Getting Published

Subject: Getting published
Message:
It was just suggested to me that I make a little post on this subject here in the Writer's Forum...so here I am.

My name is Saje Williams and my first novel was published today. It's entitled "Loki's Sin." The first of an intended series of six books (three of which are finished and already accepted by my publisher), Loki's Sin defies genre description. I call it "Paranormal Science Fantasy."

No trees died for this novel to be published, though several million electrons were greatly inconvenienced.


It is an e-book available for download from the publisher's site http://www.wingsepress.com .


Now, for those of you who don't know much about e-books, I recommend checking out this link.

http://sajewilliams.blogspot.com/2005/01/ever-hear-of-e-books.html

For those of you who might be interested, I would be willing to give a workshop on what I know about the e-publishing world.

:applause:

thanks for sharing the information, too. Are you considering conducting a virtual workshop?

edit: I just tried your link and it doesn't work... this is what was in the url box

http://sajewilliams.blogspot.com/2005/01/ever-hear-of-e

try this instead...

http://sajewilliams.blogspot.com/2005/01/ever-hear-of-e-books.html

Once you've paid to be published on the internet, it isn't much different from paying to be published by the old-time Vantage Press -- your work is untouchable and unsellable to legitimate publishers. The only good thing is that print-on-demand publishers don't charge very much. I'm guessing you paid around $100 or so, right?

But the point is you paid to be "published." You weren't paid for your work because no legitimate publishing house was interested.

Come back in six weeks or sixteen weeks and tell us how many copies of your book have actually sold. Any?

but it's not the case anymore. Many e-book authors are now MORE successful than many mainstream authors who don't get promoted heavily by the traditional publishers.

This is the fastest growing segment of the publishing world right now. Simple as that.

The "Vanity Press" label was created to allow the Big Houses to discredit e-publishers and their products.

I didn't pay anything to publish this novel and I have several copies already pre-sold.

Edited to add information.

that "legitimate" publishing houses can be seen as being similar to "legitimate news agencies."

Why support the big houses when most of them aren't keeping up with the times?

And, as an added bit of info--many authors who started out in e-publishing are now breaking into the 'legitimate press.'

The assumption that if an author's isn't accepted by one of the Big Houses it isn't "good" enough, is an unfortunate one, since it's patently not true. Many mainstream sci-fi publishers, for example, aren't even accepting submissions by anyone who's previously unknown.

I belong to several writers AND readers groups. My book was reviewed by one of the top e-book reviewers in the business...in a newsletter going out to over 4000 readers every month.

But, as an old-fashioned writer who gets paid to write and whose books are sold in stores, I think you're rushing yourself in your eagerness to call yourself an "author" and to believe that you are "published."

Nothing compares to having the FedEx guy hand you that big flat envelope that you know contains your book contract.

Nothing will ever compare to walking into a bookstore or library and being to take a volume with your name on it off a shelf or a table.

Nothing's quite as sweet as seeing that your advance check has cleared and you're reading to proceed on the final edit of your novel.

Nothing in the world of e-books is ever going to match the feeling you get when you see someone sitting and reading a book you wrote.

So, I do wish you luck with this venture, but you must keep in mind that you're imitating publishing, and are not "published."