Other writing projects/goals? |
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WriterByNight
NYC Midnight Addict Joined: 04 Aug 2015 Location: Alaska/Texas Status: Offline Points: 1470 |
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AND IT IS EXCELLENT! I had the pleasure of beta reading it a few weeks ago. Very well done. I can't wait to see it in bookstores. I'm so proud of you, Jenna. As for myself, I'm kind of in the same boat as Jenna with my novel and I have a few other projects in the works. Love seeing what everyone else is up to :) |
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FFC Final| Beyond the Veil
Micro R1 | How Could You? |
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nixie
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 01 Aug 2015 Location: Seattle, WA Status: Offline Points: 9048 |
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So, let's see... 1. It all comes down to luck 2. You don't need betas and see no value in anyone else reviewing your work 3. When readers tell you that your pacing is slow and geared toward 'what you know is best for them' rather than what they actually find interesting, that's the result of their impatience, not anything you might actually need to work on. 4. Expensive editors are a waste of time for self-publishers (based on your vast library of successfully self-published works) 5. You have no idea how to dis-aggregate statistics (else you'd know that the 'women buyer' figures, in order to have any constructive meaning, have to be broken down by genre - which would show you the extent to which, for example, romance makes up a chunk of that - leaving significantly different statistics for remaining genres) - or don't see the need to, since "women readers" are one big holistic stereotypical block 6. You have no regard for the skill and market knowledge that goes into the many other talents of this field, and are convinced you can do those professionals' jobs as well yourself, because hey how hard can it be, right? You're as good at designing an effective, salable book cover as anyone who has actually done the job professionally. And yet you feel eminently qualified to instruct everyone in the place (including quite a few repeatedly and successfully published authors, professional editors, and professional writers) what you have determined to be The One True Answer to - darn, so far, just about any question that has arisen. I can't figure out whether you are trolling, or whether you are a teenager who is just too young to figure out that there is stuff you don't know. Since I make it a point to be positive and supportive in these forums, I am not going to respond to your stuff any more, and I think you might learn an awful lot if you attempted to engage some of the other folks around here respectfully, rather than the tack you're taking at the moment. Best of luck to you, kiddo.
Edited by nixie - 19 Jul 2017 at 1:53am |
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MattrickBT
NYC Midnight Addict Joined: 15 Jul 2017 Location: Oshawa Status: Offline Points: 1270 |
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Catching lightning in a bottle isn't engineered.
This is incorrect and not what I said at all.
I'm already aware I'm not writing for the mainstream. I'm not writing for everyone. Not everyone will find what I write interesting, but some do. If a reader needs horror immediately then they aren't apt to enjoy my work. I'm fully self-aware of the pros and cons of such an approach.
Again, not what I said at all. I said it's going to require a lot more good fortune for the investment to pay off and no writer should expect to make a bunch of sales, as such expectations can lead to disillusionment and defeat. And it might not pay off for traditional publishers either, but self-publishing should be the last resort.
Actually, women love crime stories, mysteries, horror, and thrillers also. Romance may be mostly read by women, that doesn't mean that's all they read. I'm not dissecting a bunch of statistics I don't have. Nothing wrong with keeping in mind that a novel that is also appealing to women can help sales.
