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The Business of Writing and Publishing


Robinski

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Hey, everyone!

I do believe there is something of a consensus that having a thread to collect posts, news, questions and general chit-chat on the business elements of writing would be a useful thing. So, here it is. The thread name is self-explanatory, I hope (but also kind of boring, so open to suggestions for a snappier name.)

Cheers, Robinski

p.s. @Silk, I wonder if this might be pinned? I don't think there's too much clutter at the top of the forum.

Edited by Robinski
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100% here for this thread! For what it's worth, I'm agented and published with both small and midsize presses, so am very happy to talk about the rollercoaster of that experience, if needed.

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  • Silk pinned this topic
On 4/9/2020 at 11:59 AM, shatteredsmooth said:

I've been published with a small presses and have gone through four failed attempts to get an agent. Attempt five coming soon. 

Once we're going on writing experience, I've completed a rough draft of one novel with a friend for NaNoWriMo, and am currently trying to write another which will hopefully end up under the lens of reading excuses.

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I have no publishing experience (yet!), but keep a running publishers/writers reference sheet were I keep track of everything I find or that has been recommended to me by wiser and more experienced writers (like the ones here!):

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Y7fORDdp-Txszy0il4SQI1PosOlLaVNQNGq49FjASkQ/edit?usp=drivesdk

Contents currently include these categories:

The Publishing Industry:

  • The Big Five
  • Notable Imprints
  • Other Publishing Companies

The Writing Community:

  • Organizations
  • Conventions
  • Awards
  • Contests
  • Magazines and Other News Sources

Resources:

  • Querying/Market/Agent Resources
  • Podcasts
  • Blogs
  • Books
  • Workshops
  • Acronyms
  • Other Resources
Edited by Snakenaps
Added the categories
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2 hours ago, Sarah B said:

This might be off topic for this thread but does anyone have an epub publishing/formatting program that they use and like? Preferably that works with windows?

Use Calibre. It's free to download, easy to use, and can covert between docx, epub, mobi, and pdf. I use it for all my formatting. You can even make changes to the epub code directly if you want.

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8 hours ago, Mandamon said:

Use Calibre. It's free to download, easy to use, and can covert between docx, epub, mobi, and pdf. I use it for all my formatting. You can even make changes to the epub code directly if you want.

Awesome! Thank you! I've heard good things about Vellum but it's not PC compatable and costs quite a bit. 

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11 hours ago, Sarah B said:

Awesome! Thank you! I've heard good things about Vellum but it's not PC compatable and costs quite a bit. 

Yep, Vellum is only on Mac, which is a sticking point for me too. I've heard that Vellum does a lot more however. Calibre is more on the publishing side and less on the formatting. If you get as much formatting done as possible before you transfer to Calibre, it works better.

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@Mandamon Thank you! I'm a ways off from actually publishing still but I want to start researching and learning the ropes now so I am familiar when it's time. I still have a few chapters and then massive editing to do but it seemed like knowing how to edit to suit the program would be a good idea.

I keep seeing scrivner listed amoung the best epublishers and they have a ton of advertising on different podcasts, nanowrimo, etc. I haven't been tempted so far because I write on my phone with a Bluetooth keyboard most days. Can I ask if you have tried scrivner and/or what you didn't like about it? 

If not, no worries!

Thanks again!

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I recommend Scrivener. It's a one off payment.

With reference to the self-edited image below: The red blocks are chapters. Within those folders are pages, each one containing a scene. The blue box is (obviously) where you write. The black box is a space for a synopsis. I use this to note where I want a scene to go. There's a corkboard tab in the top middle. Pressing it arranges folders by their synopses and arranges them like sticky notes on a board, for easy viewing/rearranging.

Then there are the separate tabs on the left. The Template Sheets tab holds title-page and dedication info. Research contains anything you want; mine is full of story-theory notes and images, such as of period dress (particularly good when used in conjunction with the split-screen function, allowing me to write while looking at an image.) Setting and Character speak for themselves. You can create links between any of these folders, which is great.

I got it a few weeks ago and it's honestly revolutionised how I write. I couldn't go back to a dozen word documents now.

