There are no gatekeepers any more. Your opus can be free in the world, its fate determined by merit and your skill and level of effort getting the word out. You can do this.
Just be prepared to do the work required to make a quality book, and have the patience to wait until it is truly ready.
Here are some lessons from my adventure writing The Great Symmetry, a self-published science fiction novel that has already been bought by several dozen friends (and now even by some friends of friends). Perhaps it will do even better than that - we will just see.
[Update Oct 2015 - Actually it's selling pretty well! See followup.]
Writing a book's worth of content is not that hard. Do the math. One page a day, and you have a full length novel in less than a year. If you can't write every day, a good effort several times a week gets you to the same place.
A year is a reasonable amount of time to complete a good first draft of a novel. It's achievable, but it's not such a long process that you lose the thread or abandon all hope. You can see that target completion date on the wall calendar.
There will come that glorious day when you write "THE END." You will want to show your work to the world. You will imagine that it's time to send it to that agent who used to represent your friend's friend's cousin. But wait!
It's time to start the hard work.
If you're a writer, hopefully the process of writing your original content had at least some fun factor. Perhaps joy, at times. If writing your book was like exploring a cave, that initial phase of getting the draft written was like running down the main passages, finding underground rivers and waterfalls, seeing what's around each bend.
When that draft is done, the only certainty in this world is that it's not good enough.
You could declare victory and publish. Put it out in the world's biggest slush pile, otherwise known as Amazon, to sink into obscurity.
Or you can get real about editing.
Ideally you hire an editor. If you can't afford that, you find one or more smart people who are willing to give your work a serious read and tell you everything that needs improvement.
When you get friends to read your book, one problem is whether they will be honest enough. They won't want to hurt your feelings, and may not tell you things you need to hear. It's actually good to find people you don't know well, such as members of local writer's groups.
The best editors and beta readers will do a lot more than correct your grammar. They will give you thoughtful comments or questions on topics like these:
- Clarity: Does the reader understand what's going on?
- Internal Consistency: "But his shirt was pink in Chapter Three"
- Language Consistency: "He went to Harvard? Really?"
- Character Arc: Are the characters learning and changing?
- Believeability: "No way she goes back inside the house, because that would be dumb."
- Engagement: Does the reader care about the people in the story?
- Honesty: Are the personal choices in the book authentic?
I was lucky to find an excellent editor by a personal referral from an author friend. Based on a sample size of one, I really like the idea of that personal recommendation. But no matter where you live, there are good editors who can be found (or it may not matter where the editor is, if the person has the right skills and is a match to your needs). Sites like
Preditors and Editors can help you with your diligence.
A great way to start with a potential editor is to send a chapter or two and request a sample edit. Sometimes an editor will do this for free or a nominal charge. You'll know from those results if you have found the right person.
And then there's the simple matter of planning for the time, effort, and a measure of heartbreak. On the first round of review, my editor sent me 255 substantive comments in addition to correcting the typos. Two hundred fifty five! After a grieving period I got to work. The second round was down to 30 or so and we took it from there.
Here's the fun part (yes fun). We kept finding places that would be so much better if only I had set the table a few chapters earlier. Due to the miracle of word processing I could just go do that. Those are so great to find.
That second great day will come. On that day you will wonder why you ever considered those earlier drafts to be finished. It will be the day you send it off to be published.
You book is a labor of love. Your book is worth the effort. It deserves the best.
Notes
- The five Kübler-Ross stages of grief were described by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in her book "On Death and Dying". There is a pair of dots on top of the u in Kubler which I don't know how to show on Daily Kos. [I do - Brecht]
- I tried and failed to find a copy of the cartoon whose caption was something like "Russian novelist leaps to his death from atop his suicide note". Extra points for any reader who can find it.
- Hey, come to my book launch! Saturday May 30th 7 PM at Village Books in Bellingham WA.
James R. Wells is the author of The Great Symmetry, available on Amazon, at Village Books, by order at any bookstore, and signed copies from the author's web site.
In an asteroid in the Aurora star system, exoarcheologist Evan McElroy has made a discovery about the Versari, a long-departed alien race. But Evan’s sponsor, the Affirmatix family of companies, realizes that they can make huge gains from the new finding, if it is kept completely secret.
As Evan flees for his life, he finds that his trajectory has reawakened the long-buried struggle of the Infoterrorists, who believe that all knowledge screams to be free, against those who maintain the True Story that holds all of civilization together.
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