Hi friends, I am writing my second book , but I am not an expert in writing although I have high ambitions. I wonder: who can I talk to about genre structure and writing style? I guess it's a biography mostly. What books do you recommend me ? I got a tips that Stephen King has a good book about writing. I also seek to get in touch with a writer who can be my mentor as well; how did you get started to write a book that sold well over 100,000 units ? And what if an editor just copy and paste your work to resell it somewhere else in another language? With hope to get your advice
Hi welcome to the site. Tips to get started - - The most obvious one first - write - if you know the particular style or genre you are writing in the Google tips on how to write a (add genre or style here) There are so many sites with tips and advice out there - ask specific questions on this site (have a good look at all the sections and topics to help you know where to post.) - some writers plan very thoroughly before they start writing and others do no planning at all. Many are in between, only planning at certain stages. Over time you will find out what works for you. - read lots of books in the style or genre you will be writing in to give an idea of what is publishable and look at what you do or don't like. If you haven't written the story yet then I wouldn't spend too long worrying about publishing and editors just yet. Hopefully over time some of the published authors o here will be able to help you. Remember that this can differ hugely by genre and country. Don't be afraid to join in and ask.
You should look for a critique group in your area. You may have to try more than one to find a group that fits with you. It is very unlikely you are going to find a single mentor unless you already know a successful writer. It takes work, it doesn't happen by magic though that's nice to dream. Hang out on writer's forums like this one. The AbsoluteWrite forum has a couple sub-forums: ask a publisher; ask an editor; ask an agent— that might be able to answer your concerns about submitting a manuscript only to have it plagiarized. It's not commonly something to fear. Also from your post it doesn't sound like the book you've written has been critiqued. You cannot learn to write without feedback from other writers. Get critique, use the feedback to seek out writing skills and techniques related to the feedback to study like homework. Write, write, write.
After writing my second book, I signed up for the Advanced Novel Writing workshop with WritersDigest. It allows you to submit your manuscript in 5-parts, to be edited and critiqued by the instructor, and also allows you to share with others in the class, read each others manuscripts as well. This workshop helped me so much; I got great advice, and it was fun too!
What is your love? It is not like a welding class that you learn how to do it and go out and make a ton of money. For most of us it is a labor of love. Your first completed readable novel will take a while and most of that time is not creative work it's just work. After getting back into for the last four years I wouldn't change a thing, except for the few times I acted like I knew more than I did.