leave as a daft thought?
Hi, Just on the self-publishing, there's a number of reasons to go down that road. For me it was initially that I had no agent interest in my first book, so it was that or nothing, plus of course more rejection letters, and after a while they do get to you. But also self publishing allows you greater control over your work, and so if you want to through another short story on the end, or you don't think the work needs to be seventy thousand or more words, it will allow you to do what and agent / publisher would possibly want you to change. My advice, finish the work, then try the agents / publishers route, then if you have run out of hope, or the feedback tells you to alter things in a way you don't want, self-publish. Cheers.
As an English teacher myself, I can tell you that we do know a thing or two about grammar, and we are used to editing things. However, we know absolutely nothing about publishing or the market for novel writing. I'm trying to eke my way along on that end myself and have considered getting someone's perspective on some of my short stories in terms of correcting inconsistencies with characters and the like. As suggested by Cogito, I would keep the manuscript with notes on file so that you can refer back to it next time you are proofreading or revising yourself.
Cheers for that advice. Its given me a lot to think about. Really getting more and more motivated now to make it work. Just need to polish the last few areas then I can finally put it to bed. I already have areas in which I could take this story into a sequel or stretch out a saga. Kind of like Anne Rice's vampire novels, they are all character linked in some way! I like that for an idea. Cheers all.
I'm so glad to have things backed up on dongles. My other Laptop crashed yesterday and I thought I'd lost all my hard work. Argh! Hunted high and low for my back-up dongle, heart was pounding. Atleast I've got a spare laptop till I get mine sorted. All I have to do is add the bits I did lastnight and I'm back to where things went belly up. I've got the areas written down and the exact location to insert them too.
