# Help me, I'm torn...



## tundrawolf (Jul 26, 2012)

Hello everyone,


Over the last few months I have discovered a love for writing. I have written one novel (490 pages) and am now beginning to end another. (probably be 530 pages give or take.) I have about a decade of experience with wolves at a wolf sanctuary... My novels are about the interactions of mankind with a werewolf species where I did my best to color the body language, thoughts and emotions of the werewolf species, partly to help people understand wolves a little better, but also for entertainment. I also have a highly technical background which I have included in my novels... I have one more novel, a conclusion to the trilogy that I am going to write, which I am very excited about starting. (The first novel was about a man who travels to their dimension, and falls in love with one of them, the second is where they are enslaved by mankind, and the final novel will be where the werewolf species lives with mankind.) 

My problem is this... Part of me wants to just post all three on the internet for anyone to read. My mum (You know how mums are...) wants me to post just a portion of it as a teaser, and have people buy the stories. Part of me sees hope in posting them all online, then having people buy hardcopies so they can read them anywhere.

If anyone can give me advice, I would very much appreciate it.


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## David B. Ramirez (Jul 26, 2012)

Oh man, where to even start...

Okay, I'll deal with the situation as you've described it. 

Do not post them for free on the internet.

Since you already have this material done, you need to edit it first if you haven't already. You can find people to help you edit it for free (probably on this very forum).

When other people have looked at it and helped you polish it, you might as well self-publish it on Amazon, since you probably don't have the patience to grind through the slush piles of traditional publishing.

At that point, you can at least be making some money off of your books, or it will help you launch later books. You can even do brief sales of your books for zero money to try to drum up interest. But you don't want to permanently have all three works that you've already put so much work into out on the internet for free.


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## Potty (Jul 26, 2012)

Or you could try traditional publishing :roll: If you think they are good, why not polish it up and try and get a book deal?


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## vcnavega (Jul 28, 2012)

You could do both. On GoogleBooks they scan 20% of your book and people can read it for free as a teaser. They also give the URL of the places where your book can be purchased on the net. So you could sell your book in Amazon as an e-book and see how it goes.


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## tundrawolf (Jul 30, 2012)

Potty said:


> Or you could try traditional publishing :roll: If you think they are good, why not polish it up and try and get a book deal?



Well, I have done a bit of research and quite frankly I am a little bit leery if some of the things I have read. Like, right of first refusal where the publisher basically owns every one of my works for a number of years in their terms. Or where a publisher owns the rights to any given novel indefinitely. I think that a lot of publishers have become greedy and complacent, but now there is an alternative- self publishing. Granted, I have to advertise, but I accept that. To me, its a small price to pay to own my own work, and the margins are better.


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## shadowwalker (Jul 30, 2012)

tundrawolf said:


> Well, I have done a bit of research and quite frankly I am a little bit leery if some of the things I have read. Like, right of first refusal where the publisher basically owns every one of my works for a number of years in their terms. Or where a publisher owns the rights to any given novel indefinitely. I think that a lot of publishers have become greedy and complacent, but now there is an alternative- self publishing. Granted, I have to advertise, but I accept that. To me, its a small price to pay to own my own work, and the margins are better.



No publishing company can 'take advantage' of you unless you let them - via the contract you sign. Which is where agents are a godsend. They can help you with everything from polishing the work to finding the right publishing house for it to negotiating a fair contract. I would suggest you work on polishing the first two and writing/polishing the third, and while you're doing that, do some real, down and dirty research on publishing as a whole. And while you're doing the research, bear in mind who's saying what and why. Unfortunately, there are a lot of self-publishing cheerleaders out there who paint a rather 'biased' (and not always accurate) view of trade publishing. Writing the story is one part of being a writer; learning about the business end is the other.

The most important thing to remember is patience.


