Publishers and Agents

Wow, this can be so confusing. I've been reading about them for some time this morning and I still don't really know that much. It does appear that most if not all of the major publishing houses won't accept a submission unless it's through an agent. There are alot of other publishers who will, but it's hard to know much about them, even if they have great websites. They certainly paint a bleak picture for first time authors. And then there's that pesky Platform business popping up again. How does a fiction writer really get the kind of followers you need to qualify as a "platform"? I admit that I'm a bit lost when it comes to that whole concept. I mean, between freelancing and writing, I don't have a lot of time for playing around on the social networks. But I guess I'd better find it if I want to sell my book. The problem is, you can't print excerpts because some publishers don't go for that, so how do you get people interested in your book? I was amazed at how much the agents took. They really take a bite out of whatever royalties you get, unless that percentage is just for the advance, but I doubt it. Yeouch!

Writing Again!

I've had two freelance jobs in the recently that have kept me hoppin' and writing! It's been great. The best part is I finally opened up that dusty file with my book in it and started editing again. I got so into it I forgot to eat and had to have cereal at like 10 PM. lol. Then I kept at it until I couldn't see the page any more. If I didn't have other work to do today, I'd be at it right now. I'd forgotten how much I love my characters, my people. They're so real to me. I hope that means they will be real to my readers too. I'm thinking of posting some teasers to see if anyone has anything to say about that. My friend and author of seven, soon to be eight novels, Jason Gehlert, used that method and it worked well for him. In fact, he posted one whole novel once - a chapter at a time as he wrote it. Isn't that cool? You can keep up with Jason and all his work at jasongehllert.blogspot.com. He's got a new novel just coming out called Europa: Rise of the Carnelians. You can find chapters and character bios on his website europa2045.blogspot.com. Jason was also insrumental in getting me through my writer's block. I don't think I put that specifically in my 10 tips to beat writer's block, but talking with other writer's can really help to get you motivated in your own writing. Gotta go, lots of writing to do. Look for those teasers soon.

Falling Into A Creative Black Hole

Like many of you out there, I'm completely blocked. I haven't written anything creative in many months. I'm afraid I've just let life's demands get in the way. My house needs work before I can sell it - which needs to be soon - and I'm home schooling my son. I've begun I feel guilty if I'm not pursuing one or the other of those two endeavors. Hence, no writing is getting done. I even feel guilty doing this now, but I need an outlet - a way to vent my frustration. You see, I have already written a short book, for NaNoWriMo last November, and it's screaming at me to work on it. It needs revision and fleshing out. It's absolutely languishing! Worse, I realize just how long it has been since I have written anything new, original. I did write a couple of stories last month for a man, but the character was his, I just made up the story within his preconceived world. I haven't written a poem in so long, I'm not sure I remember how. I shut down my popular poetry challenge group to spend more time on the house and I dearly miss it. At least with that I got to read other peoples' creative work once a week. I'm going to have to start writing again soon or things are going to get ugly.