When it is finished, then what will you do? Self-publish? Send it to an agent? Because it isn't really finished until it is out of your hands.
To me, perfection means internal consistency. Knowing there are no contradictions.Here's the difficulty I have with perfectionism: how does one judge perfection? Here am I, as imperfect a specimen as anyone would care to encounter, setting myself up as so expert as to know when something falls just *this* much short of perfection, and so I must keep on keeping on.
It seems a version of Zeno's Paradox. I get halfway to perfection, to perfectly completed. Take a breath. I get halfway closer. Breathe. Halfway closer yet. But I can never reach it. I can see I can never reach it, but I keep claiming it's reachable and that I'm the one to get there.
Perficio means to complete, to do thoroughly and completely. I'm happy to settle for ficio, just doing.
Me? I like the idea of traditional publishing for some of my work, but I’d like to start by sending some short stories to magazines and online platforms first. I also like the idea of self publishing for some of my works that I think would be fun to DIY. I’ll try not to take the rejection too personally!When it is finished, then what will you do? Self-publish? Send it to an agent? Because it isn't really finished until it is out of your hands.
Too many targets can make aiming a challenge. If you have short stories, by all means send them off. If you haven't yet finished one, finish that! Once you've sent the story off, you can forget about it and work on the novel. Or another short.Me? I like the idea of traditional publishing for some of my work, but I’d like to start by sending some short stories to magazines and online platforms first. I also like the idea of self publishing for some of my works that I think would be fun to DIY. I’ll try not to take the rejection too personally!
I get the feeling that trad literary agents expect you to be coming to them with an existing social media presence and some awards or writing accolades to be taken seriously, so I figured that submitting short stories could be a good avenue to walk down?Too many targets can make aiming a challenge. If you have short stories, by all means send them off.
From what I am gathering, lit agents generally look for people who want a writing career, who they can trust to also be a face for them to some extent, and yes I agree that is a lot of work, akin to a part-full time job. They need to make the return on the book I suppose, or ideally make a profit. That also comes with accolades for writers who become traditionally published authors because it’s like getting a job you really want.This may be an odd standpoint because it seems to me that many writers want to be published "offically".
My problem isn't finishing - I've completed 3 books so far.
But, early on, I thought about chasing agents and trying to be published. I saw that it's really a lot of work and very time consuming. Not only should you reach out to as many agents as possible (playing the numbers game), the suggestions I saw were to have a social media presence, do newsletters, and attend conventions.
But...I already have a good, full time job and really don't want to spend what little free time I have doing all that. I just like the writing part. So all I do is write and once I have something satisfactory, I self-publish. I don't advertise or push it in anyway...I just get it out there and move on to what I want to do next. I am pleased with the satisfaction of what I did within myself and if others enjoy it too, cool.
I keep thinking, maybe, if I still like all this when I retire (far future) and time is less of a constraint, maybe I will play the whole game.
In my experience they are highly selective and seem to make choices on fairly arcane criteria. The publishing industry in Australia is very small and seems to be getting smaller so there are very few slots available for new writers - who mostly come through the network of postgrad writing courses.I find it ironic though how many agencies on their submissions pages say ‘they are constantly looking for new authors’, when the odds of getting traditionally published are fairly low. It will be interesting to go through the process to see just how selective these agents are!
That’s interesting. For a country the size of a damn continent that the publishing industry should be so small!In my experience they are highly selective and seem to make choices on fairly arcane criteria. The publishing industry in Australia is very small and seems to be getting smaller so there are very few slots available for new writers - who mostly come through the network of postgrad writing courses.
That said, I've twice had an agent (both of them quite big) and technically I still do - although we've not talked in about four years. They were both useless - they have a bit of a go at first but as soon as they get rejected they lose interest and devote their time to those clients which make them money. I do get that but it's awfully frustrating and your hands are tied on your own efforts, until you sack them.
I've had five novels published (two of them quite popular). Four were trad published and all of those deals I landed through my own efforts after my agents had given up.
Hopefully they try harder in other countries.
The population's only 26 mill so we're a small and isolated market for the physical products with significant distribution costs.That’s interesting. For a country the size of a damn continent that the publishing industry should be so small!