I want to be an author!!!

[sarah b]

hi. I may sound really stupid but all my life I have held the urge to become a writer and now that i've finished school I feel that now is the perfect oppurtunity to do something about this ambition. I started writing a novel exactly 2 years ago and am very close to finishing it and I have, over the last two years written several poems. But I obviously have no idea if they are any good or if they would be confused for the works of a two year old. How can I go about getting them rated to see if they are good enough? It may sound like a really unrealistic goal, but I really want to get something published. So if they are all a load of codswallop it would be best to find out now before I waste my entire life living under the false pretense that I shall someday become the next Virginia Woolf.
thanks
sarah

[Anglika]

Fiction publishing is desperately difficult to break into.

I suggest the following:

Rigorously prepare the first two chapters of your book so they look well-produced. Make sure you have carefully spell-checked the writing (Nothing is more off-putting that reading a misspelt ungrammatical piece of writing). Prepare a synopsis giving an outline of the plot. This should not be too long.

Print them off and put into a neat folder or binder.

Get hold of a copy of "Writers and Artists Yearbook", and look for an agent or publisher who says that they will read and evaluate new material. Also look for one that specialises in the kind of book you have written [horror/children's/romance/thriller ....].

Send your sample with a brief covering letter asking them for their comments.

Do NOT under any circumstances pay anyone for doing this!

You may well get the brush-off, but you may also get friendly replies. Whatever happens, if you want to write, and are impelled to write, go on writing.

You could also try doing short pieces and offering them to local journals or newspapers.

In the meantime, if you have a problem in your writing, post it in the Writing and Editing forum for help.

[serega kobrin]

Originally Posted by sarah b

hi. I may sound really stupid but all my life I have held the urge to become a writer and now that i've finished school I feel that now is the perfect oppurtunity to do something about this ambition. I started writing a novel exactly 2 years ago and am very close to finishing it and I have, over the last two years written several poems. But I obviously have no idea if they are any good or if they would be confused for the works of a two year old. How can I go about getting them rated to see if they are good enough? It may sound like a really unrealistic goal, but I really want to get something published. So if they are all a load of codswallop it would be best to find out now before I waste my entire life living under the false pretense that I shall someday become the next Virginia Woolf.
thanks
sarah

Just upload it somewhere for free and watch how often your novel was visited.
Find your resources like Pseudopod or similar.
P.S. Leave links here

[serega kobrin]

Originally Posted by serega kobrin

Just upload it somewhere for free and watch how often your novel was visited.
Find your resources like Pseudopod or similar.
P.S. Leave links here

Links for your express test

Pseudopod » Submission Guidelines
Escape Pod
PodCastle » Submission Guidelines

[Anglika]

Originally Posted by serega kobrin

Just upload it somewhere for free and watch how often your novel was visited.
Find your resources like Pseudopod or similar.
P.S. Leave links here

But that will not tell her if she is any good as a writer

[serega kobrin]

Originally Posted by Anglika

But that will not tell her if she is any good as a writer

Do you think they pay for nothing
Or you think people upload their audiobooks never touching a pen.
I gave not hypothetical advice, but a concrete proposal.
To like or not to like, this is the question

[Anglika]

Yes - often they pay for complete rubbish. The fact that it has been put onto the net and not published as a book is not a guide to quality.

[sarah b]

Thanks so much! I know how hard it is to break into and I will definitely not get my hopes up. I have no expectations what so ever. I often get a bit paranoid about putting things on the internet though just in case they get, A - comletely laughed at!! or B - reclaimed. I have been adsvised against doing it that way in the past. Having said that I've not heard of the websites you left as links. Are they safe?

[Anglika]

If you want help and advice, start with these sites. They all have forums on writing:

Book & Reader Forums - Powered by vBulletin
UKAuthors - Online Creative Writing and Poetry Community.
Literary Forums

[serega kobrin]

Originally Posted by Anglika

Yes - often they pay for complete rubbish. The fact that it has been put onto the net and not published as a book is not a guide to quality.

Every man to his taste. And I am absolutely sure, when you get into your local library you find tons of dull, stupid, uninteresting printed books, which in 10 years get a stamp "discard" on the hardcover. Oh! True wrighters indeed............................................