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## tundrawolf (Jul 30, 2012)

shadowwalker said:


> No publishing company can 'take advantage' of you unless you let them - via the contract you sign. Which is where agents are a godsend. They can help you with everything from polishing the work to finding the right publishing house for it to negotiating a fair contract. I would suggest you work on polishing the first two and writing/polishing the third, and while you're doing that, do some real, down and dirty research on publishing as a whole. And while you're doing the research, bear in mind who's saying what and why. Unfortunately, there are a lot of self-publishing cheerleaders out there who paint a rather 'biased' (and not always accurate) view of trade publishing. Writing the story is one part of being a writer; learning about the business end is the other.
> 
> The most important thing to remember is patience.



Wow, thank you- this good advice.


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## David B. Ramirez (Jul 30, 2012)

The most important thing to avoid being exploited by a publisher is to not sign right away. If they say they're interested in acquiring your novel, take a deep breath, say thanks and tell them you'll spend some time reviewing the contract. They're not going to pull it all of a sudden, and from what I've read, you'll have a much easier time getting an agent with the phrase "deal on the table." 

You really, really need an agent in traditional publishing or if your self-published novel takes off so spectacularly that people want to acquire the film rights, such as what happened to Hugh Howey. Having a lawyer friend look the contract over does not help (unless a literary lawyer) because the language and standards are quite specific. An agent will prevent unfair terms like joint accounting, and will watch out on your behalf for things like territorial rights that might make it impossible to resell your foreign rights in certain countries.

There are bad agents. To make sure you have a legit agent, do research. Check the agency where they work, announcements about deals they've made, which authors they represent.


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## shadowwalker (Jul 30, 2012)

David B. Ramirez said:


> from what I've read, you'll have a much easier time getting an agent with the phrase "deal on the table."



Caveat - many trade publishers won't deal with authors, only agents. So unless you want to limit yourself, you're better off getting an agent first.


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## David B. Ramirez (Jul 30, 2012)

shadowwalker said:


> Caveat - many trade publishers won't deal with authors, only agents. So unless you want to limit yourself, you're better off getting an agent first.



Yep. Most of the big imprints don't take un-agented manuscripts anymore. There's also a lot more agents than there are publishers.


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## tundrawolf (Mar 7, 2015)

You guys are great, thank you for this invaluable advice.


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## MHarding53 (Mar 8, 2015)

Shadowwalker, that is a good point about getting an agent. They do take a percentage of your royalties off the top as I understand. The main question I wanted to ask is, where does one find an agent appropriate to the genre of your manuscript. I had hear they do specialize.


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## shadowwalker (Mar 8, 2015)

Just off the top of my head (and without specific endorsements):

Duotrope https://duotrope.com/

QueryTracker https://querytracker.net/literary_agents.php

and Writers Market http://www.writersmarket.com/cms/open/agent

And yes, agents typically take about 15% - but they don't get paid until you do, and are well worth the cost in time savings, advice, and additional income they can get you.


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## MHarding53 (Mar 8, 2015)

Thank you Shadowwalker, this has been a great help. I will do my homework first and then perhaps I can bring my results to you and we can have another talk.

Mike


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## KellInkston (Mar 24, 2015)

In your shoes I would start with self-publishing; very accessible, and if you work has publishing merit it will gradually get more fans.

Here's the risky part: I would publish the first one for absolutely free to hook the readers and as an act of good grace, then on the others you can price them however you like. Sensible enough or no?


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## rondacaudill (Mar 25, 2015)

You worked hard on your books...I wouldn't offer them for free. I would definitely publish them. You might try a small press. There are some who take unsolicited work. Self-publishing is not that difficult but the research is a pain. The other thing is that its very hard to get book stores to carry self-published books. I found that once I was carried by a publisher more books stores began picking up my books, including BAM and B&N. Good luck to you!


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## Alecc0 (Apr 7, 2015)

I'd suggest going the small portions route, get people interested. Once you find you're onto a money maker then you can start charging for the books.


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