I've done nothing but state my opinion. I am sorry I have opinions that you disagree with. I wasn't aware that a writing forum was a place where opinions are frowned upon and shamed. I suppose I was wrong. |
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plkphoto
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 14 Jan 2015 Location: AliceSprings OZ Status: Offline Points: 3153 |
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MattrickBT --
You might feel that you're just "stating your opinion" but in many, many places on this forum, I've seen you force your opinion on people and not value anyone's response. To me, that is not "stating your opinion" -- people here are happy to debate ideas and often do so. But you bash other people's opinions, you don't offer yours as an opinion but state it as THE ONE TRUE WAY that is not open for debate. I know that I'm not the only one that reads your posts this way. Case in point, in a thread that was designed for people to easily find betas to exchange stories in the middle of the time crunch, you hijacked the thread with this "opinion," which Nixie is citing above:
Now, this forum is not "random people on the internet" -- it's writers. Writers of various skill levels, granted, but all writers. Even a few professional editors. I've found the feedback and beta help here to be invaluable. So have many, many others. We always have a beta thread so people can find others who are in the same boat, in terms of time crunch, and who have some skill that can help you improve your writing. The people here can often offer better advice than someone who knows you well and may not have the same skills or understanding of the problem. It is even more important to find skilled beta readers with such a time crunch, because you're so close to your story it's hard to see the flaws. There's no time to "step away" from it, and come back with fresh eyes. Having multiple betas is very helpful. Have a look around, read some of the critiques people have received from the contest in previous years... see if the criticism here is worth it to you -- because I think you'll find that this is not a site where people just provide:
Now, I know there are sites and writing groups where what you say is true, but when someone respectfully disagreed and said why they thought betas were important, you decided to bash them even further (basically implying that this describes the people in this forum):
It's generally a good idea to look around and see if what you're saying is true before you indiscriminately bash all the people that you're supposedly trying to "help" with your "advice." I've been around here for a while, and you get far better critiques from the people on the forum here than you do in many writers groups. I also know that you get far better critiques from your fellow forumites here than you do from the judges, who are professionals, but who have less time to dedicate to the stories because of that. The people here are extremely helpful and very knowledgeable. There are a wide range of abilities and experiences. When people express their "opinions" here, they often have a lot of experience to back them up. On this thread, which was meant for people to talk about their projects, you've hijacked by continuously returning to the idea that people can't make their investment back on editing. The way discussions work is that you put an opinion out there with your reasoning, and others disagree politely and explain their reasons... then the subject drops. You don't continually tell people that their opinion and reasoning are wrong -- especially when some of those people are actually in the publishing business, and know what they're talking about. If you want us to respect your opinion, then respect other people's. Almost everything you've posted in the forums here (as someone new) has been either a disagreement with something someone has said or a boast about your own skills. I know I'm not the only one who has found many of your posts extremely aggressive and dismissive of other's opinions. We welcome discussion here, but please try to be less aggressive and understand that there may be more than one "right path" and not everyone needs to follow yours. |
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plkphoto
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 14 Jan 2015 Location: AliceSprings OZ Status: Offline Points: 3153 |
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Returning to the original purpose of this thread:
I've got a few of things going at the moment, that are all somewhat related. I'm working on the first novel in what I hope to be a 9-book series, if all goes to plan. I've got the basic series outline and plot outlines done for each of the main books. I've got detailed plans for the first and second novels and am about 70k into the first (it's sci-fi and I tend to overwrite a lot on my early drafts, so I expect the first draft to be between 150 to 200k when done... and trimmed back to around 110k by the time I get to a final draft). I just got to a new setting, though, so I've stalled a bit while I catch up on some research to fill in a few plot holes that I can see looming on the horizon. I'm also working on a short story collection that will be tangentially related to the novel themes. I realized I have nine stories that all circle around the same theme with a bit of tweaking (half from NYCM stories and half from other prompt competitions I do), so I've decided to develop them all a bit further and shop them around as a collection. Also as a way to break into the market before trying with my series (or alongside the first novel of my series). I'm also collaborating with my partner on a non-fiction guide book. He's taking the lead on that one and helping me with my fiction in return, but it's on a subject that we both know a lot about and have both worked on... and also relates to the research for my novel, so it all goes together somehow.
Edited by plkphoto - 19 Jul 2017 at 4:27am |
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AndrewShootsScores
NYC Midnight Addict Joined: 17 Jul 2017 Location: Denver, CO Status: Offline Points: 908 |
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Thanks to your post, I stayed up an extra couple hours last night and wrote a really fun little story for this. (Or, rather, I should say... I had fun writing it!) Thanks for mentioning it here... and good luck!
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jenspenden
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 25 Sep 2013 Location: Denver, CO Status: Offline Points: 5069 |
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Thanks, Maria! You're an AWESOME beta reader. I've incorporated so many of your suggestions to make my novel stronger. Can't thank you enough! Looking forward to reading your novel!
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patsy
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 28 Aug 2011 Location: Ohio, USA Status: Offline Points: 4709 |
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Am doing Fiction War this weekend
And working on finishing my Mag Mor novel that got second looks in the Ignite the Flame Contest, where hopefully someone may be interested in picking it up for publication.
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ShroudedWolf
NYC Midnight Addict Joined: 21 Jul 2016 Location: Ohio Status: Offline Points: 1230 |
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Great! I wrote one last night, but my beta readers are confused about it. I'm considering just writing a new one, but I'm not sure yet. I may be able to salvage it. I really liked the idea.
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LyndaD
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 04 Aug 2015 Location: Waldport, OR Status: Offline Points: 1748 |
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Thanks for sharing this! Thought I'd give it a try as well -- then found out both my usual betas are unavailable!
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