New answers tagged publishing
-3
You could also suggest to the family that you would like to self publish his work on Smashwords - which costs you nothing initially except your time - it will probably take you a couple of weeks to type, proofread and format the manuscript. They give full instructions on how to do this. Then Smashwords convert the ebook into different e formats and ...
6
For what it's worth I think what you're trying to do is awesome!
As @Surtsey's answer (correctly) points out the work is still copyrighted regardless of the absence of an explicit copyright notice.
Assuming US copyright law applies here (you don't mention a locale so apologies if that is incorrect) then, unless some other entity had acquired it, ownership ...
1
This question addresses what I think you should do (not whether or not you can legally publish).
Make every effort you can to contact people who might care about the ms. That would be his family first, if you can find them.
A google search finds several organizations devoted to submariners. Here's one: http://www.isausa.org/ . They might be interested in ...
9
You cannot publish the work without permission. It was copyrighted the moment it was written. The fact that you 'purchased' the manuscript is no defence. By that token I could 'publish' all the books I have purchased. You need to purchase the copyright from the family.
0
Trad publishers are far better for this. How would you market and sell it yourself? How would you compete against vetted books by publishers if you are not a very famous name in the field already?
If your name is Einstein or Hawking then self publishing would make you more money. Charging less while still making more because you get a bigger slice ...
3
I agree with Surtsey's answer: one thing are stylistic choices and characterization, another is fixing mistakes during a revision.
If the problem is "i tend to overwrite", the only solution will be passing the novel through another revision where you specifically take care of this aspect, cutting down unnecessary words, simplyfing sentences, synthetizing ...
answered Nov 25 at 8:07
Liquid - Reinstate Monica
15.2k3 gold badges40 silver badges108 bronze badges
0
Mostly no. They are just money makers for the people creating them.
If you want to sell a mss it is easier to sell what they want to buy than to convince them to buy what you want to sell.
1
I hate competitions. In a competition, many people submit their work. For the majority, there is no feedback, and no positive outcome. It does not make you better, while creating stress.
Now say you can find some sort of a group, either a class or a group of writers. It could be one other writer. Each time you meet, you read something you have written, and ...
0
You're conflating two unrelated issues. When it all boils down, a first person account is basically all dialogue (others, no doubt, will disagree). You cannot run a character voice through grammar software - people don't talk like the OED.
I hate to burst everybody's bubble but novel writing is not an academic exercise. After marketing, the success of the ...
0
Creative work builds on what has come before it; it's not so much the elements of the story that matter, as how you put them together. One plot line can be written in so many different ways, and still be published (basically all the YA fiction out there). In the end, it's your writing, not theirs, and that by default makes it original.
2
I'll give another option:
8) Split a major (sub)plot in half, and move the 2nd half into to a later book.
It will definitely take some re-writing, but your 1st book seems overloaded. The temptation is to drop the weakest subplot, but consider splitting one of your strongest storylines into a before and after, according to a main character's change arc.
...
0
As mentioned, copyright is automatic. The best form of defense is to only submit physical copies of your work until a publisher agrees to buy it from you to publish. This preserves the only digital copy on files you're able to access. Make sure you have a change log of your main digital copy, or attach to e-mails to yourself
An even dumber poor man's ...
-1
They can and they will steal your work if they can. It happened to me with a music teaching book I wrote years ago. They changed it enough that it was their own and there was nothing I could do about it. Biggest music publishing company out there - naming no names.
0
It's a good idea to get feedback on your writing. I don't know if you did that before sending it out, since you don't mention it one way or the other. If you haven't, try looking for a critique group, use Scribophile, or find someone whose feedback you can trust to be a beta reader. There may be useful information to help tell you what might be the reason ...
5
I have recently finished my 25,000 word novella and contacted some publishers and agents about a month ago. I have only heard back from a couple rejecting me but considering the format of my book as well as the fact that it is highly experimental and does not fall into any specific genre, I do not find it highly probable to get published as it is despite its ...
answered Nov 13 at 12:40
Liquid - Reinstate Monica
15.2k3 gold badges40 silver badges108 bronze badges
2
First, I would always presume if you "put a book aside" to work on another book, your book is dead. In my experience (with only myself and a few authors I have spoken with), putting a book in the drawer is a kiss of death. Work on until you think it is ready to publish, then try to publish it. It is far easier to come back to a book you think only needs to ...
answered Nov 11 at 16:55
Amadeus-Reinstate-Monica
81.8k7 gold badges111 silver badges266 bronze badges
3
It seems to be a problem of packaging, and setting up expectations for readers. If I read the "high level" of your comments correctly, you have two sets of characters who come together in book 3. Book 1 is mainly about set 1, book 2 is mainly about set 2, and book is about set 1 plus set 2.
If this is more-or-less true, could books 1 and 2 be presented as ...
Top 50 recent answers are included