Spoiler

Pic.thumb.png.f51537c041b6bcd805a16a2714089d8c.png

 

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1 hour ago, Sarah B said:

I keep seeing scrivner listed amoung the best epublishers and they have a ton of advertising on different podcasts, nanowrimo, etc. I haven't been tempted so far because I write on my phone with a Bluetooth keyboard most days. Can I ask if you have tried scrivner and/or what you didn't like about it? 

I've heard a lot of people say Scrivener really helps how they write. I think its methods of organization are really good. That said, I tried it, but couldn't get into it. I really disliked having to go to a different "document" for each chapter. I think it's a personal preference, as I tend to be pretty organized already, and trying to fit my organization into Scrivener just didn't work. I use good old Word, but I use a lot of the header and formatting properties, so I can easily jump to sections I want. I usually have an outline document, the book document, and another document with revisions and notes. That way I can have one document open on each screen (I have two monitors) if I need to refer to notes or feedback. I may end up with a spreadsheet or two as well, based on if I need any calculations or tables in my worldbuilding.

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Yeah, my method is similar to Mandamon's by the sound of it. I like having the flexibility of different (Word) docs. I don't use enough of the features, but Mac is really good with split screen, super, super easy. I don't have two minors, but just bash away with two 'facing' docs for writing and notes. I leave a fair few notes in the body of my text in different colours. I don't use enough of Word's features. That's something I should work on.

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On 7/4/2020 at 2:45 PM, TheDwarfyOne said:

I recommend Scrivener. It's a one off payment.

 

On 7/4/2020 at 4:00 PM, Mandamon said:

I've heard a lot of people say Scrivener really helps how they write. I think its methods of organization are really good.

I personally use Scrivener. I no longer have Word for free since I've graduated college, and I refused to get another subscription service. It's already bad enough I spend $10 a month/$120 a year for Photoshop. There was no way I was going to do another $100 a year for Word. I tried Google Docs, but with my internet, the poor program began getting slower and slower to load. By the time I reached 56 pages, I was noticing a definite lag when typing and began looking into other programs. 

Scrivener for $50, one time, with a free upgrade to Scrivener 3 when it comes out for Windows? Yes please! 

I absolutely adore its corkboard and the little index card summaries. I find that its methods of organization are fantastic for what I need. Google Doc's outline was handy, but I love being able to see a quick summary of an entire arc in the blink of an eye. Not to mention, Scrivener's customizable full screen mode keeps me from reading webcomics when I should be writing. I also love how I can set targets for myself to reach, such as wanting to writing 1,000 words a day, and watch that bar grow green as I type. Not to mention, I have a folder full of cut scenes, and I love seeing that grow (over 26,000 words of cut scenes, whoo!). I also have keywords, where I can track Plot A and Subplots B, C, and D, or visit locations or characters to make sure I'm staying consistent. 

The major drawback to Scrivener is that it doesn't have a grammar checker. As I'm revising, I now have a page on Google Docs dedicated to copying and pasting scenes, checking for grammar errors, fixing them in Scrivener, and then deleting that scene in Google Docs before starting from scratch. It's a pain in my rump. 

I think it is all a matter of preference, and what sort of writer you are. I'm highly organized, and so the capabilities of Scrivener really help me. 

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The more I hear about it, the more I am tempted to try Scrivener. All those folks can't be wrong, can they? (I mean, large numbers of people have been wrong about things before, but...:unsure: ).

Okay, major plus point straight away for the free trial--30 days, but only on the days you use it--so, use it once a week the trial lasts 30 weeks! Also, twelve older versions available to DL if you have an older operating system (I guess?). I am definitely going to try it next time I start a project from scratch.

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7 hours ago, Snakenaps said:

I no longer have Word for free since I've graduated college, and I refused to get another subscription service.

I should probably also mention I still use Word 2010 because I really hate the newer versions.

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9 minutes ago, Snakenaps said:
54 minutes ago, Sarah B said:

Has anyone had to wrangle their own cover art? Any tips? I am looking into/thinking about self publishing.

I know @Mandamon has experience in this

Yep. @Sarah B I've been through three cover artists and a cover layout company. It depends greatly on what you're willing to spend and what quality you want. That said, if you're going to self-pub, quality and content on book covers very much matters. You can spend anywhere from $150 on a passable cover to $2000+ on something incredible. As usual, the best value is probably somewhere in between.

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