Miscellaneous Forum

I don't have any experience with getting work published, but... You've said that friends have reviewed it and given you positive feedback. That's great, but have you let anyone read it who is not a friend, someone who won't feel obliged to be nice? That would be my first step. You might find this chart useful: s93.photobucket.com/albums/l... as well as this: katehart.net/p/resources.htm... Sorry if you know all this already. Sounds like it could be an interesting book, but: > ...you're not really selling your book very well, as that's quite a narrow readership! Try "The book would definitely appeal to anyone who has visited or lived in the Philippines, who would like to visit the Philippines one day, who enjoys humorous novels, or anyone who just loves to travel". Good luck anyway.

Thanks for the info, and i forgot to mention that 4 people have read it, A Brit resident who thought it was good, a German resident who thought it was excellent, an Australian visitor who has a Filipino wife (good) and a filipina friend who suggested that the book appears to be non fiction, and instructed me not to let her Brit husband read it as he might get wise to what goes on here. So I am very encouraged so next year when i have more time i will really try and do something about publishing.

A lady of our acquaintance published her cookery book using this website: http://www.authorsonline.co.uk (apologies if you already know this one!)

You could always explore publishing on Kindle first and hope it gets picked up by a hard-copy published (it can happen...a piece of 'fan fiction' published online [not Kindle] has just become the fastest-selling paperback in the UK). I've noticed several similar 'humorous books about living elsewhere' in the Kindle listings.

Hi David, sorry to say you are embarking on one of man's hardest journeys - getting published. Reminds me of the story of a writer who died and went to the in between place. Got a call up from St Peter who took him to the downstairs section, where he saw row after row of writers chained to their desks pounding out words in a terrible hole with lava and steam pouring out. He went back and saw St Peter who then took him to heaven where he saw an identical scene of a lave, steam dungeon with writers chained etc etc. He went back to St Peter and asked what is the difference between heaven and hell. A loud voice replied, "In heaven the writers are published." OK jokes aside - I had an eBook published in the first wave of eBooks and that was after lots of rejection slips from publishers. I know your pain and frustration and all I can suggest is that you keep trying. Amazon is not a publisher and therefore can't help you. A contact got sick of the rejections and self published and hawks his books almost door to door. As he's got 5 or 6 books on the go there's usually something that the world wants to read. Good luck and keep trying - oh bye the way, the publisher I dealt with went bust and my eBook is no longer on the market.

I have known three people who had their books published. Each one swore it never would have happened if they didnt have an agent. Apparently the days when you could just randomly submit to a publisher are long gone. I noticed someone mentioned self-publishing on kindle. Many new authors do this but I would caution you that many also do this without having their books edited and the result is often a mess of spelling and gramatical errors that make the book impossible to read and greatly damage the authors reputation. If you go this route do yourself a favor and have the book professsionaly edited.

I have several friends who have had books publsihed about their travels and the story always seem to be the same: Either you strike it lucky with one of the big publishers who will help you promote the book to a huge market and then you are all set for succes, or you do all the hard work yourself and publish the book yourself for your own money and market it yourself. The last option is hard work, but also a chance to actually make money out of your book in the end as you get all the profit. The small publishers who will take on a newcomer generally asks you to put in a bond to cover all the main costs and at the moment the book starts making money then they grab most of the profits. Last september i met up with Matt Harding who did the "where the hell is matt" vidoes and he also published a book about his travels. He did it through a small publisher and had a lot of trouble getting them to market it and in the end he bought all the books himself and now sell them on his own webpage and he advised me that if i ever want to publish anything then do it yourself or through one of the big companies who will give you a contract.

Dont have much usefull to add but I will definately buy a copy when you have it ...I love books...and having a book by someone I know would be great!

shohman wrote: >Each one swore it never would have happened if they didnt have an agent. Sadly it seems that getting an agent is actually harder than getting a publisher. I recall one writer being told by an agent, "Get a publisher for your m/s and then I'll represent you." - yeah right. My cynical side says that unless you've held a cricket bat for Australia (insert other sporting paraphernalia and countries as required) or tramped the boards of theatres for 70 years you're not going to get published. Perhaps one of the biggest mistakes made by 28 publishers was to send rejection slips to Frederick Forsyth, who authored the highly successful "The Day of the Jackal" which was made into a block busting film. My eBook was first published in 2000 and I am still waiting for 2 publishers from prior to being published to send me a rejection slip. Silly me I've just finished writing a childrens m/s and hope that will get picked up.

I work in publishing, and have helped a few authors self-publish. Depending on the needs of your particular title, some online places might be better than others. I'm partial to one called Dog Ear Publishing. The role of traditional publishers these days is almost entirely in the marketing. The reason they usually don't accept unsolicited titles is because their offerings tend to be marketing driven, not book driven. Also, they need a certain minimum volume in order to cover the cost of producing the book. So if you want to work with a publisher, you'll need to demonstrate a wide audience. If you're interested in working with an agent, go here first http://slushpilehell.tumblr.com/. Then, don't do that. It's very easy to actually produce a book, and if you have even limited experience with a layout program you could do it yourself in a couple of days. I would recommend that you have it read by a professional editor rather than friends. Since it sounds like its never been edited before, work with an editor before production, and a proofreader after. If you want anything, from recommendations for editors and proofreaders to general laments about the state of publishing today, feel free to email me.

A nmuber of years ago, as a Private Client lawyer, we had a client finance the publication of the history of the (well known in the context of that particular industry) family manufacturing company. Apart from the difficulties of finding a publisher, the contract was a nightmare, and the "bottom line" was that even if the entire print run sold out, the GROSS sale proceeds wouldn't even come close. As it turned out, there were 3000 printed and fewer than 100 sold; most of the rest got ruined while stored in the client's garage. (My "free" copy went for 99p on eBay). Royalties (clearly) worked out at next to b***** all. OK, you may not be doing it for the money, but as sure as eggs is eggs nobody ever got rich by "vanity publishing"; it's also said, i believe, that some publishers talk a good game when it come to signing you up, and then don't deliver to the same high promises.... Sorry to possibly rain on your parade; "fan fiction" may be a better option. The warnings here probably apply world-wide across all genres: sfwa.org/for-authors/writer-... Having been to Phils three times and planning a fourth, I'd be interested in reading.

Forgot to mention that one advantage to online self-publishing places is that many offer "print on demand" (POD), which means buyers can choose to buy a hard copy, and one copy only will be printed and shipped. Quality of the paper and binding usually isn't as good, but it means no more piles in warehouses. Most offer the books as pdfs too.

Well, thank you very much for all the helpful replies and i will certainly take them all into consideration. I am rather busy with other projects at the moment but i will get back to some of you at a later date. Thanks again

David, You could try this website http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/ to get some feedback, there are very many published writers on there who will give you hints and tips, sometimes they have agents on there, looking for new writers, too. They also have people who will beta read your manuscript for you, for nothing, who can point out where you might be able to change it a little if need be etc. I used to do a lot of beta reading for people on there and have actually been acknowledged in a published book for my work with the writer, so it can happen.

thank you elodie, and as i say i will take up all these suggestions when i have time.