The Zoo*: Week Twelve
Today is the twelfth in a series of posts by San-Diego-based writer Thomas Shess who has decided to keep a journal on his journey to find a publisher for his novel. Next week, Tom will lead a discussion on the mediabistro bulletin boards on the topic of self-publication.
Week Twelve
Sancho Moves Onward. This column spent much of last week probing Author House, the publish-on-demand giant based in Indiana regarding the merits of self-publishing. In fact, I was very tempted to sign with them. After a bit of soul-searching, I decided Author House is not for me at this time. I want the satisfaction, even if it’s delayed, of publishing something of mine based on its merits, rather than paying for it. I have no negative thoughts about Author House. In fact, I believe AH is one blockbuster book away from being a “huge” player in publishing fiction. When AH publishes a mega hit like Dan Brown’s “DaVinci…,” all bets will be off and remember who told you so. All they have to do is offer “book doctoring” to its menu of added services and they will attract the cream of a new generation of yet unpublished novelists.
Inner Space. Mediabistro.com is like an inner space station for writers. Click on to the mother ship in orbit and launch yourself into cyberspace. Each visit is a new adventure certainly for me. For example, for those who missed seeing the Pop Quiz Tool Kit posting on Friday, Sep. 16, go back and read more on John Warner, author of Fondling Your Muse, MB asked: “What have you learned about being a good writing teacher?” Warner answered: “My main message to my students is to simply learn how to give a crap about their own work. Most people can recognize good writing when they see it and should be able to diagnose when their own writing isn’t good. If you work it until it is good, everybody wins.” Diagnosing your own bad writing is an acquired skill. Beginners don’t usually have the self-confidence, especially in fiction. But, nonetheless, creating a self-propelled, four-alarm crappy writing detector is a goal worth achieving.
Surf City. Here are a couple of other Web sites that are a good resource for novice novelists: PublishersWeekly.com has a daily newsletter that keeps you up-to-date what is being published and who’s made it. The fees are modest, if any. View Trafford Publishing’s easy-to follow-site Trafford.com for another look into self-publishing-only this time with a Canadian accent.
Apples v. Oranges. A local college has asked me to speak next spring on highlighting the differences between writing for the magazine market vs. the novel. Wow, are there enough apples and oranges around to cover that hour and a half? Reminds me of what LA-based magazine writer Richard Pietschmann, III recently e-mailed: “…My attitude: Fiction is still WAY easier than reporting and magazine pieces. And lots more fun. You don’t have to bother with sources or accurate quotes or libel suits…”
RX. A fellow unpublished author, who was reading mediabistro.com asked me what does a good book editor charge. To answer, I went to MikeSiroka.com This highly respected book doctor has a section on his Web page that calculates how to determine the cost of his services. I’ll use my novel as an example. For the initial comprehensive evaluation, the fee is $4.25 per manuscript page. A properly formatted manuscript page averages 250 words. Therefore, take your total word count, divide by 250, and multiply by $4.25 to arrive at the fee. (Example: An 80,000-word manuscript divided by 250 times $4.25 equals $1,360.) Mike’s minimum fee is for: 60,000 words. And, he delivers in five to seven weeks.
* Because it’s a jungle out there.
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